SuperLega UnipolSai
Round 23
Molfetta will play host to Piacenza in the opening game of Round 23 on Saturday night, while on Sunday, there’s a tempting remake of last year’s league final between Perugia and Treia.
SuperLega UnipolSai round 23
Saturday March 14 at 5.30pm
Exprivia Neldiritto Molfetta – Copra Piacenza Live on RAI Sport 1
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
(Zavater-Bartolini
Sunday March 15 at 5pm
Sir Safety Perugia – Cucine Lube Banca Marche Treia Live on RAI Sport 1
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
(Boris-Satanassi)
Sunday March 15 at 6pm
Top Volley Latina – Parmareggio Modena Live on Lega Volley Channel
(Santi-Cappello)
CMC Ravenna – Calzedonia Verona Live on Lega Volley Channel
(Sampaolo-Cesare)
Energy T.I. Diatec Trentino – Altotevere Città di Castello-Sansepolcro Live on Lega Volley Channel
(Tanasi-Pozzato)
Revivre Milano – Vero Volley Monza Live on Lega Volley Channel
(Goitre-Sobrero)
Rested: Tonazzo Padova
League table
Parmareggio Modena 54, Energy T.I. Diatec Trentino 50, Cucine Lube Banca Marche Treia 48, Calzedonia Verona 44, Sir Safety Perugia 42, Top Volley Latina 35, CMC Ravenna 28, Exprivia Neldiritto Molfetta 27, Copra Piacenza 21, Vero Volley Monza 18, Tonazzo Padova 12, Altotevere Città di Castello-Sansepolcro 10, Revivre Milano 7
1 more game: Calzedonia Verona, Top Volley Latina, CMC Ravenna, Tonazzo Padova
Exprivia Neldiritto Molfetta – Copra Piacenza
On Saturday night, Di Pinto’s men could well be playing their game of the year. Three points against its direct rival would guarantee them their first ever participation in the playoffs. Piacenza is six behind Molfetta and seven behind Ravenna, they can’t get this one wrong.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 3 (All Piacenza)
Vincenzo Di Pinto (coach Exprivia Neldiritto Molfetta): “This will be a very tough game any way you look at it. We’ll need to be at our best and we’ll need our fans. We’ll need the perfect game against a very strong team with a lot of experience. We earned ourselves a chance to get an extraordinary result. We just have to keep going, and make the most of playing home with these amazing fans”.
Hristo Zlatanov (Copra Piacenza): “Another final for us. We have four more final till the end of the regular season. We know Sunday’s game will be extremely difficult, but we must try our best to get in the playoffs and most importantly to believe in ourselves more. We’ll need a strong team play: it’s crucial everybody plays with fighting spirit and plays good volleyball. We have to get on court as one, as determined as against Latina: If we play as well we have our chance in Molfetta too”.
Sir Safety Perugia – Cucine Lube Banca Marche Treia
Perugia’s brilliant Champions League run ended in Lodz’s Atlas Arena. The knock-out just a little step away from the final four in Berlin will not erase the superb season Grbic’s men had in Europe. They will try to put a smile back on their face in the remake of last year’s title series. Perugia needs a win to try to beat Verona to fourth place. Verona has a two-point edge but still has to be rested. As for Podrascanin and co, the Perugia gym will bring back great memories of celebration. However, there was a big blow for coach Giuliani this week as Michele Baranowicz got injured (hand fracture) and is likely to be out for the rest of the season.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 10 (7-3 Treia)
Nikola Grbic (coach Sir Safety Perugia): “The Champions League was a great experience, which unfortunately did not end as we would have wished. But in the end, Belchatow deservedly won because they proved more solid in the clutch moments. I liked the fact we never gave up, we fought hard and now we can focus back on the league. We have a very tough game ahead, which can be the perfect opportunity to give it a big performance. We’ll be extremely motivated. We’ve been playing well, with consistency, we have gained confidence, which I am happy about because we’ve reached the end of the season”.
Dragan Stankovic (Cucine Lube Banca Marche Treia): “We’re going to Perugia to try to get an important result which would keep us in the chase for the top two places. This will be a tough game, a remake of the league final, our opponents are coming off a long trip to Poland, but we’ll need our best volleyball anyway to clinch victory. We’re chasing an eighth consecutive win, a key one for our league position”.
