Saturday 15 November at 6.30pm
Acqua Paradiso Gabeca Montichiari – Marmi Lanza Verona LIVE ON SKY SPORT 2
(Perri – Pessolano)
Sunday 16 November at 6pm
Yoga Forli – Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo
(Piersanti – Ravallese)
Antonveneta Padova – Lube Banca Marche Macerata
(Mastrodonato – Cipolla)
Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia – Stamplast Martina Franca
(Saltalippi – Santi)
RPA-LuigiBacchi.it Perugia – Sisley Treviso
(Sampaolo – Pasquali)
Sunday 16 November at 7pm
Itas Diatec Trentino – Copra Nordmeccanica Piacenza DIRETTA SKY SPORT 2
(Padoan – Sobrero)
Monday 17 November at 8.30pm
Framasil Pineto – Trenkwalder Modena LIVE ON SKY SPORT 2
(Cesare – Caltabiano)
SERIE A1 TIM TABLE
Itas Diatec Trentino 18; Lube Banca Marche Macerata 17; Acqua Paradiso Gabeca Montichiari, Copra Nordmeccanica Piacenza 15; Sisley Treviso 13; Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo, RPA-LuigiBacchi.it Perugia 12; Marmi Lanza Verona 11; Stamplast Martina Franca 9; Framasil Pineto 8; Trenkwalder Modena 7; Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia, Yoga Forli 5; Antonveneta Padova 0.
YOGA FORLI – BRE BANCA LANNUTTI CUNEO
Past encounters: 6 (5-1 Cuneo).
Last game: Noicon Alpitour Cuneo vs Conad Volley Forli 3-0 in 2000-01, 12th round.
Record Chaser: Just one point needed for Gregor Jeroncic to reach the 2000 between regular season and playoffs. Wout Wijmans could reach two different milestones: he needs 9 spikes to get to the 3000 and 4 blocks for the 300.
Piero Molducci (Allenatore Yoga Forli): “Our win over Martina Franca proved we were in the race to stay up and not a ridiculous team like some thought. Now, we’ll face Cuneo and we’ll go for it like we’ve always done”.
Francesco Biribanti (Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo): “Given the difficulties we’re having at the moment , we have to be really careful against Forli. It would be a great mistake to underestimate this team. On Sunday, we have to be focused to get the points we need to get up the table. We’re looking for consistency in our game, and we’re looking to play at our best which we only managed to do in some games, and finally we’re looking for a better understanding between the players”.
ANTONVENETA PADOVA – LUBE BANCA MARCHE MACERATA
Past encounters: 31 (25-6 Macerata).
Last game: Antonveneta Padova – Lube Banca Marche Macerata 1-3 in 2007/08, 5th round return games.
Record chaser: Martin Lebl is 11 spikes away from the 500 between regular season and playoffs. His teammates at Lacerata, Matteo Martino, will celebrate his 100th appearance of his career and maybe the 1000 points. On the other side of the net, Lorenzo Perazzolo is 8 points away from the 1000 in regular season.
Giordano Mattera (Antonveneta Padova): “We’re training really well right now and it’s a shame not to translate this work into points. We deserved at least a point against Treviso, while in Verona we started off well. Unfortunately, we did not manage to impose our game, we have to improve in these situations to hang on to our lead. We should not be afraid to play against Macerata. This should motivate us even more to obtain these first points of the season, which we want to do as soon as possible”.
Marko Podrascanin (Lube Banca Marche Macerata): “We’re going through a good patch, be that in terms of play or results, even though we obviously have a lot of work to do to improve. We’re on the right track and want to keep going this way, no matter who the opponent is. Padova could seem to be an easy game, but it could be lethal to take it too lightly. They need points and against Macerata, they will try everything possible to obtain them. We’ll have to be concentrated from the start and try to impose our game from the word ‘go’ “.
TONNO CALLIPO VIBO VALENTIA – STAMPLAST MARTINA FRANCA
Past encounters: 4 (2 wins each)
Last game: Prisma Taranto – Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia 3-1 in 2006/07, 10th round return games.
