SuperLega UnipolSai
Round 19
Some big games to entertain you this weekend, starting on Saturday night with Latina against Verona, while on Sunday there will be the derby between Modena and Piacenza.
SuperLega UnipolSai round 19
Saturday February 14 at 7.30pm
Top Volley Latina – Calzedonia Verona Live on RAI Sport 2
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
(Saltalippi-Cesare)
Sunday February 15 at 5pm
Modena Volley – Copra Piacenza Live on RAI Sport 1
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
(Gnani-Tanasi)
Sunday February 15 at 6pm
Cucine Lube Banca Marche Treia – Revivre Milano Live on Lega Volley Channel
(Rapisarda-Pasquali)
Energy T.I. Diatec Trentino – CMC Ravenna Live on Lega Volley Channel
(Santi-Vagni)
Vero Volley Monza – Exprivia Neldiritto Molfetta Live on Lega Volley Channel
(Zucca-Simbari)
Tonazzo Padova – Altotevere Città di Castello-Sansepolcro Live on Lega Volley Channel
(Sobrero-Braico)
Rested: Sir Safety Perugia
League table
Energy T.I. Diatec Trentino 43, Modena Volley 42, Cucine Lube Banca Marche Treia 37, Calzedonia Verona 33, Sir Safety Perugia 33, Top Volley Latina 30, CMC Ravenna 25, Exprivia Neldiritto Molfetta 24, Copra Piacenza 19, Vero Volley Monza 15, Altotevere Città di Castello-Sansepolcro 10, Tonazzo Padova 7, Revivre Milano 6.
1 game in hand: Modena Volley, Cucine Lube Banca Marche Treia, Vero Volley Monza, Altotevere Città di Castello-Sansepolcro, Revivre Milano
Top Volley Latina – Calzedonia Verona
This might be the big game of the weekend as both teams chase a place in the top four, which translates into a court advantage in the playoffs quarter-finals. Verona clinched that fourth place last week with a convincing win over Perugia, which is now 5th and has to rest this weekend. If the hosts were to win, that would make the fight for the top places even more exciting.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 21 (13-8 Verona)
Daniele Tailli (Top Volley Latina): “It will be an important game for the league table and our confidence because we’re coming off two crucial 3-0 wins for us and the playoffs. They will be as motivated as us, they had a great win over Perugia. Hopefully, we’ll play well and entertain our fans, more and more of them are coming to encourage us”.
Simone Anzani (Calzedonia Verona): “Definitely a difficult game, Latina plays top volleyball and they’re standing in the top part of the table, just three points from us and Perugia. We have to take this opportunity to create a gap. We have to play like at the start of the Perugia game, being aggressive from the get-go and then avoiding to lose our focus. Some fans will make the trip, we have to give it our best shot for them too”.
Modena Volley – Copra Piacenza
The atmosphere should be special for the derby. Rested last weekend, Modena slipped to second as Trento defeated Milan. Beaten in the Champions League playoffs 12 first leg by Kazan 3-0 despite a good game, Piacenza will be looking for its first win in the return games.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 30 (18-12 Piacenza)
Andrea Sartoretti (GM Modena Volley): “The break allowed us to get some players who struggled with physical problems back to full fitness. Kovacevic and Ngapeth for example. There was a great understanding between the medical staff and coaching staff, and thanks to the great work done the full squad will be available. This will surely be a very difficult game, we want to go top, the spot that guarantees a place in the Champions League at the end of the regular season. Piacenza fights to get into the playoffs, so it will be a battle”.
Andrea Radici (coach Copra Piacenza): “After our return trip from Romania in the Champions League we had two really unlucky weeks. We have finally got everybody back in the squad this week, hopefully this will be the start of some consistency, both in training and in the league, we really need some”.
Cucine Lube Banca Marche Treia – Revivre Milano
The defeat in the Champions League against Belchatow really hurt Treia, who will have to find the mental resources to face Milan on Sunday before the return leg of the playoffs 12 against the Polish side. Milan will try to take their first points in this second half of season.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 1 (Treia)
Dragan Stankovic (Cucine Lube Banca Marche Treia): “We have to forget about Wednesday’s Champions League defeat and focus on the SuperLega. We want to keep moving up the league table and we have an opportunity to do so in front of our amazing crowd in the PalaCivitanova arena. We’re up against the bottom team which doesn’t mean we can take the win for granted: we’ll need maximum focus to take the three points”.
