Luca Vettori of Diatecx Trentino tries to get through the Fakel Novy Urengoy block of Denis Bogdan and Andrey Ananev as the Italian side wins to advance to the final of the 2018 FIVB Men's Club World Championship in Czestochowa.
Czestochowa, Poland, December 1, 2018 - Diatecx Trentino go for an unprecedented fifth title after they beat Russia's Fakel Novy Urengoy 3-1 (22-25, 25-14, 25-16, 25-19) in the second semifinal of the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship to set up an all-Italian final against Cucine Libe Civitanova who had qualified earlier on Saturday evening.
Artur Udrys and Ivan Iakovlev try to block Uros Kovacevic's two-handed attempt as Fakel Novy Urengoy go down to Diatecx Trentino in Saturday's semifinals at the 2018 FIVB Men's Club World Championship.Sunday's medals matches in Czestochowa:• Bronze medal - 17:30 local time (16:30 GMT): Asseco Resovia Rzeszow (POL) v Fakel Novy Urengoy (RUS)
• Final - 20:30 local time (19:30 GMT): Cucine Lube Civitanova (ITA) v Diatecx Trentino (ITA)
Trentino kept up with Fakel until 21-21 in the first set, but then the Russian side broke away with a 3-0 run to reach set point and Dmitry Volkov promptly brought it home with a kill uncontested on the net, on the first opportunity for a timeout.
But that was Fakel's swan song, as Trentino picked up and totally dominated the rest of the match, on the net and from the service line, with Uros Kovaevic leading the scoring for the winners on 18 points - level with the best scorer of Fakel, Artur Udrys.
Srecko Lisinac, libero Jenia Grebennikov, and Luca Vettori celebrate as Diatecx Trentino qualify for the final of the 2018 FIVB Men's Club World Championship, Saturday night in Czestochowa.The only other time two teams from the same country met in a Club World Championship final was 26 years ago, when in another all-Italian clash Misura Milan beat Sisley Treviso 3-2 in 1992. That was also the only time in the history of the competition that the medals round was an all-European affair.
It is the first time since 2012 that a Russian club does not feature in a final.
Trentino were club world champions four years in a row, from 2009 to 2012. That was also the last time an Italian club won the world title.
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