SERIE A1 TIM TRENTO – CUNEO, CLASH OF GIANTS Who will keep its winning streak going? Most of the qttention will be turned to the PalaTrento gym on Sunday, when the Italian champs, Trentino, will host the most in-form team, Cuneo, who has not lost since the 16th of November 2008. Cuneo stands currently just on epoint behind Trenino and has therefore a chance to go level or even go top. Definitely one game not to be missed with Kaziyski and Wijmans ready to turn on the show. Nikolov will be back in Trento with his new team after winning the title with trento last season. Jeroncic is out. Macerata will be looking very closely at this clash of giants as it faces Forli away from home. Meanwhile, Montichiari will try to catch up Piacenza, who is not having its best form of the season. While Montichiari will be without Alessandro Paparoni, whose season is over, Piacenza has a few players doubtful following its better European Cup exit in midweek agaisnt Czestochowa. Perugia will try to keep its positive run going when they host Verona. The fans will definitely come in numbers following the 8th consecutive win against Treviso, which secured a playoffs spot. Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia – Trenkwalder Modena will hand in the name of the team most likely to fight for the 8th and last playoff position. The points at stake are extremely important, as Vibo will have new coach Uriarte making its home debut, while Modena will count once more on Murilo, who fully recovered from its injury. As for the low part of the table, Padova will put one of its last card on the table against Martina Franca, who will have to forget quickly about the last home loss against Vibo Valentia. Finally, on Monday, Pineto entertains Treviso, a team it had upset earlier this season. SERIE A1 TIM – 22nd round Sunday 22 February at 6 Yoga Forlì – Lube Banca Marche Macerata (Bartolini – Satanassi) Acqua Paradiso Gabeca Montichiari – Copra Nordmeccanica Piacenza (Caltabiano – Cesare) Antonveneta Padova – Stamplast Martina Franca (Barbero – Boris) Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia – Trenkwalder Modena (Sobrero – Rapisarda) RPA-LuigiBacchi.it Perugia – Marmi Lanza Verona (La Micela – Pessolano) Sunday 22 Fabruary at 6.30pm Itas Diatec Trentino – Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo LIVE ON SKY SPORT EXTRA (Pasquali – Sampaolo) Monday 23 February at 8.30pm Framasil Pineto – Sisley Treviso LIVE ON SKY SPORT 2 (Cipolla – Castagna) TABLE Itas Diatec Trentino 49, Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo 48, Lube Banca Marche Macerata 45, RPA-LuigiBacchi.it Perugia 41, Copra Nordmeccanica Piacenza 39, Acqua Paradiso Gabeca Montichiari 36, Sisley Treviso, Marmi Lanza Verona 32, Trenkwalder Modena 25, Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia 24, Stamplast Martina Franca 22, Framasil Pineto 20, Yoga Forlì 17, Antonveneta Padova 11. YOGA FORLÌ – LUBE BANCA MARCHE MACERATA Past encounter: 11 (10-1 Macerata). First leg: Lube Banca Marche Macerata – Yoga Forlì 3-0 (25-20; 25-15; 25-15) Giovanni Gavelli (Presidente Yoga Forlì): “I can’t really argue with the season we’re having. We were the last ones to start working with our team and we did better than expected so far. Shame that we had so many injuries: Rodriguez, Bellini and Cardona. Macerata looks unbeatable for us, but i think we have to face this game keeping that in mind. We have to stay clam and determined at the same time, knowing that we can have a good game. I’d almost like to ask my boys to play with a smile”. Andrea Giovi (Lube Banca Marche Macerata): “It will be tough because Forli is fighting to stay up, and they desperately need some points to reach their target. They did pretty well last week in Cuneo despite going back home empty handed. They give it their best shot against us too, we’ll have to be focused, play with determination and keep a high level of play during the whole game”. ACQUA PARADISO GABECA MONTICHIARI – COPRA NORDMECCANICA PIACENZA Past encounters: 13 (7-6 Montichiari). First leg: Copra Nordmeccanica Piacenza – Acqua Paradiso Gabeca Montichiari 1 – 3 (26-24; 24-26; 22-25; 22-25) Matteo Pesenti (Acqua Paradiso Gabeca Montichiari): “It will surely be a battle: Piacenza knocked us out of the Cup in the quarter finals, but we won the first league game this season so we both want to take revenge. It will be an important and tough game for everyone, as we both have internal problems. Their champions League game this week should influence their