SuperLega UnipolSai
Round 21
Round 21 starts with a big one on Saturday night between Perugia and Piacenza. And it will only get better with Treia taking on Trento on Sunday.
SuperLega UnipolSai round 21
Saturday February 28 at 8.30pm
Sir Safety Perugia – Copra Piacenza Live on RAI Sport 1
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
(Rapisarda-Puecher)
Sunday March 1 at 4.30pm
Cucine Lube Banca Marche Treia – Energy T.I. Diatec Trentino Live on RAI Sport 1
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
(Cesare-Bartolini)
Sunday March 1 at 6pm
Modena Volley – CMC Ravenna Live on Lega Volley Channel
(Pasquali-La Micela)
Vero Volley Monza – Altotevere Città di Castello-Sansepolcro Live on Lega Volley Channel
(Cappello-Gnani)
Tonazzo Padova – Calzedonia Verona Live on Lega Volley Channel
(Vagni-Santi)
Top Volley Latina – Revivre Milano Live on Lega Volley Channel
(Cipolla-Sampaolo)
Rested: Exprivia Neldiritto Molfetta
League table
Energy T.I. Diatec Trentino 49, Modena Volley 48, Cucine Lube Banca Marche Treia 43, Calzedonia Verona 38, Sir Safety Perugia 36, Top Volley Latina 31, Exprivia Neldiritto Molfetta 27, CMC Ravenna 25, Copra Piacenza 19, Vero Volley Monza 15, Tonazzo Padova 12, Altotevere Città di Castello-Sansepolcro 10, Revivre Milano 7.
1 game more: Energy T.I. Diatec Trentino, Calzedonia Verona, Top Volley Latina, Exprivia Neldiritto Molfetta, CMC Ravenna, Tonazzo Padova
Sir Safety Perugia – Copra Piacenza
Before resuming its Champions League campaign, Perugia will play host to Piacenza on Saturday night. The Block Devils are chasing the fourth place. As for Piacenza, they said goodbye to the Champions League last week, knocked out by the Russians of Kazan. Now, Radici’s men will do everything possible to close the gap on 8th place and the playoffs, currently 6 points away.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 13 (9-4 Piacenza)
Carmine Fontana (ass.coach Sir Safety Perugia): “Tricky game. No matter what the table says, Piacenza is a strong team, they were very close to beat Trento in the cup quarters for example, they have a lot of quality, nobody can deny that, you just have to look at the roster. We’ve done well of late, although recent weeks were exhausting. Still, our game got better, we’re finding our identity. Playing a lot of games might bring difficulties and tried legs, but it also helps you to gain consistency. It’s obvious we need a good performance, we need to play with intensity and maximum focus. A lot of people have their eyes set on Wednesday’s Champions League game, I can understand that, but it’s crucial to have all our attention focused on Piacenza”.
Aimone Alletti (Copra Piacenza): “This will be a fundamental game. We’ve lost seven in a row, and another one would probably mean losing any chance to take part in the playoffs. So this will be like a final for us, and it won’t be easy to play it in their gym. Perugia is one of the favourites for the league title, they want to get back in fourth place, which would allow them to start the playoffs at home”.
Cucine Lube Banca Marche Treia – Energy T.I. Diatec Trentino
The PalaCivitanova arena is expected to be packed again for the big clash of the weekend against Trentino. Fascinating encounter and crucial. Recently knocked out of the Champions League by the Pols of Belchatow, Treia has a six-point deficit on the leaders of Trento. The latter will be rested next weekend, which is why Stoytchev’s men will do their best to maintain the edge they have on Modena, just one point behind, and Treia.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 44 (Trento 26-18)
Emanuele Birarelli (Energy T.I. Diatec Trentino): “This will be a much different game than the ones we played last month. We’ve often played at home and we gained confidence from it. But now we’ll be in Civitinova Marche and this will be much tougher because they are difficult to maneuver in their gym. We’ll need to play very well to win it”.
