Sidigas HS Avellino will not play Saturday
Sidigas HS Avellino announced it decided not to play Saturday’s home game against Potenza Picenza.
Serie A1
Round 7
The Serie A1 is back just three days after the last round. Big game on Saturday with Macerata versus Modena while there is an interesting Trento versus Città di Castello on Sunday. The Italian League Serie A will support the World Day against AIDS.
Serie A1 round 7
Saturday November 30 at 5.30pm
Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata – Casa Modena Live on RAI Sport 2
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
(Vagni-Santi)
Sunday December 1 at 5.30pm
Exprivia Molfetta – Calzedonia Verona Live on RAI Sport 2
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
(Cipolla-Goitre)
Sunday December 1 at 6pm
Diatec Trentino – Altotevere Città di Castello Live on Sportube.tv
(Genna-Braico)
Andreoli Latina – Copra Elior Piacenza
(La Micela-Gini)
Bre Lannutti Cuneo – CMC Ravenna
(Rapisarda-Pol)
Sir Safety Perugia – Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia
(Cesare-Simbari)
League table
Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata 18, Diatec Trentino 14, Copra Elior Piacenza 14, Sir Safety Perugia 9, Calzedonia Verona 9*, Casa Modena 8, Altotevere Città di Castello 7, Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia 7, Exprivia Molfetta 6, CMC Ravenna 5, Bre Lannutti Cuneo 4, Andreoli Latina 4*
*1 game in hand: Calzedonia Verona, Andreoli Latina
Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata – Casa Modena
On Saturday at 5.30pm, the league leaders will play host to Modena and try to stay perfect with a seventh victory in as many games. Modena has not won in Macerata since November 2011. Macerata’s Kovar will probably be missing because of a tendinitis felt in Wednesday’s game against Vibo. Lorenzetti’s men will try to put the poor performance against Trento behind them.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 62 (33-29 Modena)
Dragan Stankovic (Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata): “We resumed where we had left off before the break with a win against Vibo. We want more of the same at home against a top team. They will be eager to redeem themselves after the poor display against Trento, but we’re determined to stay focused to play at our best. We know we have a tough period ahead of us, with many difficult games between the league and the Champions League, but we’re ready for it”.
Angelo Lorenzetti (Coach Casa Modena): “Macerata is Macerata, there’s not much else to say. The numbers are talking: they have only lost one set in six games so far. What we have to do is focus on trying to be more effective. We have to play like we had done until the game against Piacenza”.
Exprivia Molfetta – Calzedonia Verona
Ten years on, Molfetta and Verona are back facing each other (they had met in the A2 in 2003-04). Molfetta conceded its first home loss on Wednesday since last December, while Verona is flying thanks a lot to middle blocker Aidan Zingel, who dominates the blocking charts with 30 blocks in 5 games. Nico Castagna will receive the Mikasa golden ball award before the game.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 2 ( Both Verona)
Marco Cosimo Piscopo (Exprivia Molfetta): “We immediately have an opportunity to bounce back after the severe defeat against Perugia. We must at least try to play better volleyball than we did in the last two games. Improvement can happen by working in the gym during the week, even though you cannot change it all in just three days. We’ll try to stay close in the game, mentally too, without losing our way. We all have to believe we can do it, we have to stay composed and bounce back”.
Andrea Giani (coach Calzedonia Verona): “This will be a tough game, Molfetta will play home again after the Perugia loss. Their players will be extremely motivated, determined to bounce back and get a result. But we really want to win it. We know it will be a battle, we have to be ready to play a tight one against a determined team. But we’ll play with the same determination as them. We’ll try to make the most of our strengths like we did in the last few games, knowing we’ll not only have to put in play our technique and tactic but also our character”.
Diatec Trentino – Altotevere Città di Castello
It’s the Italian Champions against newly promoted Città di Castello. Trento has won them all except for the one against Macerata while Città di Castello is showing all its character on its debut in the elite. Among their main man, there is middle blocker Piano, who tallied 27 blocks so far, with 10 alone in the last game, and Fromm second scorer behind Atanasijevic with 92 points.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: None
Emanuele Birarelli (Diatec Trentino): “We’ll face a tough period until Christmas: we have a series of complicated games ahead, with a few difficult trips. It will therefore not be easy to keep this second place in the league. Sunday’s game against Città di Castello won’t be easy either. We have to work in the gym to improve our game, and we haven’t been able to do that of late because the time between one game and the next has been too short”.
