PRISMA TARANTO – COPRATLANTIDE PIACENZA 1-3 (20-25, 25-20, 20-25, 13-25)
PRISMA TARANTO: De Oliveira 18, Ricciardello (L), Candellaro 2, Montagna (L), Cozzi 7, Moretti, Suxho 4, Rodrigo Pinto 24, Abbadi 6, Westphal, Spescha, Quartarone. Dnp Elia. Coach. Montagnani Paolo.
COPRATLANTIDE PIACENZA: Meoni 2, Marshall 20, Grassano 2, Boninfante, Sequeira 2, Zlatanov 9, Durante (L), Oivanen 12, Urnaut 14, Bjelica 12. Dnp Mazza, Bravo. Coach. Lorenzetti Angelo.
Piacenza looked more ready while Taranto seemed to look for an identity. The serve changed the ongoing of the game. Urnaut and Oivanen, lined up instead of the injured Rak and Bravo, did well in their debut in the Italian league. The 2000 crowd of the PalaMazzola is still a comforting figure for the hosts. Rivaldo named top scorer and spiker of last season.
Angelo Lorenzetti (CoprAtlantide Piacenza): “I am happy with the performance of my team. We lost the second set because the opponent did well too. I’d say that the serve has been key in many moments of the game”.
Paolo Montagnani (Prisma Taranto): “Piacenza deserved the win but the attitude of the team in the last set gives us food for thoughts. It’s only the first round and there is a lot of time to improve. We faced the worst possible opponent in our debut”.
ITAS DIATEC TRENTINO – ANDREOLI LATINA 3-1 (25-17, 27-29, 27-25, 25-17)
ITAS DIATEC TRENTINO: Kaziyski 16, Gallosti (L), Birarelli 12, Portuondo Juantorena 22, Vieira De Oliveira 4, Vissotto Neves 14, Sala 6, Sokolov 7, Corsini, Herpe, Bari (L). Dnp Zygadlo, Fedrizzi. Coach. Stoytchev Radostin.
ANDREOLI LATINA: Van De Dries, Gitto 10, Cortina (L), Giovi (L), Saitta 3, Snippe 4, Nikic 12, Fabroni 1, Geric 10, Vujevic 13, Giombini 20. Dnp Spairani. Coach. Ricci Daniele.
Three years on, Osmany Juantorena was back playing in an official game and he led Trentino to victory. He scored 22 points, of which 8 blocks, and deservedly collected the MVP award. Latina got off to a poor start, then got back in it thanks to Nikic in the second and third set. But then, it just couldn’t go pass Trentino’s wall at the net (21-5). Trentino did not especially shine but still took three important points to start its new season.
Matey Kaziyski (Itas Diatec Trentino): “It’s normal not to play a fantastic volleyball in the first few rounds. We started well tonight then we clearly faded. Still, we did well to get back to business in the most difficult moment, at the end of the third set. It was important to start with three points”.
Davide Saitta (Andreoli Latina): “We remain with a bitter taste for not taking the third set and a point that maybe we deserved. Shame but we’ll have to forget about it and focus on the next difficult game against Cuneo, which will want to bounce back following today’s defeat against Verona”.
BRE BANCA LANNUTTI CUNEO – MARMI LANZA VERONA 0-3 (22-25, 17-25, 21-25)
BRE BANCA LANNUTTI CUNEO: Wijsmans 10, Henno (L), Parodi 7, Fortunato 3, Nikolov 18, Grbic 3, Mastrangelo 4, Patriarca, Pieri (L). Dnp Ariaudo, Nuti, Jeroncic, Peda. Coach. Giuliani Alberto.
MARMI LANZA VERONA: Latelli (L), Groppi, Sottile 1, Della Lunga 9, Lasko 15, Kovar, Curti, Holt 8, Colaci (L), Kromm 13, Howard 7. Dnp Peslac, Galabinov. Coach. Bagnoli Bruno.
Upset of the day from Verona, which came away from Cuneo with the win. Captain Wijmans received the Best Spiker award from the Volleyball League for last season before the beginning of the game.
Nikola Grbic (Bre Banca Lannutti): “What we showed tonight is surely not our real level. We have been together for just a week and we faced an in-form team which started to work with the full squad before us. They found a good understanding”.
Bruno Bagnoli (Marmi Lanza Verona): “The first game is always a surprise. We knew we could play a game at a high level. The last to arrive, Kromm, had an excellent game. We faced a Cuneo team under pressure, they still have to develop an understanding between the players who were in the European Championships. Congratulations to Sottile who used the full potential of the team”.
TRENKWALDER MODENA – LUBE BANCA MARCHE MACERATA 2-3 (20-25, 22-25, 25-23, 25-23, 13-15)
TRENKWALDER MODENA: Manià (L), Ciabattini (L), Kooistra 9, Dennis 31, Pagni, Kooy 7, Biribanti 1, Esko 6, Meszaros 11, Casoli 8, Diaz Mayorca 3, Piscopo 7. Dnp Soli. Coach. Prandi Silvano.
LUBE BANCA MARCHE MACERATA: Lebl 10, Raymaekers 3, Cisolla 15, Paparoni, Vermiglio 4, Smerilli (L), Martino 13, Monopoli, Corsano (L), Omrcen 24, Podrascanin 12. Dnp Bartoletti. Coach. De Giorgi Ferdinando.