game on Sunday, at least I hope so. Piacenza is left short handed given that Zlatanov and Marshall are injured, that Bravo has been out for a while and that they play with a youngster in position 4: Grassano. I think all the games they faced recently will influence this one”. Dante Boninfante (Copra Nordmeccanica Piacenza): “We are physically in great shape. We have to try not to be influenced by our Champions Leagie result. It will be a difficult game, Montichiari is a good team that hurt us a lot earlier this season and they will want to react following Paparoni’s injury. For now, the important thing for us is to get back to the good level of play that was ours until the Cup game against Montichiari and not to think about the league table”. TONNO CALLIPO VIBO VALENTIA – TRENKWALDER MODENA Past encounters: 7 (5-2 Modena). First leg: Trenkwalder Modena – Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia 3-1 (19-25; 27-25; 25-19; 25-21) Jon Uriarte (All. Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia): “The boys were very focused against Martina franca, this was key and that brought us a nice victory. We’re preparing well the Modena encounter, focusing on some technical and tactical aspects that could make the difference. We’re working on the organizzation between the dig and the net, with individual and technical exercises too, in order to get to that important game with more confidence”. Emanuele Zanini (All. Trenkwalder Modena): “It will be a tough game. We know how good is Vibo Valentia but we believe in our ability. We are a long way from the playoff zone but we want to give it a shot. This game is fundamental as a verdict will come out of it: whoever wins will keep its hopes of a playoffs spot alive while the other will just have to give up”. RPA-LUIGIBACCHI.IT PERUGIA – MARMI LANZA VERONA Past encounters: 15 (10-5 Perugia). First leg: Marmi Lanza Verona – RPA-LuigiBacchi.it Perugia 0-3 (21-25; 18-25; 30-32) Damiano Pippi (RPA-LuigiBacchi.it Perugia): “Our strength is not the 8 consecutive win but the way we’re facing the games now, with rgeat determination. As for the playoffs, we have to try to win as many games as we can, because we know this period of the season is a whole new story and we have to get there in great shape. So careful at Verona, which is definitely not a team that can be underestimated”. Andrea Semenzato (Marmi Lanza Verona): “To get rid of the desilusion of the first leg, the chocolates ‘Baci Perugina’ they usually offer us will not be enough. We’ll try to stop their long unbeaten run with the same character that we showed in recent outings. It’s carnival but we have no intention to joke around”. ANTONVENETA PADOVA – STAMPLAST MARTINA FRANCA Past encounters: 11 (4-7 Padova). First leg: Stamplast Martina Franca – Antonveneta Padova 2-3 (26-24; 27-25; 21-25; 18-25; 9-15) Bruno Bagnoli (Antonveneta Padova): “The game against Martina Franca will be the most important of our season. We’ll have to be more consistent than against Macerata. We’ll need to serve well and play with great will to win, Everybody is fit to play for Sunday, including Massimo Maniero, who recovered from his little hand injury”. Vito Primavera (DS Stamplast Martina Franca): “The club is expecting the team to bounce back following the poor performance against Vibo. Padova can’t afford to lose and we shouldn’t underestimate them because, everytime we get on court too relaxed, we end up being severely defeated. Everybody trained hard in the gym this week even though there was 20cm of snow outside and that the roads were very difficult to use. We have to come back home with a win”. ITAS DIATEC TRENTINO – BRE BANCA LANNUTTI CUNEO Past encounters: 24 (16-8 Cuneo). First leg: Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo – Itas Diatec Trentino 3-2 (25-22; 22-25; 22-25; 25-18; 16-14) Matey Kaziyski (Itas Diatec Trentino): “It’s a crucial game for the first place; I’m expecting a real battle because the stakes are high. It will be interesting to see what we manage to do compared to the first match up, which we had lost despite playing well, at least in the first part of the game. It’s a very special game for me, I can’t deny it; To plat against Nikolov will be very amusing and strange at the same time because he usually was on the same side of the net. I don’t think the key to the game can only be one aspect of the game, I think everything will be important. More than forcing like crazy our servem I think we’ll have to pay attention to our game in