Andrea Radici (coach Altotevere Città di Castello): “This will be a fascinating match. It’s obvious that it is a bit of a special game for us as we come from the division below and we’ll play in a gym that has written the history of Italian volleyball. Trento had a flying start to the season and they’re coming off a superb win in Modena. They played brilliantly as a team as well as individually, especially Sokolov and Ferreira. Hopefully we’ll be at our best technically and tactically and we’ll put maximum fighting spirit on court. These are our goals”.
Andreoli Latina – Copra Elior Piacenza
Latina brought back in the Italian league Sasa Starovic (at Macerata last season), who will make its league debut this weekend. He already showed some of his talent in the Challenge Cup victory over Hummenne, scoring 15 points. Piacenza is currently third, they lost the opening round but have not been defeated since, thanks as well to some unexpected performances from some, like the 27 points from Le Roux in the last round.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 24 (15-9 Piacenza)
Sasa Starovic (Andreoli Latina): “We have to build on the good performance of the Challenge Cup with another top level performance in the league. We know Piacenza is a much better team than Hummennè though, it will be a tough game, but we’ll do everything possible to take valuable points”.
Luca Monti (coach Copra Elior Piacenza): “Latina did not have the best of starts but they will get better thanks to the excellent players they have. We should not look at the league table, which right now does not tell the whole truth. Latina is doing well in Europe and thanks to the signing of Starovic, they will surely step up a gear. This will be a difficult game, Latina has a good serve, they can make it hard for us with it”.
Bre Lannutti Cuneo – CMC Ravenna
In Cuneo, the second and third from bottom will face up. Cuneo is having a tough time, having won just once against Latina and being severely defeated on four occasions. Coach Piazza will try to find the key for his boys to regain confidence. Ravenna has gathered five points out of a good win over Vibo and two tie-breaks lost, in which Bonitta’s team showed all its character. In the last round, they fought back from 2 sets down and pushed the tie-break to 18-20 with an outstanding Cebulj (30 points).
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 32 (20-12 Cuneo)
Giorgio De Togni (Bre Lannutti Cuneo): “Useless to say how important will be Sunday’s game for us. We need both confidence and points. A win would help us ahead of Wenesday’s Cev Cup game in Germany. Ravenna is a tough team, they have many experienced players, we’ll have to play like the team we want to be and make a step forward. There was a reaction in the game against Piacenza after losing the first two sets badly. We’re trying to improve psychologically too, because we have to be more solid in the important moments in order to make the qualitative leap”.
Marco Bonitta (coach CMC Ravenna): “Cuneo does absolutely not deserve to be where it stands in the table. This is a good team, on the up after the sudden change of setter between Grbic and Coscione, which shares the minutes with Gonzales. I expect it to be a complicated game, but the Ravenna seen in the third and fourth set against San Giustino could make it hard for them”.
Sir Safety Perugia – Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia
Winners in Molfetta in the last round and now fourth in the table, Perugia is getting better and better. Kovac’s men have only lost against Macerata and Piacenza so far. They boast the top scorer of the league, Atanasijevic, with 130 points. Vibo, 2 wins and 4 losses, will try to keep their good run going against Perugia as they won both encounters last season.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 2 (Both for Vibo Valentia)
Nemanja Petric (Sir Safety Perugia): “Vibo is a tough opponent that has already proved it could play good volleyball. This is an excellent team, a good mix of young and experienced players like Gavotto, Cisolla, Forni and Farina. We’ll have to be focused from the word go. Molfetta’s win was crucial for us, the excellent training done during the break paid off. I think we’re on the right track, we have to keep going to get more victories, our goal being to finish as high in the table as possible”.
Frantisek Ogurcak (Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia): “Just three days after the disappointing home game against Macerta we’re back on court in Perugia. We know that all the games, especially on the road, are difficult. No matter the opponent, we’ll play with determination and with the will to play our best volleyball. Hopefully we’ll get something out of it, who knows, maybe even the win”.
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