Top Volley Latina – Parmareggio Modena
With the playoffs already secured, Latina’s mission is now to keep Ravenna and Molfetta behind and maybe have one last go at the fifth place owned by Perugia. But the end of season is tough for Latina, who will first take on the leaders Modena before meeting Trento, Verona and Treia. As for Modena, they will try to stay above the rest.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 26 (17-9 Modena)
Daniele Sottile (Top Volley Latina): “A complicated encounter against the most in-form team of the league. They play the best volleyball of all, and the many victories and the cup triumph prove it. This will be a difficult game but we’ll be home, hopefully there will be a big turn-out. We’ll try to play our game. We need it for the playoffs, we’ve been working on that for a while, so that will be a good test for the future”.
Andrea Sartoretti (GM Parmareggio Modena): “This is the first of four very tricky games before the playoffs. Led by the experienced setter Sottile, Latina has a nice flow to its game, nice to see, and it brings results too. And if they can beat a team like Treia, it’s clear we’re up against a quality side. You just need to name a couple like Starovic and Van De Voorde to understand we’ll need a big performance. We’ll need to be focused, never give up and believe in our potential. The boys are aware of it and I’m sure they’ll put it all on show”.
CMC Ravenna – Calzedonia Verona
Ravenna has been doing extremely well of late, both in the league and in the Challenge Cup. After a tricky first leg, they swept Belgrade in the return leg and made it to the semi-finals against Benfica Lisbon. They also got a big win in the league against Padova, valuable for the playoffs. But Verona has been impressive too in the second half of season: 22 points and a virtual second place if you only look at return games. Verona will be rested next week, so they need a win and hope for Perugia to stumble against Treia to keep its fourth place.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 9 (5-4 Verona)
Waldo Kantor (coach CMC Ravenna): “We’ll try to play as well as on Wednesday in the Challenge Cup. The context was not easy, I really liked the response of the team in a game with a lot at stake. Let’s keep going with this spirit, let’s keep making progress and try to make it hard for Verona, who’s doing very well in the league and is definitely a better side than Red Star”.
Mitja Gasparini (Calzedonia Verona): “Ravenna is in high spirit following their qualification into the European Cup semis and their last league win over Padova. This will be an important game for us and a difficult one away from home. Ravenna had a good start to the season, then they faded but now they’ve won two in a row. They really have some interesting players who play quality volleyball. We have to keep working hard in the gym to continue to play as well as we did in our last outing. We know we have to give everything every time out”.
Energy T.I. Diatec Trentino – Altotevere Città di Castello-Sansepolcro
Trentino keeps getting more satisfaction from its European campaign. Kazyiski and co got rid of Roeselare in the CEV Cup challenge round and now will try to defend their second place. Città di Castello have not won in five, they will try to make it hard for Trento before next week’s big game against their direct level, Milan.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 3 (All Trento)
Matey Kaziyski (Energy T.I. Diatec Trentino): “This will be quite a difficult game, especially considering we’ve played a five-setter on Wednesday night in Belgium. But we have the court advantage, we know our gym and we tend to play fairly well here and we’ll have the support of our fans. We have to win this one and resume our run in the league too”.
Ludovico Dolfo (Altotevere Città di Castello-Sansepolcro): “We know we have nothing to lose. Unfortunately, the series of defeats certainly does not help, but we’ll try to maintain a good level of play, this is our target for this encounter”.
Revivre Milano – Vero Volley Monza
The PalaDesio arena will be the venue of this second derby between Milan and Monza this season. Monza has taken twice as many points as in the first half of season (6 in the first 13 games, and already 12 points in the return games). Mathematically, Monza is still in with a chance to catch a playoff spot (9 points away) but this looks pretty much like a mission impossible. Milan had won the first meeting and will try to make the double. But they’re still looking for their first win in the return games (only one point taken). Milan will try their best not to end their first experience in the SuperLega at the bottom.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 3 (2-1 Milan)
Marco Maranesi (coach Revivre Milano): “We’re coming off a good performance but now we need a win, maybe by taking a hard-fought set or two on the way. Monza has made great progress since we last met them. I think the setter and outside hitter is who improved the most, while the middle blockers confirmed their quality. But I think we have our chance”.
Oreste Vacondio (coach Vero Volley Monza): “It’s a derby and has to be played as one. We all know the table only counts relatively in those city rivalries. I think this is an important games for both teams, who want to give a meaning to their situation. We’ll try to make up for the defeat we conceded in the first meeting and try to stay in the race for the playoffs. Hopefully, this will be an entertaining game, they have a good roster, they found their balance. We have gained consistency by consolidating our game of our middle blockers, setters and spikers. We should not underestimate them, Milan has not won in this second half of season, but we know for well that when you struggle to get victories, something inside clicks. I hope that spark will not come against us”.
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