Serie A1 Sustenium
Round 25 postponed games on Thursday: Macerata – Cuneo and M. Roma Volley – Sisley Treviso
Treviso and Macerata have both celebrated respective European triumph in the Cev and Challenge cup and now they are back in the league playing the games of the round the others played this weekend.
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 Diretta Web TV on www.legavolley.it
(Pessolano-Castagna)
League table
Itas Diatec Trentino 64, Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo 53, Lube Banca Marche Macerata 46, Casa Modena 40, Sisley Treviso 40, Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza 38, Marmi Lanza Verona 34, RPA-LuigiBacchi.it San Giustino 29, Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia 29, Copra Morpho Piacenza 26, M. Roma Volley 24, Andreoli Latina 23, BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte 21, Yoga Forlì 10.
1 game in hand: Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo, Lube Banca Marche Macerata, Sisley Treviso, M. Roma Volley.
Lube Banca Marche Macerata – Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 55 (29-26 Cuneo)
Gert Van Walle (Lube Banca Marche Macerata): “The Challenge Cup victory brought great enthusiasm, hopefully this magical atmosphere will help us in the game against Cuneo too. There are important points at stake for us. There are four games left, in order to stay up there, we’ll have to face each one as if they were finals. Besides, a win against the Italian champs would give us even more confidence, which would be very positive for the playoffs. An injury to player like Omrcen would be a big blow for any team. We all hope he’ll be back soon, but until then I will give everything to make up for his absence”.
Wout Wijsmans (Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo): “We’re back in the league after the Champions League elimination at the Golden set. It’s a difficult moment, this is the first time that this group does not reach the final, it’s normal that it hurts a bit. It won’t be easy in Macerata, they have just won the Challenge Cup, they’ll be really up for it and they’ll be eager to celebrate with their supporters. But that’s a crucial game for us, we need the points to keep our second place in the league table. So we’ll go there focused, ready to give our best and ruin their party”.
M. Roma Volley – Sisley Treviso
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 11 (8-3 Treviso)
Andrea Giani (M. Roma Volley): “Definitely an important game both for us and Treviso, there is a lot at stake. As far as we’re concerned, we want to confirm all the good things done this season and avoid ruining everything with a suicidal end, while Treviso will defend its fourth place. It will be tough for us against the recent winner of the Cev Cup, which does not go through the same difficulty as we are. I don’t know If our future opponents will celebrate, but I think that once again it will depend on us. We’ll need to play as well as we’ve done in recent weeks”.
Robert Horstink (Sisley Treviso): “We celebrated the title on Saturday night when we came back from Poland, this was an important triumph for us. We were all together, with the staff, everybody from the club, the ones that have been close to the group. We obviously did not go over the line, we knew we had tough games coming up against Roma and Trento at home and we have no intention to slow down. On the contrary, I had the impression in the gym yesterday that this win gave us extra belief in our ability. Yes, it was the first title of my career: I had played a few important games, but never in a do-or-die final like on Saturday. I have to say that the feeling was fantastic, the coach showed faith in me in a tricky set, I came in and I gave my best. I knew my moment would have come: everybody told me that sooner or later it would have come. Hopefully, we’ll be able to live more experiences like that in the league playoffs. We’re already back on court on Thursday, but I don’t think the team will lack energy. We know Roma is a strong team, they have changed a lot of things, so that will be a whole new game compared to the first played this season. It won’t be easy to play in this gym, the lights are particular. Let’s build on the last success, and who knows where we’ll go…Treviso is always Treviso”.