Rafael Vieira De Oliveira (Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia): “The win over Treviso arrived with perfect timing! That gave us a lot of energy and confidence to work during the week with the right state of mind. We’re on the right track, we proved we were improving and hopefully it will be confirmed on Sunday at home against Martina Franca. With the support of our amazing fans, our target will be one and only: finally win in our PalaValentia gym. It will be a battle because Martina Franca is an excellent team, but we are up for it and we want to hand our Fans and chairman this victory”.
Manuel Coscione (Stamplast Martina Franca): “We’ll have to be especially careful with the outside hitter Simeonov, a player that becomes a real threat once he’s in rhythm. It will be our duty not to let him the chance to get into that rhythm. But the whole team is keen to battle, it will be a tough game but we have to go for points”.
RPA-LUIGIBACCHI.IT PERUGIA – SISLEY TREVISO
Past encounters: 19 (16-3 Treviso).
Last game: RPA-LuigiBacchi.it Perugia – Sisley Treviso 1-3 in 2007/08, 3rd round return game.
Record chaser: 5 blocks is all that is needed to Vigor Bovolenta to reach the 1100 between regular season and playoffs. Talking about blocks, Alberto Cisolla is only three away from the 400. Stefan Hubner could also reach a new milestone: he needs 2 blocks to get to the 500 and one ace to reach the hundred.
Damiano Pippi (RPA-LuigiBacchi.it Perugia): “I know very well Treviso, and I know they struggle to recover from defeats. They can’t afford another one but we need to create an upset, to step up a level. We’ll try to take advantage of every little mistake Treviso might make. Our record so far is positive after 7 games but we can do better”.
Samuele Papi (Sisley Treviso): “It will be a difficult matchup, Perugia is an excellent team and they will be ready to put us under pressure. Right now, we’re having a lot of ups and downs, we lose unexpected games so they’ll look to take advantage of that. Perugia is a well-organised team, with quality players, it will be tough. I think our reception will be key, this is one aspect of our game we really need to improve. They use the jump serve in many on their team and like everyone against us, they’ll try to serve hard in order to put our reception under pressure even if that means risking the mistakes. We’ll win in their PalaEvangelisti only if we find our rhythm in reception, because ours is a totally different game when our reception works fine”.
ITAS DIATEC TRENTINO – COPRA NORDMECCANICA PIACENZA
Past encounters: 20 (10 wins each)
Last game: Itas Diatec Trentino vs Copra Nordmeccanica Piacenza 3-0 in 2007/08, League final game 3.
Record chaser: Michal Winiarski could reach the 500 spikes, he only needs 2 in regular season. Hristo Zlatanov is only two blocks away from the 600 between regular season and playoffs.
Nikola Grbic (Itas Diatec Trentino): “Even if I played for Piacenza in the past, it’s become a game like any others, similar to the ones I can play against Montichiari, Cuneo and Treviso, all teams in which I played. I have great memories from Piacenza but it’s also true that a lot of time has passed since my last game for them. I surely cherish my memories and the friends I made there in those four seasons; but now my career has gone on and I haven’t thought more than normal about this game”.
Marco Meoni (Copra Nordmeccanica Piacenza): “Piacenza and Trento have already met many times so that is almost a normal, routine game. It will be an important test to check where we stand given that we face the league leaders without the pressure of having to get a result at all cost”.
FRAMASIL PINETO – TRENKWALDER MODENA
Never met before
Marco Vicini (Framasil Pineto): “It won’t be an easy game against Modena. They struggled a bit at the beginning of the season but it’s a team built to win. It’s a top level group and they proved they were on their way back in the last game. We prepared this game with great determination, we worked hard. We are aware this will be a tricky game but we want to get some points after the last two defeats. We finally go back to our Palamagetti gym and our fans will give us something extra”.
Andrea Giani (Allenatore Trenkwalder Modena): “It will be an important game for us because we’ll start facing a series of teams that will fight to make it to the Tim Cup Final Eight. We need to gain some points, but we know Pineto is in good form and plays an excellent volleyball. We have to play concrete volleyball and try to get as many points as we can”.
