Trento, 11 March 2025

CEV Cup, on Wednesday at ilT quotidiano Arena the semifinal home match

Trentino Itas shifts its focus back to the 2025 CEV Cup: on Wednesday, March 12, at the ilT Quotidiano Arena in Trento, the reigning European Champions will host Turkey’s Ziraat Bank Ankara for the first leg of the Semifinal. First serve is scheduled for 8:30 PM, with live coverage on DAZN and Radio Dolomiti.
TRENTINO ITAS REPORT The Yellow blue are set to play the most crucial match of their European campaign, entering the fixture with an impressive record of fourteen wins in their first fifteen matches of 2025 and three consecutive straight-set victories, the most recent secured just last Saturday against Cisterna on the same court.
“We are facing a high-level double clash, perfectly fitting for a European competition semifinal” explained head coach Fabio Soli. “Ziraat Bank Ankara, whom we will meet twice in one week, is a team of great quality, featuring an outstanding trio of outside hitters and currently leading the standings in one of the strongest national leagues, the Turkish Championship. For the first time this season, we will play the first leg at home before chasing qualification in the return match. Our approach to the game will be a key factor in this encounter; we are up against a team with no evident weaknesses and strong fundamentals. It will be crucial to make the most of every opportunity we create in different game situations”.
Trentino Itas will complete its preparation for the match with training sessions on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning at the ilT Quotidiano Arena, which is set to host Trentino Volley’s 87th international match. The club's European record stands at 73 wins and 13 losses, only three of which have come in the CEV Cup. The last defeat in this specific competition dates back to nearly a decade ago: April 4, 2015, a 1-3 loss to Dinamo Moscow in the first leg of the 2015 final, which was ultimately lost to the Russian side in the golden set.
TWELFTH CONTINENTAL SEMIFINAL IN TRENTINO VOLLEY HISTORY The semifinal kicking off on Wednesday will mark Trentino Volley’s fourth semifinal appearance in five CEV Cup campaigns. The only time they were eliminated before this stage was in the 2004 edition—their debut in the competition—when their journey ended in the Round of 16. In the three previous semifinals they contested (2015, 2017, and 2019), Trento always secured a spot in the final, winning the trophy once (2019 edition). Overall, the Yellow blue have played eleven European competition semifinals, including eight appearances in the CEV Champions League (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2016, 2021, 2022, and 2024). In seven of these instances, they successfully advanced to the final.
THE OPPONENTS Ziraat Bank Ankara arrives in Trento for its second consecutive European competition semifinal, the third in club history. The red-and-white team, founded in 1981, had previously reached this stage in the last edition of the CEV Champions League (eliminated by Poland’s Jastrzębski) and in the 2021 CEV Challenge Cup, where they advanced to the final but narrowly missed out on the title, which went to Allianz Milano—a team that featured Sbertoli and Pesaresi in its roster. Domestically, Ziraat Bank boasts an impressive trophy cabinet, including three consecutive Turkish league titles (2021-2023), one Turkish Cup (2010), four Super Cups (2010, 2021, 2022, 2023), and a Balkan Cup (2018). This season marks their eighth appearance in the CEV Cup, where they have been dominant so far, winning all eight matches, including victories over high-profile teams like Galatasaray and Las Palmas. In the Turkish league, they sit firmly at the top of the standings, with only three losses in 23 matches and a commanding 13-point lead over their closest rival, Fenerbahçe. Head coach Kavaz, who took over from Italian Stefano Santilli in February 2022, has a roster packed with talent, particularly in high-ball situations. The starting outside hitters are American Anderson (formerly of Vibo, Modena, and Perugia) and Frenchman Clévenot (MVP of the Paris Olympics, previously with Milano and Piacenza in Italy). In the opposite position, Kavaz has two top-tier options: Slovenian Stern (ex-Latina, Padova, and Verona) and Dutchman Ter Maat. All other players are