Jesi.Cucine Lube (Civitanova) won the fourth edition of the international Jesi Volley Cup tournament, after defeating Allianz Milano 3:1 (25:23, 29:31, 25:21, 25:14) in the final. Bulgarian national player Simeon Nikolov was chosen as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the competition, and his brother Alex finished as the top scorer for the winners with 16 points.

In front of 2017 spectators in the "PalaTricolli" hall in Jesi, Giampaolo Medei's team achieved its second victory of the weekend, after defeating the Japanese Suntory Sunbirds Osaka with the same result in Saturday's semi-final. This is Lube's second trophy from three appearances in the final in the four-year history of the tournament.

Simeon Nikolov started as a setter and finished the match with 5 points. The Bulgarian made an important contribution to the comeback in the third set, when Lube made a series of five consecutive points on his serve and turned their 8:12 deficit into a 13:12 lead. Alex Nikolov scored 16 points, although he did not play in the fourth set. The Bulgarian outside hitter was particularly effective in the second and third sets, scoring 8 and 6 points respectively.

Mattia Bottolo added 10, and Davide Gardini finished with 9. For Milano, led by Guillermo Falasca, the top scorer in the match was Belgian opposite Basil Derom with 19 points. Bulgarian national player Georgi Tatarov started as a starter and finished with 5 points. The first set saw a continuous exchange of leads, before Lube won it 25:23. Milano responded in the second set, saving three set points and equalizing after 31:29. In the third set, the visitors took a four-point lead, but the serving run by Simeon Nikolov changed the course of the game. Lube won 25:21, and in the fourth set Medei gave more reserves a chance. The hosts of the final quickly built a lead and closed the match with a decisive 25:14. Lube had an advantage in attack with 57% success rate against 49% for Milano, as well as in direct service points - 7 against 2. Falasca's team was more effective in blocking - 8:6. However, the winners made 29 unforced errors from serve against 27 for the opponent. The tournament in Jesi was the last serious test for the two Italian teams before the start of the new SuperLega season. On October 17, Lube will visit Verona in the first round of the championship.

photos: Nikolay Varadinov