Serie A1 Sustenium
Round 25
Reduced amount of games in the Serie A this weekend. Given that Macerata and Treviso are involved in European Cup finals, their respective encounters against Cuneo and In Roma have been postponed to Thursday 17 March. Meanwhile, the weekend of action begins on Saturday with San Giustino versus Modena, with the latter aiming to steal Treviso’s fourth place, while On Sunday interesting encounter between Piacenza and Trento…
Round 25
Saturday 12 March at 4pm
RPA-LuigiBacchi.it San Giustino – Casa Modena Live on Rai Sport 1
Diretta streaming su http://www.raisport.rai.it/dl/raisport/multimedia/diretta.html
(Rapisarda-La Micela)
Sunday 13 March at 6pm
Copra Morpho Piacenza – Itas Diatec Trentino Live on Rai Sport 1
Live streaming on http://www.raisport.rai.it/dl/raisport/multimedia/diretta.html
(Pasquali-Puecher)
Andreoli Latina – Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza Live Web TV on www.legavolley.it
(Pol-Bartolini)
Marmi Lanza Verona – Yoga Forlì
(Piersanti-Ravallese)
BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte – Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia Live Web TV on www.legavolley.it
(Santi-Saltalippi)
Thursday 17 March at 6pm
Lube Banca Marche Macerata – Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo Live on Rai Sport 1
Live streaming on http://www.raisport.rai.it/dl/raisport/multimedia/diretta.html
(Satanassi–Cesare)
M. Roma Volley – Sisley Treviso Live Web TV on www.legavolley.it
(Pessolano-Castagna)
League table
Itas Diatec Trentino 61, Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo 53, Lube Banca Marche Macerata 46, Sisley Treviso 40, Casa Modena 38, Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza 35, Marmi Lanza Verona 32, Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia 29, RPA-LuigiBacchi.it San Giustino 28, Copra Morpho Piacenza 26, M. Roma Volley 24, Andreoli Latina 23, BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte 18, Yoga Forlì 9
RPA-LuigiBacchi.it San Giustino – Casa Modena
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 17 (12-5 Modena)
Emanuele Zanini (Coach RPA-LuigiBacchi.it San Giustino): “Tough game against Modena. They’re in good form and the 3-0 in Macerata proves it. They sorted out a little worry they had at the club and now they can express all their potential. Modena was put together to be amongst the top teams in the league, to rival Trento and Cuneo. But I have great faith in my boys who will play with the same fighting spirit seen against Treviso. Modena possesses great spikers, and a setter who plays fast. I think my team is still angry about the game played against Vibo Valentia and that it will release this anger on Saturday afternoon”.
Daniele Bagnoli (Casa Modena): “I am convinced that there is not a huge difference between the teams between 5th and 13th, and the results prove it. If you don’t play well you can really lose against anyone. We’ll be facing a really tough one in San Giustino: this is a team that has improved a lot compared to last season, it is well-organised, it doesn’t have any particular weakness and they play in a small gym, with a lot of noise and enthusiasm. San GIustino has won many games at home and ten days ago it even beat Treviso”.
Copra Morpho Piacenza – Itas Diatec Trentino
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 30 (17-13 Trento)
Javier Gonzalez (Copra Morpho Piacenza): “Trento is a strong team but we are playing better compared to the beginning of the second half of championship. Our target on Sunday is to play a good game and make it difficult for our opponent. Trento was unbeaten until last week, it lost against Verona, but that doesn’t mean they are weaker, a bad game in a whole season can happen. They are preparing for the Champions League Final Four, I don’t know how they will approach the game on Sunday. Our mission is to play with determination and confidence, we are working hard to make it tough for them”.
Roberto Serniotti (Ass.coach Itas Diatec Trentino): “This will be another important and exciting test, as it is always the case against Piacenza. They are looking for points to get into the playoffs and our defeat against Verona will surely have given them extra motivation. But we are up for it too. We want to make sure we’ll finish top of the regular season as soon as possible”.
Andreoli Latina – Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 3 (All Monza)
Riccardo Spairani (Andreoli Latina): “Monza is a very strong team, they’re coming off a home loss and will want to bounce back. They have a setter that I know very well, Dragan Travica, with whom I played for two years in Milan. In the past we have had troubles against them, although our first meeting this season occurred after a long and difficult trip”.
