28 men’s, 24 women’s teams will be starring in 2016 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League

Luxembourg, June 1, 2015. 28 men’s and 24 women’s teams compose the field for the 2016 edition of the CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League. The season will get underway already on July 2 with the annual European Volleyball Gala and the Drawing of Lots for the League Round of Europe’s elite competition. The event will be taking place for the second consecutive year at the Hofburg Palace, the former imperial residence of the Habsburg family, right in the heart of Vienna. 

The format of the competition hasn’t changed with teams being drawn into seven and six pools for the men’s and women’s League Round respectively before the race for a spot in the Final Four tournaments heats up with the Playoffs 12 and 6. The first set of matches for the women’s competition is scheduled for October 27-29 with the men following one week later. The 2016 season will then reach its climax with the Final Four tournaments that will be taking place on April 9-10 and 16-17 for women and men, respectively. Click here for a comprehensive calendar of the 2016 European Cup competitions. 

As per the latest European Ranking List, the teams participating in the 2016 CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League – Men are: 

Hypo Tirol INNSBRUCK (AUT) 
Knack ROESELARE (BEL) 
Volley behappy2 ASSE-LENNIK (BEL) 
Marek Union-Ivkoni DUPNITSA (BUL) 
Dukla LIBEREC (CZE) 
TOURS VB (FRA) 
PARIS Volley (FRA) 
VfB FRIEDRICHSHAFEN (GER) 
BERLIN Recycling Volleys (GER) 
PAOK THESSALONIKI (GRE) 
TRENTINO Diatec (ITA) 
MODENA Volley (ITA) 
Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA (formerly known as TREIA) (ITA) 
Budvanska Rivijera BUDVA (MNE) 
Asseco Resovia RZESZOW (POL) 
Lotos Trefl GDANSK (POL) 
Tomis CONSTANTA (ROU) 
Zenit KAZAN (RUS) 
Belogorie BELGOROD (RUS) 
Dinamo MOSCOW (RUS) 
ACH Volley LJUBLJANA (SLO) 
#Dragons LUGANO (SUI) 
Arkas IZMIR (TUR) 
Halkbank ANKARA (TUR) 

To complete the 28-team field, four wild cards were granted to the following teams: 

Noliko MAASEIK (BEL) 
PGE Skra BELCHATOW (POL) 
Vojvodina NS Seme NOVI SAD (SRB) 
Ziraat Bankasi ANKARA (TUR) 

All medallists from the 2015 edition will be again a part of the show, which also includes the winners of the 2015 CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup, Serbia’s Vojvodina NS Seme NOVI SAD, and of the 2015 CEV Volleyball Cup, Russia’s Dinamo MOSCOW. Italy’s MODENA Volley return to the continental elite after a long absence of 12 years whilst Poland’s vice champions Lotos Trefl GDANSK are making their debut in the competition. Dukla LIBEREC of the Czech Republic can also celebrate their comeback to this elite family since their only participation in the CEV Volleyball Champions League dates back to the 2003-2004 season. The field also includes three-time gold medallists (2009, 2010 and 2011) TRENTINO Diatec of Italy who last season reached the final of the CEV Volleyball Cup whilst Turkey’s Ziraat Bankasi ANKARA and Greece’s PAOK THESSALONIKI will be making their maiden appearance in the world’s most prestigious Volleyball competition. 

The women’s competition returns to a format consisting of 24 teams, with 21 determined as per the latest European Ranking List as follows:

Telekom BAKU (formerly known as Rabita BAKU) (AZE) 
Lokomotiv BAKU (AZE) 
Agel PROSTEJOV (CZE) 
RC CANNES (FRA)
Rocheville LE CANNET (FRA) 
DRESDNER SC (GER) 
Allianz MTV STUTTGART (GER) 
Pomì CASALMAGGIORE (ITA) 
Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA (ITA) 
Chemik POLICE (POL) 
PGE Atom Trefl SOPOT (POL) 
CS Volei Alba BLAJ (ROU) 
Dinamo KAZAN (RUS) 
Dinamo MOSCOW (RUS) 
Uralochka-NTMK EKATERINBURG (RUS) 
Calcit KAMNIK (SLO) 
Vizura BEOGRAD (SRB)   
Volero ZÜRICH (SUI) 
Fenerbahce Grundig ISTANBUL (TUR) 
VakifBank ISTANBUL (TUR) 
Eczacibasi VitrA ISTANBUL (TUR) 

Three wild cards to complete the 24-team field were awarded to: 

Azerrail BAKU (AZE) 
Nordmeccanica PIACENZA (ITA) 
Impel WROCLAW (POL) 

Five teams – Rocheville LE CANNET, Allianz MTV STUTTGART, Pomi CASALMAGGIORE, CS Volei Alba BLAJ and Calcit KAMNIK – will all be making their debut in this elite class with the CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League expanding its horizons for Calcit KAMNIK are the first women’s team from Slovenia to achieve this feat. This comes only a few days after Slovenia women’s national team qualified for the first time in their history for the Final Round of the CEV Volleyball European Championship to further testify the impressive growth experienced by Volleyball in this country. Azerbaijan, Italy, Poland, Russia and Turkey all have three teams in the competition to further cement their status as Europe’s strongholds in women’s Volleyball. The Champions League is also returning to the Italian city of Novara - Asystel used to be a major force to be reckoned with in the past and won a silver medal in 2005 and bronze in 2008. 

“The class of 2016 is an impressive one,” says CEV President André Meyer, “and I am especially pleased with the many newcomers we can welcome to the upcoming edition of the CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League. We already look forward to a great Volleyball night and to the DOL scheduled for July 2 in Vienna and also to the start of another terrific season where the world’s best Volleyball players will yet again mesmerise hundreds of thousands with their amazing skills and performances.” 

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