Marko Podrascanin (Cucine Lube Banca Marche Treia): “We’re facing a tough game, which we’ll play in a packed arena in our PalaCivitanova arena. We’ll have to put on court all the energy we have to try to beat Trento, a win would really mean a lot in the table. It will be difficult, they have been playing brilliantly, but we want to keep our winning streak in the SuperLega going. The league is our last goal left”.
Modena Volley – CMC Ravenna
Modena is lurking behind Trento hoping for a chance to get back on top. Modena will try to stay unbeaten in this second half of season. Lorenzetti can be relieved to see all his players back to full fitness like Kovacevic who scored 17 in Molfetta. Ravenna has recently slipped to 8th in the table and will start to look over their shoulders as they try to stay in the playoff zone.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 67 (53-14 Modena)
Angelo Lorenzetti (coach Modena Volley): “We’ll be the favourites but all games must be played at 100%. And even more so on Sunday as we’ll face a team fighting for its place in the playoffs and playing good volleyball. Everybody knows Ravenna has quality players, Renan and Cebulj, just to name a couple, so we’ll need maximum focus. I’m sure we’ll have great support from our fans again, this is our secret weapon when we play home, and not only. We’ve come to the clutch moment of the season, it’s now that the final standings will be decided, we need to do everything possible to go top, which would mean a direct qualification in the Champions League and more home games during the playoffs”.
Waldo Kantor (coach CMC Ravenna): “We’re well aware of how difficult this will be, but we’ll travel to Modena to give it a fight. We’ll try to play to the maximum of our ability and see what result we can obtain. It’s not been all easy of late but I have seen some good things against Perugia, which I hope to see again in Modena. This is important to prepare for the European game against Belgrade too”.
Vero Volley Monza – Altotevere Città di Castello-Sansepolcro
In spite of some good performances, Monza remained empty-handed from its games against Mofetta and Verona. The playoff zone is ten points away with 6 games to play. Things are more complicated for Città di Castello, who’s last from bottom and 15 points away from the 8th place.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 9 (6-3 Città di Castello)
Claudio Bonati (Direttore Sportivo Vero Volley Monza): “This is a crucial game we need to win. We’ll have some tricky games until the end of the regular season, so if we want to keep our chance of being in the playoffs alive, we can’t afford any bad game. What has changed since our first meeting? We have been playing different volleyball since our road game in Perugia, we have evolved. The quality of the serve and reception will be key to try to contain Città di Castello and win it”.
Tamas Kaszap (Altotevere Città di Castello-Sansepolcro): “This training week to prepare the trip to Monza was very tough. We worked with great intensity. I can’t wait to go to Monza to play again in the PalaIper arena, I really hope to play. And hopefully we’ll bring home a positive result”.
Tonazzo Padova – Calzedonia Verona
Venetian derby number 14. Padova is coming off back to back wins over Città di Castello and Milan. They will try to make it three on the bounce against Verona, who has had an impressive run so far in this second half of season with six wins and only one loss. However, they still have some work to do to secure fourth place. Setter Manuel Coscione will celebrate his 400th appearance in the Serie A.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 13 (8.5 Verona)
Andrea Mattei (Tonazzo Padova): “Definitely a tough game. Verona has top quality players and they play excellent volleyball. We’ll try to build on the improvements seen in the return games in this derby which is crucial for us. We’ve won two important games in a row and now we’ll try to make the most of playing this one home”.
Mitja Gasparini (Calzedonia Verona): “We’ll need to stay focused throughout the game. If you relax one second, in any SuperLega game, the opponent can hurt you. So we need to play our game with determination from the first point. We’re in a period of preparation for the playoffs but first we need to get as high as possible in the table”.
Top Volley Latina – Revivre Milano
Latina gave it a good fight against Verona and Trento but only got one point out of it. Blengini’s men lost ground on fourth place, now seven points away, so they need a win. A home match against Milan, bottom of the table, would seem like a good opportunity. Milan was disappointed to take only a point against Padova, which was the first in the return games.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 1 (Latina)
Loris Manià (Top Volley Latina): “We can’t underestimate Milan, we have to win this one. We have to play like we did against the top teams. We need to use this home game to take three fundamental points to be in the playoffs”.
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