In the first two sets, Macerata was on top thanks to a super Omrcen and Vermiglio who passed the ball well. From the third quarter on, Modena, with a brand new roster compared to last season, improved thanks to its captain outside hitter Angel Dennis, the blocks of Piscopo and young Deutsch talent Dick Kooy. The atmosphere was electric as we got to the fifth set. De Giorgi’s boys found the winning break as Dennis was MVP scoring 32 points.
Silvano Prandi (allenatore Trenkwalder Modena): “The main fact is that we lost, but there has been a lot of positive in this game. I am satisfied with the way we reacted and played against one of the strongest team of the league. Our team is completely new, we have been training all together only for a few days and we know we must improve a lot more”.
Fefè De Giorgi (allenatore Lube Banca Marche Macerata): “I am very happy to have managed to win in the Pala Panini gym: It’s the first time since I arrived in Macerata. As for the game, after two excellent sets, we struggled as they improved, but we did a great job in the fifth set”.
RPA-LUIGIBACCHI.IT PERUGIA – ACQUA PARADISO GABECA 3-2 (25-22, 25-17, 16-25, 21-25, 16-14)
RPA-LUIGIBACCHI.IT PERUGIA: Hubner 6, Savani 23, Cernic 10, Nemec, Botti, Sintini 2, Pippi (L), Stokr 27, Fanuli (L), Bovolenta 8. Dnp Bucaioni, Ogurcak, Lo Bianco. Coach. Sartoretti Andrea.
ACQUA PARADISO GABECA: Sivula, Rauwerdink 11, Pesenti, Tuominen, Forni 12, Molteni 4, Buti 13, Travica 4, Gavotto 26, Exiga (L). Dnp Krumins, De Luca. Coach. Berruto Mauro.
For the fourth consecutive year, Damiano Pippi was named Best Receiver 2008-09. And to continue on this positive trend, he grabbed the MVP of the game award.
Andrea Sartoretti (RPA-LuigiBacchi.it): “A Perugia team with two different speeds, in the tie-break too, but that helped us to win it. We still have to find a better understanding in certain situations, to be more confident. We still have a lot of work on. We’re going to Treviso on Sunday, another very tough team. Still, here are the first two points in the bag”.
Mauro Berruto (Acqua Paradiso Gabeca): “It’s a shame to read that we have been more effective than our opponent in attack. We struggled in reception. We did well to get back from two sets down, but in the tie-break, We couldn’t cope with Cernic’s serve. Given that we cannot identify ourselves with a city, we’re trying to find an identity as a team”.
ESSE-TI CARILO LORETO – SISLEY TREVISO 2-3 (25-23, 25-22, 20-25, 18-25, 11-15) –
ESSE-TI CARILO LORETO: De Angelo Freitas 10, Marra (L), Marzola, Diachkov 18, Dolfo 1, Van Dijk 22, Visentin 3, Vigilante, Belcecchi, Cester 8, Shumov 11. Dnp Paoli. Coach. Moretti Luca.
SISLEY TREVISO: Carletti, Fei 21, Horstink 22, Papi 5, Farina (L), Kohut 5, De Togni 2, Bontje 13, Maruotti 2, Vanin (L), Garcia 2. Dnp Sabbi, Cuda. Coach. Piazza Roberto.
Two sets up against Treviso, Luca Moretti’s team was then pegged back and beaten. Treviso took its time to find its rhythm but in the end it showed great qualities. Fei had 21 points and Hortsink scored 22. There were also great plays from Loreto which had 22 points from Van Dijk and 18 from Diachkov, who entertained the 1800 crowd of the PalaSerenelli. These two players give great hopes to the club for the rest of the season. This point is fundamental for Loreto, which will fight in every single game from now till the end of the season.”
Alessandro Fei (Sisley Treviso): “The first game is always difficult, and this has been the case this time round too against a Loreto team that played two excellent sets, they were very effective in every fundamentals. We improved as the game went on and once we took the third set, in which we were initially trailing, we played the way we should and we snatched the win”.
Luca Moretti (Esse-ti Carilo Loreto): “Two fantastic sets, with great intensity and very few mistakes, then we faded. We are still lacking that mental energy to be able to express our game at the level of the first half of the game. Still, I can only be satisfied with the way the team played. Now we have to keep working to improve further”.
Results
Prisma Taranto – CoprAtlantide Piacenza 1 – 3 (20-25, 25-20, 20-25, 13-25); Itas Diatec Trentino – Andreoli Latina 3 – 1 (25-17, 27-29, 27-25, 25-17); Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo – Marmi Lanza Verona 0 – 3 (22-25, 17-25, 21-25); Trenkwalder Modena – Lube Banca Marche Macerata 2 – 3 (20-25, 22-25, 25-23, 25-23, 13-15); Rpa-Luigibacchi.It Perugia – Acqua Paradiso Gabeca 3 – 2 (25-22, 25-17, 16-25, 21-25, 16-14); Aran Pineto – Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia – POSTPONED; Esse-Ti Carilo Loreto – Sisley Treviso 2 – 3 (25-23, 25-22, 20-25, 18-25, 11-15).
League table
Marmi Lanza Verona 3, CoprAtlantide Piacenza 3, Itas Diatec Trentino 3, Sisley Treviso 2, Lube Banca Marche Macerata 2, Rpa-Luigibacchi.It Perugia 2, Acqua Paradiso Gabeca 1, Trenkwalder Modena 1, Esse-Ti Carilo Loreto 1, Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia 0, Aran Pineto 0, Andreoli Latina 0, Prisma Taranto 0, Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo 0.
Note: 1 game in hand: Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia, Aran Pineto