dig and at the net, because Cuneo is very efficient in attack even in predictable game plays. For this and many other reasons, this will be a fantastic game”. Francesco Fortunato (Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo): “The game against trento is one of the big ones, tough and where you have to play right till the end. I’m glad to face this game now because we have played against lesser opponents lately without expressing our best volleyball. I’m sure our approach will be different against trento. We’ll look for the win, to give an indication on what the end of this championship could look like too. We’ll play in a packed gym and that’s always a great emotion for me”. FRAMASIL PINETO – SISLEY TREVISO Past encounters: 1 (Pineto won it) First leg: Sisley Treviso – Framasil Pineto 1-3 (22-25; 25-20; 21-25; 20-25) Cleber (Framasil Pineto): “We are five games from the end of the season. Every game can be decisive to stay up. Treviso is a good team made of great champions. We must all play at 100%, and with the help of our fans, we can obtain a good result”. Samuele Papi (Sisley Treviso): “The fact we were knocked out of the Challenge Cup is surely hard to take, but that’s why we have to turn this anger into positive energy for the last target left that we have: the league. We have to pull together, to find the strength in the group to come out of this tricky situation. We’re facing two tough road games, in Pineto and Macerata, starting on Monday night, knowing this will be a crucial game for the league table and that Pineto always gives its best at home: we’ll need great determination and above all put the right intensity in to win it”. SERIE A2 TIM SP CATANIA – WAYEL BOLOGNA SATURDAY CODYECO – ANDREOLI FOR TOP SPOT It will be a very interesting end to this A2 league. The results from this weekend could already give us some good indications on how it could look like in the end, be that at the top or at the bottom. On Saturday, it starts off with a battle to stay up with Catania, who has just beaten Crema, versus Bologna, who could get clear of the danger zone with a good result. It will be Antonio Babini’s debut on Bologna’s bench, as he substituted Gianluca Alberti, who resigned. The game is scheduled at 8.30 and will be live on Snai Sat. Five more games will take place on Sunday at 6pm. The big one is Santa Croce versus Latina, a crucial game in the race to finish top. Santa Croce will try to make the court advantage count to take revenge on the Cup semi final exit and make the league double, given that they won earlier this season. Bassano travels to Città del Castello, still fighting for points to stay up. Castelfidardo against Cavriago is another intriguing one at the bottom. The hosts desperately need points in order not to see it sopponent, fourth from bottom, dangerously going away. Gioia del Colle versus Castellana Grotte is a derby with a playoff spot at stake. The fans will without doubt come in numbers. One team trying to stay in the playoffs zone is Roma, who will play home for the second time running. Its guest this time is Loreto, as Roma’s Tofoli will make its 600th appearance between league and cup. Live on Snai Sat at 8.30pm, Mantova plays host to Crema hoping for its seventh consecutive win. It won’t be easy by any means because crema will be eager to bounce back following their loss against Catania. 23rd round fixtures and refs Saturday 21 February at 8.30pm Sp Catania – Wayel Bologna LIVE ON SNAI Sat (Gelati – Pozzato) Sunday 22 february at 6 Gherardi Cartoedit Tratos C.di Castello – Bassano Volley (Turtù – Feriozzi) M. Roma Volley – Esse-ti Carilo Loreto (Piersanti – Longo) Nava Gioia del Colle – Materdomini Volley.It Castellana Grotte (Balboni – Cerquoni) La Nef Castelfidardo – Edilesse Cavriago (Goitre – Venturi) Codyeco S.Croce – Andreoli Latina (Vagni – Gini) Sunday 22 february at 8.30 Canadiens Mantova – Samgas Crema LIVE ON SNAI Sat (Guerzoni – Florian) Rested: Olio Pignatelli Isernia TABLE Codyeco S.Croce 46, Andreoli Latina 44, Bassano Volley 43, Esse-Ti Carilo Loreto 41, Olio Pignatelli Isernia 37, Nava Gioia del Colle 36, Canadiens Mantova 35, Samgas Crema 30, M. Roma Volley 28, Materdomini Volley.It Castellana Grotte 25, Wayel Bologna 25, Edilesse Cavriago 20, Sp Catania 20, La Nef Castelfidardo 16, Gherardi Cartoedit Tratos C.di Castello 16. Note: 1 game in hand: Andreoli Latina, Bassano Volley, Esse-Ti Carilo Loreto, Canadiens Mantova, Samgas Crema, M. Roma Volley, Gherardi Cartoedit Tratos C.di Castello;
