SERIE A1 TIM – SEMIFINALS, MATCH 2
TRENTO IS DREAMING: THEY CONQUER THE FIRST FINAL IN THE HISTORY OF THE CLUB
PIACENZA RE OPENS THE SERIES
MATCH 2 RESULTS
Copra Nordmeccanica Piacenza – Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo 3-0 (25-19; 25-21; 25-21)
M. Roma Volley – Itas Diatec Trentino 0-3 (22-25; 23-25; 18-25)
M. ROMA VOLLEY – ITAS DIATEC TRENTINO 0-3 (22-25, 23-25, 18-25)
M. ROMA VOLLEY: Mastrangelo 4, Henno (L), Savani 10, Coscione, Tofoli 1, Marshall 9, Molteni, Hernandez 1, Kooistra 8, Miljkovic 6, Semenzato. N E Romero. Coach Serniotti Roberto.
ITAS DIATEC TRENTINO: Kaziyski 16, Segnalini (L), Birarelli 7, Jeroncic 7, Della Lunga, Grbic 2, Nikolov 10, Mlyakov, Winiarski 9, Bari (L). N E Bednaruk, Stoyanov, Piscopo. Coach Stoytchev Radostin.
REFs: Massimo Cinti, Massimo Menghini.
NOTES – Spectators 2900, takings 9900, set length: 28′, 31′, 25′; tot: 84′.
Roma – M. Roma Volley championship ends here. Again this year, Serniotti’s team journey stops at the semifinals. Last year against Sisley Treviso, this year against Itas Diatec Trentino who after the nice and round victory in match 1, confirm themselves in the second challenge against the romans, closing the business. For Trento it is an historical results; for the first time in fact, they get to the final. They do it thanks to the support of the 50 people who arrived in Roma to cheer them too, to live the dream of the final. Honour and merit to Radostin Stoychev’s men, again the authors of a great performance made of attitude and technique.
Still, M. Roma Volley believed they could do it ’till the very end, fighting on each ball from the beginning to the end. Supporting the romans by sitting on the parteree at palasport was the famous singer Renato Zero.
The coaches, Serniotti and Stoychev, present the starting six who played in match 1. The home team has a better start in the first set leading by 6-4, thanks to two consecutive points by Mastrangelo and Savani. Winiarski spikes out and on -3 Stoychev calls TO. The match finds balance again. Roma manages well until the second TTO then they have the strength to go further (17-13). But Trento does not lose it. They work hard with their service and digging, recovering important balls. They go on 18-18 and in the final they impose themselves, winning by 22-25.
Back on court Roma tries to take off straight away. Marshalls’ service worry Kaziyski and company. It is 4-1, but once again Trento’s game pays off. Everything gets back even and it is decided at the end. Kaziyski spikes for the 23-23 then the teams perform an amazing action, spectacular digging on one side and the ball not wanting to touch the floor on the other side.
At the end Winiarski and Birarelli block Miljkovic and the first set ball goes to Trento who does not miss the chance and capitalises straight away with Kazijski’s attack (23-25).
In the thirsùd set Serniotti puts Tofoli in for Coscione and after a good start (8-5), he calls Miljkovic on the bench as well replaced by Osvaldo Hernandez after Itas Diatec Trentino took over again (13-14). The music does not play for long. Kaziyski hits from the nine metres (14-16) and sends everyone to TTO. It is the beginning of the end of the match. Kaziyski, again from the nine metres, and Nikolov on two occasions, take the yellow&blue to 14-19. The match is closed on 18-25 but at the end of it the applauses are for everyone.
Hubert Henno (M. Roma Volley): “This match is the mirror of the whole season. At the beginning we we able to recover even when two sets behind, now we can’t. But we do know that playoffs are like that. Now we need to analyse what did not work, but it is a positive outcome for a club established two years ago: we reached the TIM Cup final again and won the Cev Cup”.
Gregor Jeroncic (Itas Diatec Trentino): “A great emotion for this final but now we have to put it on a side a carry on working. This is the path to follow. Meeting Cuneo or Piacenza in the final does not matter. Today we have played a high level match and we were good at getting away with it at the end of the sets”.