domestic, except for the third outside hitter, Zonca (Italian, formerly with Santa Croce and Ravenna). Several members of the Turkish national team feature in the starting lineup, including setter Yenipazar, middle blockers Bülbül and Savaş, and Bayraktar, completing the six-man core. Ziraat Bank Ankara’s Lineup: 1. Matt Anderson (sp), 2. Wouter Ter Maat (o), 3. Hilmi Sahin (se), 4. Ünal Ergün (se), 5. Toncek Stern (o), 6. Vahit Emre Savas (m), 7. Bedirhan Bülbül (m), 8. Bugra Bayrak (sp), 9. Haci Sahin (m), 11. Murat Yenipazar (se), 13. Paolo Zonca (sp), 14. Faik Samed Günes (m), 17. Trevor Clevenot (sp), 18. Zeka Cagatay Kir (l), 19. Berkay Baykatar (l), 20. Aykut Gedik (sp). Coach Mustafa Kavaz.
THE COMPETITION FORMAT The 2025 CEV Cup includes the execution of seven double turns (back and forth) of matches (Round of 64, Round of 32, Round of 16, Play Off, Quarterfinals - already disputed, Semifinals and Finals) with direct elimination; the team that gets the most points in the two games qualifies itself for the next round, with the points awarded like in the championship: 3 for the victory by 3-0 or 3-1, 2 for success at the tie break, 1 for defeat at the tie break (golden set to 15 points in case of tie). Whoever makes it through the round will be facing the winning team between Rzeszow e Tours (first leg scheduled today in Poland).
THE BACKGROUND Wednesday will be the first official confrontation in history between the two Clubs; the only other encounter was a friendly pre-season match played in Trento on the 3rd of October 2014 (3-1 for the home team with sets of 25-21, 25-23, 23-25, 25-19). Trentino Volley has played two matches in its history against another team from Ankara (the Halkbank) right in the CEV Cup, losing both: 2005 edition of the tournament, double 1-3 in the round of 16 (on 7 December 2004 at home, eight days later in Turkey). It was the only occasion where Trento did not play in the CEV Cup Final the moment it took part in the competition. Against Turkey, the yellow-blue Club has played a total of fifteen official matches, with twelve wins and just three losses.
THE REFEREES The match will be refereed by Atanas Varbanov, first Bulgarian referee from Sofia, and Agnes Batkai-Katona, second referee from Budapest (Hungary). Both have previous experience compared to Trentino Volley: Varbanov crossed the yellow-blues on the 19th of February 2019 in the CEV Cup quarter-final return match, which was won 3-0 over the Swiss Amriswil (debut of Alessandro Michieletto in first team) and then also on January 15th, 2025 in Brasov (3-1 for Trento, first leg of the Play Off), while Batkai-Katona met them during the first leg of the Final of the 2017 CEV Cup on April 12th (Trento-Tours 3-0).
RADIO AND INTERNET The match will be reported in full and direct report by Radio Dolomiti, network partner of the Trentino Volley; the connections with the ilT quotidiano Arena will be made from 20.35 onwards. The frequencies for listening to the regional network are available on www.radiodolomiti.com, where you can also listen to the radio news in live streaming. 
There is a live schedule on DAZN, a live streaming and on-demand platform available on a wide range of Internet-connected devices including smart TVs, PCs, smartphones, tablets and gaming consoles. Requires registration; the service will be free of charge.
In order to follow the point-by-point development of the match, one can refer to the official CEV website on www.cev.eu/match-centres/2025-european-cups/cev-volleyball-cup-2025-men/ccm-83-trentino-itas-v-ziraat-bank-ankara/, which will provide live scoring, or that of Trentino Volley www.trentinovolley.it, which will offer the set-by-set report a few minutes after the conclusion of each. Likewise, the updates are and will always be active on the yellow-blue social networks, especially on www.trentinovolley.it/instagram and www.trentinovolley.it/twitter.
TICKET OFFICE The match is included in the 2024/25 season pass. You can buy tickets for the single game at any time on the internet, by clicking https://trentinovolley.vivaticket.it/it/event/semifinale-cev-cup-2025-trentino-itas-vs-zirat/262058. The tickets will also be available on Wednesday at the counters of ilT quotidiano Arena, active from 19.30 onwards, same time that the entrances to the hall will be opened.

Trentino Volley Srl
Press Office