# 2016–17 CEV Women's Challenge Cup

The 2016–17 CEV Women's Challenge Cup was the 37th edition of the European Challenge Cup volleyball club tournament, the former "CEV Cup".

## Format

The tournament was played on a knockout format, with 32 teams participating. On 30 June 2016, a drawing of lots in Varna, Bulgaria, determined the team's pairing for each match. Each team plays a home and an away match with result points awarded for each leg (3 points for 3–0 or 3–1 wins, 2 points for 3–2 win, 1 point for 2–3 loss). After two legs, the team with the most result points advances to the next round. In case the teams are tied after two legs, a Golden Set is played immediately at the completion of the second leg. The Golden Set winner is the team that first obtains 15 points, provided that the points difference between the two teams is at least 2 points (thus, the Golden Set is similar to a tiebreak set in a normal match).

## Participating teams

* Drawing of lots for the 32 participating team was held in Varna, Bulgaria on 30 June 2016.
| Rank | Country | Vacancies | Qualified teams |
| 1 | Turkey | 2 | Bursa BBSK |
| 1 | Turkey | 2 | Çanakkale BK |
| 2 | Russia | 1 | Yenisei Krasnoyarsk |
| 5 | France | 1 | ASPTT Mulhouse |
| 7 | Germany | 1 | Schweriner SC |
| 8 | Switzerland | 1 | Viteos Neuchâtel Université |
| 9 | Romania | 2 | CSM București |
| 9 | Romania | 2 | Ştiinţa Bacău |
| 10 | Czech Republic | 2 | Královo Pole Brno |
| 10 | Czech Republic | 2 | TJ Ostrava |
| 12 | Belgium | 3 | Asterix Avo Beveren |
| 12 | Belgium | 3 | Dauphines Charleroi |
| 12 | Belgium | 3 | VC Oudegem |
| 13 | Finland | 2 | LP Kangasala |
| 13 | Finland | 2 | OrPo Orivesi |
| 16 | Greece | 2 | AON Pannaxiakos Naxos |
| 16 | Greece | 2 | Olympiacos Piraeus |
| 17 | Austria | 3 | PSVBG Salzburg |
| 17 | Austria | 3 | UVC Holding Graz |
| 17 | Austria | 3 | VB Niederösterreich Post SV |
| 21 | Norway | 1 | Randaberg IL |
| 22 | Croatia | 2 | Marina Kaštela |
| 22 | Croatia | 2 | OK Poreč |
| 24 | Hungary | 1 | Vasas Óbuda Budapest |
| 25 | Spain | 2 | CV Haris Tenerife |
| 25 | Spain | 2 | Naturhouse Ciudad de Logroño |
| 26 | Slovakia | 2 | 1. BVK Bratislava |
| 26 | Slovakia | 2 | Slávia EU Bratislava |
| 27 | Cyprus | 1 | AEL Limassol |
| 30 | Bulgaria | 1 | Levski Sofia |
| 34 | Kosovo | 1 | KV Skenderaj |
| 34 | Portugal | 1 | AVC Famalicão |

