The four teams to make it into the Italian Cup Final Four to take place February 18-19 are Macerata, Trento, Modena and Belluno. The semi-final match ups will be Macerata versus Modena and Trentino versus Belluno. Results and quotes to follow:
Quarter-final results
Lube Banca Marche Macerata (1) – (8) M. Roma Volley 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-19)
Casa Modena (4) – (5) Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza 3-1 (35-33, 25-21, 25-27, 25-17)
Itas Diatec Trentino (2) – (7) Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia 3-0 (25-15, 25-16, 25-20)
Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo (3) – (6) Sisley Belluno 1-3 (22-25, 25-21, 16-25, 22-25)
FINAL FOUR SCHEDULE
Del Monte Italian Cup Serie A1 – Final Four
Roma – Pala Lottomatica Arena
Saturday February 18 at 4pm
1st semi-final
Lube Banca Marche Macerata – Casa Modena Live on Rai Sport 1
Saturday February 18 at 6.30pm
2nd semi-final
Itas Diatec Trentino – Sisley Belluno Live on Rai Sport 1
Sunday February 19 at 5.30
Final Live on Rai Sport 1
LUBE BANCA MARCHE MACERATA – M. ROMA VOLLEY 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-19)
LUBE BANCA MARCHE MACERATA: Lampariello, Savani 17, Exiga (L), Parodi 17, Stankovic 8, Travica 2, Omrcen 14, Podrascanin 7. DNP Pajenk, Kovar, Monopoli, Van Walle. Coach. Giuliani.
M. ROMA VOLLEY: Lebl 1, Paparoni (L), Maruotti 4, Zaytsev 13, Boninfante 2, Bencz 4, Sabbi, Cisolla 11, Bjelica 5. DNP Passier, Paolucci, Puliti, Corsano. Coach. Giani.
Macerata swept Roma for the third time this season and redeemed itself for the recent two defeats conceded. Savani MVP with 73% in attack, 5 aces and 1 block.
Alberto Giuliani (coach Lube Banca Marche Macerata): “The team was well organised tonight, it found the level it had lost last week against Piacenza. I really liked what I saw, they always looked like having control of things, even when they were only two points ahead in the sets. Only the great teams playing with confidence can bring you this feeling and I think the opponent could feel this confidence too. We’re starting an intense period, many games and not much training to come, we’ll need to do well to stay focused and be as organised and effective as tonight. The Italian Cup is one of our targets, and reaching the Final Four is an important stage for us. Once we’ll be there, though, we’ll need to win, and that won’t be easy”.
Andrea Giani (coach M. Roma Volley): “Roma did well in the first two sets: in the first the difference was made on 4-5 plays in which we did not dig as we could have, while in the second we have not been effective in position 2. In the third, Macerata created a big gap thanks to its serve and it was impossible to get back”.
CASA MODENA – ACQUA PARADISO MONZA BRIANZA 3-1 (35-33, 25-21, 25-27, 25-17)
CASA MODENA: Manià (L), Sala 12, Dennis 35, Carletti 1, Kooy 2, Bellei 1, Yosifov 7, Esko 6, Martino 6, Anderson 22, Piscopo 1. DNP Catellani, Casoli. Coach. Bagnoli.
ACQUA PARADISO MONZA BRIANZA: Rossini (L), Conte 18, Nikic 7, Forni 3, Molteni, Buti 7, Rooney 7, Kaszap, De Cecco 1, Gavotto 14, Shumov 7, Roumeliotis 1. DNP Ciabattini. Coach. Zanini.
In an entertaining and intense game, Modena had the better of Monza just three days after being swept by the same team in the league. Captain Dennis was named MVP as he scored 35 points with 62% in attack.
Angel Dennis (Casa Modena): “We have worked so hard for this game: It’s true that there was a bit of pressure because we knew we could not afford to get it wrong against such a good opponent. I am extremely happy with the performance of the team but there is still a long way to go now”.
Mauro Gavotto (Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza): “If we had won the first set, the game would have been different. We did not manage to play as well as on Sunday, while Modena played very well with Dennis and Anderson standing out”.
ITAS DIATEC TRENTINO – TONNO CALLIPO VIBO VALENTIA 3-0 (25-15, 25-16, 25-20)
ITAS DIATEC TRENTINO: Kaziyski 13, Birarelli 9, Della Lunga, Juantorena 12, Zygadlo, Vieira De Oliveira, Sokolov, Djuric 9, Colaci (L), Stokr 14, Bari (L). DNP Brinkman, Burgsthaler. Coach. Stoytchev.
TONNO CALLIPO VIBO VALENTIA: Coscione, Serafini, Cernic 3, Diaz 3, Grassano 3, Banderò, Rak 5, Klapwijk 13, Barone 6, Fanuli (L). DNP Falasca, Mignolo, Iurlaro. Coach. Blengini.
Trentino made it into the Cup Final Four for the third consecutive season. Vibo Valentia was beaten in each of its nine outing in the past in the PalaTrento arena and this one was no different. Raphael MVP.
Raphael (Itas Diatec Trentino): “We did a good job of making it easier for ourselves but in reality this was not a simple game to win. We are obviously very happy because we really wanted to go back to Rome. All my teammates did fantastic in attack but it’s already time to focus on the Macerata game because Saturday’s game will be a crucial one for us”.
Rocco Barone (Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia): “We knew it was going to be tough to win here. We couldn’t do it because Trento was effective in every area of the game, they made it very difficult for us. We have to put it behind us and focus on Sunday’s game because this will be a very important one against Roma”.
BRE BANCA LANNUTTI CUNEO – SISLEY BELLUNO 1-3 (22-25, 25-21, 16-25, 22-25)
BRE BANCA LANNUTTI CUNEO: Mastrangelo 8, Henno (L), Ngapeth 17, Fortunato 5, Van Lankvelt, Wijsmans 12, Vissotto Neves 14, Caceres 5, Patriarca 1, Baranowicz 3. DNP Vesely, Rossi, Izzo, Pieri. Coach. Gulinelli.
SISLEY BELLUNO: Abdelaziz 1, Fei 16, Horstink 15, Dolfo, Farina (L), Kohut 10, De Togni 9, Suxho 8, Antonov, Sorato (L), Ogurcak 8. DNP Szabò, Curti. Coach. Piazza.
Without Nikola Grbic, who injured a finger, Cuneo played without much fighting spirit and was defeated by Belluno, which was very effective at the net (16 blocks) and led by a superb Suxho (MVP).
Marco Pistolesi (GM Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo): “We knew this game was going to be difficult and not being with our full squad made it even tougher. But that would be too easy to say we lost because we missed Grbic. All the players are important and one player cannot be an excuse for a defeat. They played better and deserved the victory. As for us, we certainly made a step back compared to a few weeks ago”.
Donald Suxho (Sisley Belluno): “We came here ready to play a good game against a top quality team. We really wanted to win it, especially after the poor performance of the last game played against Cuneo. Our strength came precisely from this will to play together and get this victory. This will to win turned into digs, spikes and a lot of extra work which was obvious to whom was watching. Excellent performance at the net and in dig”.