MVP: Matey Kaziyski (Itas Diatec Trentino)
Copra Nordmeccanica Piacenza – Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo 3-0 (25-19; 25-21; 25-21)
Copra Nordmeccanica Piacenza: Granvorka 1, Cozzi, Meoni, Santos Dutra (L), Zlatanov 21, Simeonov 9, Bravo 7, Gromadowski 1, Bovolenta 9, Bjelica 4. N E Rodriguez, Boninfante. Coach Lorenzetti
Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo: Wijsmans 11, Parodi, Gonzalez 3, Fortunato 7, Vergnaghi (L), Lasko 10, Rosso 1, Abbadi 8, Muraguti Yared 3, Felizardo 2. N E Prandi, Curti, Battilotti. Coach Prandi
REFs: Locatelli – Barbero
NOTES – Spectators 3.780, takings 25.345, set lenght: 25’; 28’; 28’; tot. 81’.
Piacenza – One has to get used to the never ending challenges between Copra Nordmeccanica Piacenza and Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo. The play offs semifinal 2007 teaches us. The one in 2008 confirms it. Piacenza re opens the series winning match 2 of the semifinal for 3-0.
The match starts with some news for Piacenza’s starting six: Angelo Lorenzetti lines up Ventceslav Simeonov in the diagonal with Marco MEoni from the beginning, in order to have more cms at blocking against Wijsmans and Abbadi and more of a powerful attack. Two blocks from Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo take the guest team ahead, here at PalaBanca searching for the pass to their third ever final.
The undiscussed leader of the white&red team, Hristo Zlatanov, starts the first break which take the teams from 6-7 to 8-7 with two consecutive blocks on Abbadi. What comes out is a set where Piacenza and Cuneo go hand in hand until Novica Bjelica’s turn to serve. The serbian MB, on top form, hits again from the nine metres. It is the final push that ends the set.
A lightning by W. Wijsmans breaks through Copra’s reception in the second set. It is a positive start for Bre Banca Lannutti but they cannot keep up with Piacenza’s accelleration, impressed once again by the Zlatanov-Bjelica duo. Marco Meoni is good at warming up the arm of all his attacking men, including Simeonov. Angelo Lorenzetti goes to the bench again. In the second set it is Marcel Gromadowski’s turn who replaces Vigor Bovolenta serving. The polish diagonal player scores an ace and a dirty reception on the other side which translates into an even score and a take over (17-15) with Piacenza not giving up an inch of their grounds, playing with Cynism and stopping the opponents from giving continuity to their game. Cuneo’s reception is struggling (only 39% at the end). Gonzalez does miles but the 10 mistakes worth a point of Prandi’s team do not give allow for an appeal.
Cuneo does not manage to get back in the match: Piacenza gets excited ball after ball also because Meoni orchestrates like only the great ones can do. His attacking men score with hits out of a manual. Silvano Prandi can only try and change his team’s mind, giving space to Marlon for Gonzalez. The brazilian gives order and precision, but it is not enough to stop Zlatanov and company, determined to carry on with their dream to win the title. The end of this challenge is postponed once again.
Francesco Fortunato (Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo): “Their service worked really well and our reception was in great difficulty through the whole match. We, on the contrary, have not been able to put the same pressure on them with our service and with a perfect ball, their game becomes impossible to read”.
Marco Meoni (Copra Nordmeccanica Piacenza): “We have been re opening series, matches and competitions for the whole seaon. We have gone on court determined, we wanted to go back to Cuneo and you could see that. Now we will play everything we have on saturday, starting our journey from the beginning. The winner will be the one with the strongest nerves in a match that will be balanced again, in a palasport where playing will be wonderful”.
MVP: Hristo Zlatanov (Copra Nordmeccanica Piacenza)
THE PROGRAMME OF THE SEMIFINALS AND THE FINALS
MATCH 3
Sat Apr 26th
21.00 Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo – Copra Nordmeccanica Piacenza (Live on SKY Sport 2)
FINAL: MATCH 1
Thu May 1st 21.00
FINAL MATCH 2
Sun May 4th 18.30
FINAL MATCH 3
Wed May 7th 20.30
