Azernews.Az

The 2015 edition of the CEV DenizBank Volleyball Champions League got started on June 27 with the Drawing of Lots that assigned teams to the preliminary pools whereby the competition will get underway in early November, AzerTag state news agency reported.

28 men's and 20 women's teams will start their quest for making it to the last and most exciting stage of the tournament scheduled for late March/early April next year.

The DOL was held at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, in combination with the annual European Volleyball Gala co-hosted by the CEV and the Austrian Volleyball Federation on June 27.

Once again the winners of this elite club competition will get the right to represent Europe at the next edition of the FIVB Club World Championships.

The 20 teams participating in the women's competition were drawn first after being pre-seeded as per the latest European Ranking List.

The composition of the five preliminary Pools reads as follows:
Pool A: Dinamo Kazan (RUS), Rabita Baku (AZE), Chemik Police (POL), Agel Prostejov (CZE)
Pool B: Fenerbahce Istanbul (TUR), Azeryol Baku (AZE), Nantes VB (FRA), Stiinta Bacau (ROU)
Pool C: Dinamo Moscow (RUS), Unendo Yamamay Busto Arsizio (ITA), Dresdner SC (GER), LP Salo (FIN)
Pool D: Eczacibasi VitrA Istanbul (TUR), Omichka Omsk Region (RUS), Impel Wroclaw (POL), Volero Zürich (SUI)
Pool E: VakifBank Istanbul (TUR), Nordmeccanica Piacenza (ITA), RC Cannes (FRA), Partizan Vizura Beograd (SRB)

After a double round robin accounting for 60 matches in total, the 1st, 2nd and the two 3rd placed teams with the best score will progress to the Playoffs 12.

The League Round of the women's competition will start on November 11 and come to an end on January 28, 2015. The winners of the Playoffs 12 will then move on to the Playoffs 6 and vie there for a spot in the Final Four tournament which is due to take place on April 4-5, 2015.

Russia's Dinamo Kazan, the reigning European and world champions, will be trying to retain their crown but won't have it easy playing already in the group stage Azerbaijan's Rabita Baku, their opponent in the semis of the 2014 edition.