Del Monte® Italian Cup SuperLega Final Four
Modena through in another thrilling tie-break
Semi-final result:
Modena Volley – Cucine Lube Banca Marche Treia 3-2 (25-19, 23-25, 12-25, 25-23, 15-11)
MODENA VOLLEY – CUCINE LUBE BANCA MARCHE TREIA 3-2 (25-19, 23-25, 12-25, 25-23, 15-11) – MODENA VOLLEY: Mossa De Rezende 4, Sala 1, Petric 20, Boninfante, Casadei 1, Rossini (L), Ngapeth 17, Piano 8, Verhees 7, Ishikawa 1, Vettori 15. DNP Donadio. Coach. Lorenzetti.
CUCINE LUBE BANCA MARCHE TREIA: Fei 1, Henno (L), Parodi 9, Paparoni (L), Stankovic 10, Kovar, Sabbi 18, Monopoli 1, Shumov, Kurek 18, Baranowicz 2, Podrascanin 13. DNP Vitelli, Bonacic. Coach. Giuliani.
Modena Volley is back in the Italian Cup final 17 years after its last appearance and triumph in 1998 against Cuneo. To gain the right to play for its 11th cup success, Modena had to get rid of a team they’ve been struggling to beat for years. Macerata had indeed knock them out four times at the semi-final stage, in 2001, 2003, 2012 and 2013.
Just like Trentino versus Perugia, the second semi-final was another thriller, another two hours of top level volleyball and adrenaline. Treia looked incredibly powerful until the third set, taking a 2-1 lead as they put great pressure on their opponent with their serve and excellent dig. But Modena found the energy, heart and quality to get back up and clinch victory. Modena had its main man in Petric, who had three blocks and a total of 20 points. Bruninho was ferociously brilliant, while French spiker Ngapeth was clutch in the fourth and fifth set. Treia, who dominated at the net with 16 blocks to 10, did not manage to seal it in the fourth when they had the momentum. In the final, Modena will take on Trento, who knocked off Perugia.
Angelo Lorenzetti (Coach Modena Volley): “We won a very tough encounter. First of all I want to wish a quick recovery to Kovar, who is a great player and got injured during the game. My team had ups and downs, but we knew we were up against a top class team. We finally beat them, we had lost too many battles, it was time we turned things around. Now Trento, another team packed with champions with great experience. They are the favourite, but we want to try to go all the way”.
Matteo Piano (Modena Volley): “Losing the third was hard to take in, it was not easy to bounce back. We had a good game against a team that has much more experience than us, we wanted the final and we’re there. Now let’s go all out against Trento, these opportunities don’t happen very often”.
Alberto Giuliani (coach Cucine Lube Banca Marche Treia): “I am disappointed with the first set and also with the three consecutive missed serves in the fourth set. With more patience we might have had our chance in that set. As for the rest, I think the team did everything they could. We maintained a high level of play, except for that first set and that mini run of serves, which I think cost us the game. Let’s not forget we’re not hundred percent. We also had Kovar injured, bad luck goes around, and right now we’re the chosen ones. It’s the second year in a row that we get to the Cup Final Four with physical problems, I’m sorry we can’t play with all our weapons to help the boys, who have really given everything they’ve got”.
Marko Podrascanin (Cucine Lube Banca Marche Treia): “We got off to a poor start tonight, then we got back in it and played especially well in the third set. But we did not take advantage of the momentum in the fourth set, we made mistakes on the serve when it was tight. We had to win it 3-1 after leaving our opponent at 12, but Modena did a better job in the clutch time and proved they were stronger. But let’s stay positive, put this unlucky Italian final four behind us. Our next game will be in the Champions League and we want to try to go through”.
1 Trento 3 | |||
Trento 3 | |||
8 Piacenza 2 | |||
Energy T.I. Diatec Trentino | |||
4 Perugia 3 | |||
Perugia 2 | |||
5 Verona 0 | |||
Del Monte®Italian Cup SuperLega 2014/15 | |||
2 Modena 3 | |||
Modena 3 | |||
7 Ravenna 0 | |||
Modena Volley | |||
3 Treia 3 | |||
Treia 2 | |||
6 Latina 0 |
Final refs
Here are the referees designated for the cup final:
Fabrizio Pasquali (AP) 1st referee (from 1997 – Int. from 2001)
Daniele Rapisarda (UD) 2nd referee (from 2002 – Int. from 2011)
Del Monte® Italian Cup SuperLega – Final Four
PalaDozza – Bologna
Sunday January 11 at 5pm
FINAL Live on Rai Sport 1
Energy T.I. Diatec Trentino – Modena Volley
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