Marco Maranesi (coach Revivre Milano): “We’re facing a team that played an important European game and might be a little tired. But we have to focus on ourselves, we have a couple of players with knocks who we hope to be hundred percent in time for the game. We have been making progress in recent games, in Modena and Trento, we have to keep getting better before playing games in which we’ll have our chance. Because on Monday, our second part of season will kick off, and this will be the most important one”.
Energy T.I. Diatec Trentino – CMC Ravenna
Trento is back on top above the rest as it took advantage of Modena being rested. Ravenna is coming off back to back losses against Treia and home against Monza. Trento will be like a mountain to climb as Ravenna has never beaten them.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 7 (Trento won them all)
Lukasz Zygadlo (Energy T.I. Diatec Trentino): “We’re facing an interesting and difficult game. We’ll be up against our former player Andrea Bari who will surely be up for it. I am sure he will play a great game here in Trento, he knows the gym and the atmosphere there is on game day. Ravenna will be keen to bounce back after a couple of poor outings. We’ll need to contain them in every fundamental, we want to stay top of the table”.
Waldo Kantor (coach CMC Ravenna): “We’re facing a run of tough games, we’ll need to play at our best. The only way to be optimist about the remaining games of the regular season is to get back to our normal standard. Trento is extremely strong, packed with super stars, everybody knows it, but the only thing I’m saying is that we must give everything we have. We’re definitely worth more than what we’ve seen against Monza. Only if we play at our best can we think of taking points in the next few games”.
Vero Volley Monza – Exprivia Neldiritto Molfetta
A great day of volleyball ahead with two of the most in-form teams in the league. If we looked exclusively at the second half of season, Molfetta would be third with 11 points and Monza sixth with 9. Vacondio’s men have gone on a superb run, the playoffs are now 9 points away, and the 8th place is precisely occupied by Molfetta, who still has to be rested. This means this game is extremely important for both sides.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 6 (5-1 Molfetta)
Claudio Bonati (Sport director Vero Volley Monza): “The secret of our improvement? I think the boys needed to realise what they were capable of, and that self-belief increased game after game. With a little more determination, we might have been able to avoid a couple of defeats in the first eleven rounds but, as newly promoted side, our team needed time to settle in. Molfetta is an excellent team that proved in recent outings it deserved to be where it is in the table. It won’t be easy by any means, but we’ll try to play our best volleyball to keep our positive run going”.
Sergio Noda Blanco (Exprivia Neldiritto Molfetta): “Last Sunday’s win was important because it was a strange game in which none of the two teams played well. We have been inconsistent but we have been solid in the clutch time. Let’s not forget we were coming off a loss in Latina, against a strong team, but after a first set we had in hands but threw away. So we did a good job to redeem ourselves. Monza will be home, this is an important factor. This is one of the most in-form teams of the league, they are united, but we must focus on ourselves. We’ve been studying carefully Monza’s characteristics. We want to keep getting better and this is an important time in the season. We haven’t set any goals though, we just take one game at a time”.
Tonazzo Padova – Altotevere Città di Castello-Sansepolcro
Encounter between two teams standing in the bottom part of the table. The first meeting was a real battle with Castello coming back from 2-1 down to win it at the tie-break. In the return games, Polidori’s men took three points, three more than Padova, and are now just three points away from their opponents of the day. Rosso and co have already met the top guns, Trento, Treia, Modena, Perugia and Molfetta, and now they have an opportunity to start taking points.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 11 (6-5 Città di Castello)
Mattia Rosso (Tonazzo Padova): “A crucial game on Sunday. We have been playing good volleyball but unfortunately the results have not come of late. We’ll need to stay focused and positive, especially in the key moments. We have been training well and we had a good friendly too against Innsbruck. There are all the ingredients for a good game, but let’s not forget we’ll face a team as hungry for points as we are, so we must be very careful”.
Nicola Daldello (Altotevere Città di Castello-Sansepolcro): “An impo