Luca Monti (Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza): “Our torture this season is to face teams that gets rejuvenated the game before ours. Latina has not had an excellent run in this second half of season, but it is very dangerous for two reasons: First of all because they will be at home and there it is not easy, and because they are coming off a victory over Treviso. If we add to that our current difficulty when we play teams that are below us in the table…a bad mix could come up. As for our team, there is a little doubt in the center, which we will evaluate until Sunday morning”.
Marmi Lanza Verona – Yoga Forlì
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 18 (11-7 Verona)
Marco Meoni (Marmi Lanza Verona): “In recent games, Forlì has done well and it gets to this encounter already relegated. Now they don’t have anything to lose anymore and that’s why they will try to do as well as possible to take some points. We are motivated by the playoffs, we’re extremely determined. We have to get as many points as possible until the end, starting this Sunday”.
Piero Molducci (coach Yoga Forlì): “We have four games left, let’s play them at our maximum, that’s the only thing to do. With the team we have now, we could have saved ourselves, but I couldn’t have this team from the start because the budget did not enable us to do so. Let’s see what happens, this year we have played in the A1 with the budget of an A2 team. We’ll see what the financial situation will be for next season. In the meantime, we’ll keep working with the same spirit that enabled us to win in Monza”.
BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte – Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 3 (3 successi Vibo Valentia)
Flavio Gulinelli (BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte): “This game is as important as the previous ones and I expect the boys to bounce back after the loss against Cuneo. As I’ve said before, we have to focus on our side of the net, and confirm all the good things we have done in this second half of championships. Vibo is a tough team but we are as well and we are keen to fight until the end”.
Manuel Coscione (Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia): “I expect a tricky game because Castellana is playing for its life in the A1. They will want to win at all cost, considering that Latina is quite a few points ahead, but our team also has reasons to play a good game to stay in the playoff race. In my opinion, it will be a nervy game, composure will be key more than the technique”.
Serie A2 Sustenium
Round 27
There are four games left until the end of the A2 regular season and the final outcome is still unwritten. Top spot remains an open fight between Padova and Ravenna, which took advantage of the loss of their direct opponent in the last round to get within two points. Babini’s boys face Mantova on Sunday morning, which means it could go top for a few hours with a three-point win, while Padova is involved in the big game of the weekend against Città di Castello, currently third and determined to stay there. After the three points taken in Milan, Reggio Emilia plays host to club Italia, which is already relegated. Isernia will try to keeps its positive run aiming to get out of the playout zone as it hosts Genova, fifth but only one point from third place. Right in the middle of the playoff race, Segrate takes on Pineto. Same situation for Sora, currently tenth, which tries to get back on track and snap a five game losing skid as it entertains Gela, twelfth. Recent winner over the leader, Loreto plays host to Perugia. Finally, it’s Santa Croce versus Milan.
Round 27
Sunday 13 March at 11.30am
Canadiens Mantova – Marcegaglia CMC Ravenna Live on Sportitalia 2
(Orpianesi–Cappelletti)
Sunday 13 March at 6pm
Edilesse Conad Reggio Emilia – Club Italia Aeronautica Militare Roma
(Bassan-Pristerà)
Geotec Isernia – Carige Genova
(Frapiccini–Rolla)
Volley Segrate 1978 – Pallavolo Pineto
(Contini-Marchello)
Energy Resources Carilo Loreto – Sir Safety Perugia
(Bertoletti-Sessolo)
Globo Banca Popolare Del Frusinate Sora – Eurogroup Gela
(Feriozzi-Chimento)
Gherardi SVI Città Di Castello – Phyto Performance Padova
(Bartoloni-Florian)
Sunday 13 March at 8.30pm
NGM Mobile Santa Croce – CheBanca! Milano
(Piluso-Longo)
League table
Phyto Performance Padova 67, Marcegaglia CMC Ravenna 65, Gherardi SVI Città Di Castello 47, NGM Mobile S.Croce 46, Carige Genova 46, Volley Segrate 1978 43, Energy Resources Carilo Loreto 41, Edilesse Conad Reggio Emilia 40, CheBanca! Milano 39, Globo Banca Pop. Frusinate Sora 39, Geotec Isernia 37, Eurogroup Gela 32, Sir Safety Perugia 27, Canadiens Mantova 26, Pallavolo Pineto 20, Club Italia A.M. Roma 9
