T&T volleyballer, Marc-Anthony Honore and SL Benfica stayed top of the Portugal Men’s Volleyball Honda A-1 Division after a straight-sets win over VianaSaturday.
Playing on the road at the Santa Maria Maior Municipal Stadium in Viana do Castelo, Honore and his club-mates seemed right at home and won comfortably, 25-18, 25-14, 25-16 to improve their win-loss record to 8-1 and 24 points, five clear of second-placed Sporting CP (7-2), and AJF Bastardo (6-2) while SC Espinho sits in the fourth and final semifinal playoff spot with a 5-4 mark and 15 points.
The trio of Castelo Maia (1-7), Viana (1-7) and Caldas (0-5) complete the eight-team table with three, three, and one point, respectively.
Winners already of a record ninth Super cup last November, SL Benfica is also through to the quarterfinals of the Portugal Cup where they will face Sao Mamede.
This after Benfica brushed aside SC Espinho 25-20, 25-18, 25-17 in their round-of-16 clash last Wednesday at Arena Tigre, Espinho, while Sao Mamede ousted Ginastica 25-18, 26-24, 25-23.
Sl Benfica will return to A-1 league action in a top-of-the-table clash with Sporting on Wednesday followed by a meeting with Espinho, three days later.
At the end of the two rounds of home-and-away second-round league matches (14), the top four clubs will contest the semi-finals ahead of the championship series.
Before the start of the eight-team second-round series, SL Benfica ended the shortened regular-season due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic with a perfect 13-0 record and 39 points, nine clear of Sporting CP and Viana, (10-2) who both had a match in hand.
So far this season, Benfica has already lifted the Portugal Super Cup for a third straight season.
This after they swept SC Espinho in straight sets, 25-16, 25-17, 25-21 on November 4.
The win marked the tenth time Benfica had lifted the Super Cup trophy, the most in the history of the competition.
In European competition, Benfica was beaten in the quarterfinal of the CEV Challenge Cup by Turkey’s Halkbank, 25-21, 18-26, 16-25, 21-25.
On Sunday, in the Turkish Women’s Volleyball Championship, senior women’s national team middle-blocker Sinead Jack-Kisal and Ilbank, 14th on the 16-team table with a 7-19 record ahead only of Besiktas (1-25) and winless Beylikduzu Voleybol Ihtisas who has a record of 0-25 faces second-placed Fenerbache who has 68 points from a 23-2 record, four points adrift of leaders VakifBank (24-1).