Serie A1
Round 16
Round 16 will begin in the PalaDeAndré arena where Ravenna will play host to Vibo Valentia. While Ravenna is back in the race for a playoffs spot, Blengini’s team has failed to win in the last five rounds. The big game of Sunday will be the classic between Cuneo and Trento. Opposite moods as Cuneo qualified for the Champions League playoffs 6 in mid-week and Trento was prematurely knocked out by Dinamo Moscow. Interesting as well the derby between San Giustino and Perugia.
Serie A1 round 16
Saturday January 26 at 5.30pm
CMC Ravenna – Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia Live on RAI Sport 1
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
(Tanasi-Cipolla)
Sunday January 27 at 5.30pm
Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo – Itas Diatec Trentino Live on RAI Sport 1
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
(Cesare-Saltalippi)
Sunday January 27 at 6pm
Andreoli Latina – Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata Live on Sportube.tv
(La Micela-Puecher)
Casa Modena – Copra Elior Piacenza
(Sobrero-Braico)
BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte – Marmi Lanza Verona
(Bartolini-Piana)
Altotevere San Giustino – Sir Safety Perugia
(Vagni-Caltabiano)
League table
Itas Diatec Trentino 37, Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata 37, Copra Elior Piacenza 31, Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo 29, Casa Modena 27, Sir Safety Perugia 26, Andreoli Latina 23, Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia 20, BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte 14, Altotevere San Giustino 11, Marmi Lanza Verona 8, CMC Ravenna 7
CMC Ravenna – Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia
Past encounters: 3 (Vibo Valentia won them all).
Mauro Fresa (coach CMC Ravenna): “Vibo is coming off a losing streak and that’s precisely why they’ll come here eager to get back on track. Ravenna has been playing well of late, and we want to play another good game in front of our fans. All our stats in every fundamental have been increasing”.
Niels Klapwijk (Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia): “The game against Ravenna is extremely important, we want a good result and our first points in this second half of season. We knew it was going to be tough to face all the top teams, one after another. We’re a bit disappointed not to have taken any points but we have to remain focused on our game. We’re working hard every day in the gym, and the team is improving weeks after weeks. The last game against Piacenza proves that we’re on the right track, we played well that day but we’ve been a bit unlucky”.
Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo – Itas Diatec Trentino
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 42 (22-20 Trento).
Tsvetan Sokolov (Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo): “Tuesday night’s game against Ljubljana was a very interesting game because we played with a totally different line-up than usual. We approached the game positively, the game was very important and we managed to play and enjoy ourselves and I think that was the key to the victory. But now we have to focus immediately on the league game against Trento. Stoytchev’s team can play very well, we all know it, but we’re on a positive trend. It will be a good test to see where we stand. This will be a tough one for both teams. Hopefully we’ll manage to have fun and give the fans a good show”.
Andrea Bari (Itas Diatec Trentino): “We’re facing another important game in Cuneo, with three crucial points at stake for both teams. Funnily enough, we’ll be up against a team that regained confidence after a bad patch with its two Champions League games and the qualification to the playoffs 6. We need a victory to get going again and forget the disappointment of the Dinamo game”.
Andreoli Latina – Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 26 (23-3 Macerata).
Candido Grande (Sport director Andreoli Latina): “We’ll be playing one of the strongest teams of the league. We know it will be a tough game. We’re extremely excited following our cup game, and we’re hoping to get an upset. We’ll try with the help of our supporters to play a top level encounter, that’s the only way we can beat them”.
Alen Pajenk (Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata): “Our mission in Latina on Sunday will be to remain unbeaten in this 2013 and extend our positive streak. These are two teams that know each other well given that we met twice already this season with the Italian cup game, but the 2-0 in our favor should not make us think it will all be easy. Besides, Latina will be home this time, and in its gym Prandi’s team has had brilliant performances. This will be a tough one, but we need the three points at all cost to get to the big game against Trento in two weeks still top”.
Casa Modena – Copra Elior Piacenza
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 26 (15-11 Piacenza).
Michele Baranowicz (Casa Modena): “This will obviously be a very difficult game, it’s tough every Sunday. They’re strong, we’ll need a good game. We’ll need to get on court to have a good time and try to play well for our supporters. Hopefully, there will be a lot of people, we need our fans. We’ll have to be extremely focused too, careful in every situation, technically and tactically”.
