Serie A1 Sustenium
Round 21
Round 21 begins on Saturday with San Giustino playing host to Modena. Third from bottom, the home side needs points to get away from the danger zone, while Modena have not won in the last three games (including the cup semi-final). On Sunday, the big game of the day will be Belluno against Cuneo, which is now second after having played and won its postponed game of round 19 against Ravenna on Wednesday.
Serie A1 Sustenium Round 21
Saturday March 3 at 5.30pm
Energy Resources San Giustino – Casa Modena Live on RAI Sport 1
(Cipolla-Sampaolo)
Sunday March 4 at 6pm
Fidia Padova – CMC Ravenna Differed RAI Sport 2 from 8.30pm
(Vagni-Pol)
Sisley Belluno – Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo
(Rapisarda-La Micela)
Copra Elior Piacenza – Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza Live on Sportube.tv
(Caltabiano-Bartolini)
Itas Diatec Trentino – Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia
(Cesare-Piersanti)
Lube Banca Marche Macerata – Andreoli Latina
(Cerquoni-Satanassi)
M. Roma Volley – Marmi Lanza Verona
(Prandi-Pasquali)
League table
Itas Diatec Trentino 53, Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo 45, Lube Banca Marche Macerata 43, Casa Modena 35, Sisley Belluno 35, Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza 34, Copra Elior Piacenza 29, Andreoli Latina 26, Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia 25, Marmi Lanza Verona 25, M. Roma Volley 24, Energy Resources San Giustino 19, Fidia Padova 18, CMC Ravenna 9
Energy Resources San Giustino – Casa Modena
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 19 (14-5 Modena)
Andrea Sartoretti (sport director Energy Resources San Giustino): “The boys have been training very well in the past few days. The Modena game is very important for us. There are not so many games to play left and we are right in the middle of a battle not to go down, every point won or lost can make a big difference”.
Daniele Bagnoli (coach Casa Modena): “We’re facing a series of very tough games and some road matches on tough places to go to. From now on, every game will be like a final because every team, us included obviously, are extremely motivated to reach their goals in the league table. San Giustino is much more balanced since Patak arrived, they have just won against Roma and gave a good game to Cuneo. Besides, their arena and the atmosphere there is there make it very complicated. All in all, a very tough one ahead. Lately we’ve been training better thanks to Yosifov’s comeback, and I think there have already been some improvement in our game against Macerata. Our main weakness so far has been our lack of consistency at the top level. We proved we could play good volleyball, but not with continuity”.
Fidia Padova – CMC Ravenna
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 5 (3-2 Ravenna)
Paolo Montagnani (coach Fidia Padova): “An important game for us on Sunday, like all the ones we’ve played so far and all the ones we’ll play until the end of the regular season. Our priority was to get everybody fit again, including Koshikawa who did extremely well in the recent test against Hypo Tirol. We’ll need to be focused, effective, and fight for the win without gifting anything like we did against Vibo Valentia”.
Antonio Babini (coach CMC Ravenna): “It’s true that the trip to Padova last year had a whole different signification, but that doesn’t mean we’re not motivated, we’re totally up for it. We have to win and we’ll do everything possible to achieve that”.
Sisley Belluno – Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 81 (51-30 Belluno)
Roberto Piazza (coach Sisley Belluno): “We have to keep in mind that every game can have a big influence on the final standings and playoffs. I’d like my team to go all out. We’re up against a team that is deservedly second in the league, and they showed all their quality in their last two games against San Giustino and Ravenna. They have great capacity to come out of difficult moments and now they’ll pursue their last target left: the league title. They have super stars, experienced players, and their starting setter Grbic is back. One last thought on Enzo Lefebre: when I arrived in Treviso, he was already there. He was one of us, one of those who worked for years at La Ghirada. This is a huge loss”.
Camillo Placì (coach Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo): “We have to keep winning until the end of the regular season. The top spot seems to be impossible but we’ll aim at maintaining this second place, which is why we need to keep winning. We’re expecting an even more difficult game than against Ravenna. Hopefully, our level of play will get better and we’ll need less time to reach our best. These games are fundamental to prepare the final rush”.
