In front of a superb crowd of 10.000 in the Antwerp Sportpaleis, Knack Roeselare conquered the 16th Belgian Cup in the club’s history by sending off their neighbours of Decospan Menen 3 sets to 1.

Even if they couldn’t repeat last year’s 3-0 victory, the Roeselare stars proved once again that they are the ruthless powerhouse of Belgian volleyball.

Moreover, their youngest players Seppe Rotty and Simon Plaskie gave each other a hard time in the race for the title of best scorer of this final, with Rotty ending on top with 18 vs. 17 points.

For Menen, Marin Dukic excelled with 13 points.

Set 1: 17-25

Knack Roeselare clearly aimed for a repeat of last year’s three set victory over Decospan Menen. Pieter Coolman created the perfect start with two killblocks for 6-9. Jasper Verhamme replied with a succesful spike, killblock and ace: 8-9. Yet Estonian Treial propelled the Blue Army to a new 11-15 bonus, leading up to 17-25.

Set 2: 27-25

With an early ace Seppe Van Hoyweghen raised the level of challenger Menen. The 18 year young Elliot De Vleeschauwer kept his team in the lead until 15-14. Simon Plaskie turned the tide for 19-21, but when Roeselare missed its setpoint at 23-24, Marin Dukic levelled the tie a set apiece with 27-25

Set 3: 16-25

The highly experience side of Roeselare bounced back immediately. Seppe Rotty killed Menen’s opposition with a series of very effective serves: from 6-8 to 6-14, leading to an easy 16-25.

Set 4: 12-25

The blues maintained their high level, crushing the last hopes of their opponents with an early 1-7 lead. With 6-16 in the pocket, captain Matthijs Verhanneman and his teammates could already start celebrating their club’s 16th Belgian Cup.

(17-25, 26-24, 16-25, 12-25)

Decospan Menen – Knack Roeselare 1-3