Club history

Mavoc Maaseik, first name of the Maaseiker volleyball club, was founded on 17th of March 1960 out of a team of students of the “Heilig-Kruis College” of Maaseik. In '75 -'76 the name Mavoc changed into D & V Motors (main sponsor) and the club celebrated the promotion to the highest level in Belgium (ere-divisie, now LIGA A). Our team is since '76, without interruption, playing in this league, the start of an impressive club record.

In '85 -'86 the firm SCANA NOLIKO became our main sponsor and Mathi Raedschelders our President: this gave a positive impulse to our club and turned out to be the start of a success story lasting already for more than 25 years. NOLIKO Maaseik, with Jos Klaps as Head coach, won the Belgian cup and became vice-champion. On 01.11.86 NOLIO Maaseik played its First European game against SC Leipzig.

In '90 -'91 the club won its first National title and the second cup, Head coach was Bert Goedkoop and Eddy Evens was selected Most Valuable Player of the season. Furthermore there was the foundation of the business club AGORA "Business friends NOLIKO Maaseik". A new building was constructed consisting out of permanent offices and a high quality restaurant. In '93-'94 and '94-'95 we reached the quarterfinals of the CEV-cup where we lost from Padova (ITA) and Nizhnevartovsk (RUS). Since 1996, coached by Anders Kristiansson, we played Champions League and we obtained following results:'96 (5th) - '97 (2nd), lost the final from Modena (ITA) - '98 (4th) - '99 (2nd) lost final from Treviso (ITA) in Almeria - '00 (3th) we won against Vienna in Treviso. Since 2001 we play without interruption in the Champions League “new style” (only the German club Friedrichshafen did better). In 2008 we became second in the final-4 of the CEV-cup after losing from Roma (ITA) in Rome. All players and coaches are full professionals; they practice approximately 20 hours a week (without the games). The administration and organization is done by 3 full-time staff members and a high number of volunteers.

SCANA NOLIKO NV and the club decided to continue the cooperation that already started in 1985: this long cooperation is unique in the history of Belgian sports. Due to Champions League requirements NOLIKO Maaseik had to move in 2001 to the Expodroom in Bree for the European home games. However in 2008 the club opened the brand new, magnificent LOTTO Dôme. A paradise for volleyball, 2600 seats in an arena, all with a perfect view on the court. In the top of the hall there is a VIP-lounge, downstairs there are a restaurant and a cafeteria for all fans. Next to the cafeteria there is a bowling hall with a link to the Aqua-Dôme, a swimming paradise with wellness. Next to the brilliant new accommodation we continued doing well with the team. After a very successful period of 12 years coach Anders Kristiansson was succeeded by Vital Heynen who has been NOLIKO’s setter for almost 20 years!

On 17th of March 2010 NOLIKO Maaseik celebrated its 50 years existence! A few weeks later NOLIKO organized the final four of the CEV Cup, were Cuneo, with former NOLIKO player Wout Wijsmans, and got gold and NOLIKO Maaseik won bronze by beating the Italian Champion Piacenza with 3-1! 2009-2010 was a very successful year for NOLIKO: winning the supercup, the National cup, European Bronze and Vice-Champion. In the season 2010-2011 we won the National title again, number 13 in the history of the club, after beating Euphony Asse-Lennik with 3-1 in the finals of the play-offs. For the First time in 15 years Knack Randstad was not our opponent in this final. Unfortunately we lost the final of the National cup from Roeselare. After a heroic game we lost 2-3 although we were leading with a 14-12 score in the tie-break. In the Champions League we very closely missed the Final Four! After a close 3-2 lost in the final 6 against Jastrzebski in Poland we won our home match with a clear 3-0. The golden set had to decide! We lost this set dramatically with 15-17 and saw a dream fall apart! Despite this experience we can look back at a wonderful campaign with a very remarkable 3-1 win against Italian Champion Cuneo resulting in winning the Poole. The season 2011-2012 was another remarkable one: Belgian Champion, winner of the cup and supercup and qualification for PO 12 where we met world champion Trentino. The season 2012-2013 started with a clear victory in the supercup against Euphony Asse-Lennik. The team managed to win all games in the league round of the Champions League and qualified as winner of the pool for PO 12. The Polish team of Zaksa Kedzierzyn-Kozle was our opponent in PO 12, after a dramatic return Kedzierzyn-Kozle managed to qualify for PO 6. The Belgian cup and championship were won by Knack Roeselare, clearly and well deserved! The team of NOLIKO Maaseik 2013-2014 is a complete new one with 7 new players and new coaches: Vincenzo Di Pinto as head coach assisted by Giovanni Torchio as assistant.