## Main phase
### 16th Final

* 1st leg (Team #1 home) 14–15 December 2016
* 2nd leg (Team #2 home) 10–12 January 2017
| Match# | Team #1 | Results | Team #2 |
| 1 | Ştiinţa Bacău | 1 – 3 1 – 3 | Bursa BBSK |
| 2* | Slávia EU Bratislava | 3 – 1 3 – 1 | UVC Holding Graz |
| 3 | Naturhouse Ciudad de Logroño | 3 – 0 3 – 1 | AVC Famalicão |
| 4 | CV Haris Tenerife | 1 – 3 3 – 2 | Dauphines Charleroi |
| 5 | VC Oudegem | 0 – 3 0 – 3 | Viteos Neuchâtel Université |
| 6 | AEL Limassol | 3 – 0 1 – 3 Golden Set: 15–5 | 1. BVK Bratislava |
| 7 | Randaberg IL | 0 – 3 0 – 3 | LP Kangasala |
| 8 | OrPo Orivesi | 0 – 3 0 – 3 | Schweriner SC |
| 9* | Asterix Avo Beveren | 3 – 1 3 – 1 | ASPTT Mulhouse |
| 10 | KV Skenderaj | 1 – 3 0 – 3 | Vasas Óbuda Budapest |
| 11 | Çanakkale BK | 3 – 0 3 – 0 | Levski Sofia |
| 12 | Olympiacos Piraeus | 3 – 0 3 – 0 | CSM București |
| 13 | OK Poreč | 0 – 3 0 – 3 | TJ Ostrava |
| 14 | Královo Pole Brno | 3 – 0 3 – 1 | VB Niederösterreich Post SV |
| 15 | Marina Kaštela | 3 – 2 3 – 0 | PSVBG Salzburg |
| 16* | AON Pannaxiakos Naxos | 0 – 3 0 – 3 | Yenisei Krasnoyarsk |
*Notes:
* Match# 2 – The second leg was played on 17 January 2017.
* Match# 9 – The order of the fixtures was reversed, the second leg was played in France on 14 December 2016 and the first leg in Belgium on 12 January 2017. The table keeps the order (team 1 and 2) as per draw result.
* Match# 16 – Due to lack of financial resources to travel to Russia, Pannaxiakos withdrew from the competition on 5 December 2016. The CEV awarded both legs to Yenisei Krasnoyarsk.

### 8th Final

* 1st leg (Team #1 home) 24–25 January 2017
* 2nd leg (Team #2 home) 7–9 February 2017
| Match# | Team #1 | Results | Team #2 |
| 17 | Slávia EU Bratislava | 0 – 3 1 – 3 | Bursa BBSK |
| 18 | Naturhouse Ciudad de Logroño | 3 – 1 3 – 0 | Dauphines Charleroi |
| 19 | Viteos Neuchâtel Université | 3 – 1 3 – 0 | AEL Limassol |
| 20 | Schweriner SC | 3 – 0 3 – 0 | LP Kangasala |
| 21 | Asterix Avo Beveren | 3 – 1 3 – 2 | Vasas Óbuda Budapest |
| 22 | Çanakkale BK | 2 – 3 2 – 3 | Olympiacos Piraeus |
| 23 | TJ Ostrava | 3 – 0 3 – 1 | Královo Pole Brno |
| 24 | Yenisei Krasnoyarsk | 3 – 0 3 – 0 | Marina Kaštela |

### 4th Final

* 1st leg (Team #1 home) 22–23 February 2017
* 2nd leg (Team #2 home) 7–9 March 2017
| Match# | Team #1 | Results | Team #2 |
| 25 | Naturhouse Ciudad de Logroño | 1 – 3 0 – 3 | Bursa BBSK |
| 26 | Viteos Neuchâtel Université | 0 – 3 0 – 3 | Schweriner SC |
| 27 | Asterix Avo Beveren | 2 – 3 1 – 3 | Olympiacos Piraeus |
| 28 | TJ Ostrava | 1 – 3 0 – 3 | Yenisei Krasnoyarsk |

## Final phase
### Semifinals

* 1st leg (Team #1 home) 29 March 2017
* 2nd leg (Team #2 home) 2 April 2017
| Match# | Team #1 | Results | Team #2 |
| 29 | Schweriner SC | 1 – 3 3 – 2 | Bursa BBSK |
| 30 | Olympiacos Piraeus | 3 – 1 0 – 3 Golden Set: 15–13 | Yenisei Krasnoyarsk |

### Finals

* 1st leg (Team #1 home) 12 April 2017
* 2nd leg (Team #2 home) 15 April 2017
| Match# | Team #1 | Results | Team #2 |
| 31 | Olympiacos Piraeus | 3 – 2 0 – 3 | Bursa BBSK |
* 2016–17 CEV Women's Challenge Cup Champions
* Bursa BBSK 2nd title

## Awards

| Award | Winner | Team |
| MVP | Özge Kırdar | Bursa BBSK |