Copra Elior Piacenza – Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 20 (10 each)
Luca Monti (coach Copra Elior Piacenza): “Meeting teams one step above us is what we’ll be doing until the end of the season. In the past six games, we did very well, we have cut the deficit with teams in front of us and got closer to the top six. Cutting further down this deficit would be a great result. This will definitely be a difficult game, likes the ones against Macerata and Modena”.
Emanuele Zanini (coach Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza): “A very tough game, in a difficult arena to play and against the most in-form team of the league. They have great players with experience like Zlatanov, Papi and Nikolov. They’re playing well and are coming off a long winning streak, so we’ll need to play much better compared to the game in Belluno. We’ll need to be much more aggressive. Each player will have to show the will to fight for every point”.
Itas Diatec Trentino – Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 18 (16-2 Trento)
Matey Kaziyski (Itas Diatec Trentino): “We have just qualified for a historical fourth straight Champions League Final Four against Macerata. It was a superb breakthrough but we have very little time to enjoy it because on Sunday we’re up against Vibo Valentia and it won’t be easy to reset our minds and play well against a tough team like that. But we’ll try our best because the points are stake are very important”.
Gianlorenzo Blengini (Coach Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia): “I am confident we’ll have a good game, the attitude will be key. I often see teams playing under their real potential against Trento. Not only because Trento make it difficult for you but, at times, the fact they know they’re facing such a strong team make them play differently that against other opponents. We’ll need to play the most normally possible, as if it was another team, with the only difference that they’re stronger. In any case, we have to focus on our game no matter what happens on the other side of the net. If we can do that, I think this will be a good test”.
Lube Banca Marche Macerata – Andreoli Latina
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 23 (20-3 Macerata)
Dragan Stankovic (Lube Banca Marche Macerata): “The Champions League knock-out was difficult to take in. This was an important target of ours, which vanished after a first leg win over Trento, which had given us good hopes to believe we could make it into the Final Four. Now we have the league left, and we have to focus on that with all our strengths. The first thing to do is try to finish as high as possible, which means we need to win all the remaining games to try to snatch second place at the expense of Cuneo. This encounter against Latina is extremely important psychologically. We have to get back on our feet immediately, we need three points and a convincing performance”.
Michel Guemart (Andreoli Latina): “Difficult trip to Latina but the Roma win gave us a boost. We know we’ll be up against a determined team which is back at its best. We’ll go there and try our best, we have already made it hard for other top teams and that’s what we’ll try to do in Macerata. We’ll try to take advantage of their mistakes and play at the level we played against Roma”.
M. Roma Volley – Marmi Lanza Verona
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 5 (4-1 Roma)
Gabriele Maruotti (M. Roma Volley): “Very tricky match. The keys to the game will be the serve and how we’ll be able to read Meoni’s moves. It will be crucial to contain their serve, especially the ones of Kromm and Gasparini, this is their main weapon. And then, there is Meoni, the central figure of their play. I have great memories from my time in Verona. This is a serious club where it is nice to work. And the fact they’ve been in the Serie A for years is no wonder. The Verona fans are brilliant, they support the team even through the most difficult moments. So playing at home will be an advantage for us”.
Matteo De Cecco (ass.coach Marmi Lanza Verona): “Like all the games at the end of the season, this one will be important to get a good position in the league table. If we can win it, we’ll take pressure off our shoulders in our aim to stay up. Both teams are going through difficult times, but this is not a do-or-die game. The main target is to play good volleyball, and try to bring points home as we usually tend to struggle on the road”.
Del Monte Italian Cup A2
Final Four schedule and refs
Del Monte Italian Cup Serie A2 Final Four
Saturday March 3: semi-finals
4pm
Crazy Diamond Segrate (1°) – (4°) Pallavolo Molfetta
(Frapiccini-Florian)
6.30
BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte (2°) – (3°) Sir Safety Perugia
(Genna-Cardaci)
Sunday March 4 at 5.30pm
Finale Live on Rai Sport 1
(Pozzato-Piana)