Davide Marra (Copra Elior Piacenza): “Modena has been playing top quality volley, Sunday’s game will be tough. You could see how good they are in the recent cup quarter final game in the Palabanca arena and recently against Trento. Regarding the negative ending to the last game against Modena, we are extremely keen to take revenge like we did against Vibo after the loss against Macerata. We’re coming off a nice away win in the Challenge Cup at the expense of Gabrov: these excellent results keep a good spirit in the squad and it brings satisfaction and hope we can put on a good performance on Sunday”.
BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte – Marmi Lanza Verona
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 7 (6-1 Verona).
Antonio Ricciardello (BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte): “In the game against Verona we should see the progress made of late thanks to the hard work done in the gym, which led to the victory over Modena. We’ll look for maximum points again on Sunday. We believe we can win this second game in a row, this would be a great result for us. They will try to turn things around as they’re going through tough times. They probably did not expect to be so low in the table. We have to put them under pressure from the start with the serve, we know they can struggle in reception, and we’ll also have to stay focused on our game”
Bruno Bagnoli (coach Marmi Lanza Verona): “We carried out some excellent training sessions this week, there was a good spirit, we’re convinced that if we play well all together we can beat them again like in the first leg despite the fact Castellana is playing well right now and will be the favourite at home in a crucial game for the playoffs positions. Only Rak has been training on his own because of the knee problem that forced him to miss the Perugia game. Hopefully, he’ll be able to play Sunday, he’s important for us”.
Altotevere San Giustino – Sir Safety Perugia
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 1 (Perugia)
Paolo Torre (Altotevere San Giustino): “We have to get back to taking points after four consecutive defeats. We can’t afford to make more mistakes, it will be crucial to stay focused on every point of every set until the end of the season. This should be a real battle on Sunday. Derbys are always played with maximum intensity, physically and emotionally. We’ll have to be concentrated, they are the most in-form team of the league right now, they’re playing top quality volleyball, they managed to make it hard for some of the best teams and they won’t give us anything. On our side, we’ll have our fans and our determination to bounce back, and we will give everything we have”.
Andrea Giovi (Sir Safety Perugia): “We’re preparing the San Giustino game well, this will be an extremely difficult game, not only because of the atmosphere there will be there, the derby is always a particular game, but also because of the quality of the opposition, they have been getting better and at home they always play at their best. Still, we’re confident, we believe in our technical and tactical ability, we work hard every day, we’ll be ready for the fight to try to get a good result for our fans. What does the derby represent? Well, I was born here so seeing two teams of my region in the Serie A1 is something very nice, it’s the pride of the Umbria region and that shows volleyball is growing here”.
Serie A2
Round 16
Tonazzo Padova – Coserplast Matera. After two consecutive trips, Padova is back home against Matera. Padova are in mid-table while Nacci’s team got a boost from their recent victory over Potenza Picena in the fight to stay up. Loreto, Brolo, Potenza and Matera are all positioned inside two points.
Globo Banca Popolare del Frusinate Sora – Gherardi SVI Città di Castello. Could be Sora’s last chance to play for direct promotion. In the big game of the day, they face the league leaders who have extended their lead at the top to 7 points as Sora was defeated in Corigliano. Considering that Città di Castello has already been rested, if it was to win, it would make a giant step towards that top spot at the end of the regular season.
Elettrosud Brolo – Conad Reggio Emilia. Rested last weekend, this gave coach Tofoli a chance to insert newcomer Pereyra into the team’s schemes. The Argentine spiker will be able to make his debut against Reggio Emilia, which has been brilliant so far in the return games with 3 wins in as many outings.
Vero Volley Monza – B-Chem Golden Plast Potenza Picena. Monza is looking for a hat trick of home victories in this beginning of 2013 as it hosts Potenza, beaten last week by Matera in a crucial game at the bottom end of the table.
Pallavolo Loreto – Exprivia Molfetta. Loreto is fighting to get away from this last position in the table which would mean relegation in the B1. The opponent of the day is Molfetta, third in the table just 3 points from second place.
Sieco Service Ortona – Sidigas Atripalda. Atripalda has not won since its cup triumph and will be looking to put an end to this three-game losing streak as they travel to Ortona. The latter has gathered points in its last two outings with a win and a tie-break defeat. Important points at stake as there are only 5 points separating the fourth from the ninth.
Serie A2 Round 16
Sunday January 27 at 6pm
Tonazzo Padova – Coserplast Matera
(Guarneri-Gelati)
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