SERIE A1 TIM
MODENA TESTS NEW LEADER CUNEO
In the last round before the 31st Italian Cup, whose final will be in Volley Land, Pineto hosts Trentino on Saturday night in the opener. Grbic and co lost their first place last week but they bounced back in midweek by beating the Slovenians of Bled in he Champions League.
Big one on Sunday at the PalaOlimpia, where Verona entertains Macerata. Treviso and Padova will meet for the 61st time in history, as the hosts will try to add a fifth consecutive win between league and Challenge Cup.
In the PalaBanca gym, Piacenza faces Forli, while Montichiari fights it out against Martina Franca. Live on Sky Sport will be the encounter between Modena and Cuneo on Sunday night. Finally, on Monday night, Vibo Valentia travels to Perugia.
SERIE A1 TIM – 19th ROUND
Saturday 24 January at 6.30pm
Framasil Pineto – Itas Diatec Trentino
(Piersanti – Lavorenti)
Sunday 25 January at 6pm
Copra Nordmeccanica Piacenza – Yoga Forli
(Pol – Astengo)
Marmi Lanza Verona – Lube Banca Marche Macerata
(Ravallese – Giani)
Sisley Treviso – Antonveneta Padova
(Locatelli – La Micela)
Acqua Paradiso Gabeca Montichiari – Stamplast Martina Franca
(Cinti – Puecher)
Sunday 25 January at 6.30pm
Trenkwalder Modena – Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo LIVE ON SKY SPORT 2
(Mastrodonato – Perri)
Monday 26 January at 8.30pm
RPA-LuigiBacchi.it Perugia – Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia
(Cipolla – Longo)
TABLE
Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo 41; Lube Banca Marche Macerata, Itas Diatec Trentino 40; Copra Nordmeccanica Piacenza 36; RPA-LuigiBacchi.it Perugia 32; Acqua Paradiso Gabeca Montichiari 30; Sisley Treviso 27; Marmi Lanza Verona 26; Trenkwalder Modena 21; Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia, Stamplast Martina Franca 20; Framasil Pineto 19; Yoga Forli 16; Antonveneta Padova 10.
FRAMASIL PINETO – ITAS DIATEC TRENTINO
Past encounters: 1 (vittoria Trento).
First leg: Itas Diatec Trentino – Framasil Pineto 3-0 (25-15, 25-19, 25-16).
Ex: Emanuele Birarelli, in Pineto in 2005/06.
Emanuele Sborgia (Framasil Pineto): “Tough game. They are the Italian champs, it’s a team with great individual players and they are exceptionally well-organised. They have players like Kziyski, who can win a game single-handedly. To make it difficult for them we’ll have to play to perfection, be that technically or psychologically”.
Riad Garcia Pires Ribeiro (Itas Diatec Trentino): “Besides Pineto, we’ll have to face another tough opponent: tiredness. We’ll play against Pineto just two days after our Champions League game in Ljubljana so physically we will certainly not be at our best with all the travelling and the consequent games we’ve played without being able to regain our energy. Anyway, our target remains to win, we want the three points to bounce back straight away after last Sunday’s defeat against Macerata. But we know it won’t be easy, because Pineto needs the points as much as we do and they will fight for it. Following their defeat against direct opponent Vibo, Montagnani’s team are even more desperate to get some point and they will surely play with will. This is why we will have to stay focused”.
Sunday and Monday games preview tomorrow
SERIE A2 TIM
5th Round return games
On Sunday in the 5th round of the return games, on of the big clashes is Latina versus Gioia del Colle, which will put two of the top scorers face to face in Giombini and Dias. Latina will try to defend its first place, as she is only joint leader with Santa Croce, who travels to Mantova, always winner with the change of coach and now standing in 8th position.
Bassano looks to get back on track as it was knocked out of the Cup earlier this week. To do so, they will have to face a team desperate for points to stay up: Castelfidardo. Another team trying to get over Cup disappointment is Loreto, who will host Cavriago. Massimo Diagoni will make its head coach debut on Cavriago’s bench hoping to stop the negative trend.
On the contrary, Isernia will try to keep its winning streak going as it travels to Bologna, a revitalized team as it played a tie-break against Santa Croce in the return game of the Cup.
At the bottom of the table, there will be an important clash between Roma and Catania while the last game of the day will put face to face Crema and Castellana Grotte, as it will go live on TV.
SERIE A2 TIM – 20th ROUND
Sunday 25 January at 6pm
Canadiens Mantova – Codyeco S.Croce
(Feriozzi – Turt�)
M. Roma Volley – Sp Catania
(Amati – Piluso)
Andreoli Latina – Nava Gioia del Colle
(Falzoni – Pozzato)
Bassano Volley – La Nef Castelfidardo
(Piubelli – Carrara)
Esse-ti Carilo Loreto – Edilesse Cavriago
(Florian – Guerzoni)
Sunday 25 January at 8.30pm
Samgas Crema – Materdomini Volley.It Castellana Grotte LIVE ON SNAI SAT
(Toso – Finocchiaro)
Monday 26 January at 8.30pm
Wayel Bologna – Olio Pignatelli Isernia
(Orpianesi – Perdisci)
Rested: Gherardi Cartoedit Tratos C.di Castello
