SuperLega UnipolSai
Round 25
The last before last. The 8 teams to take part in the playoffs were known already last week: Energy T.I. Diatec Trentino, Parmareggio Modena, Cucine Lube Banca Marche Treia, Sir Safety Perugia, Calzedonia Verona, Top Volley Latina, CMC Ravenna, Exprivia Neldiritto Molfetta. Now the match-ups remain to be decided.
SuperLega UnipolSai round 25
Sunday March 29 at 5pm
Calzedonia Verona – Parmareggio Modena Live on RAI Sport 1
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
(Sobrero-Simbari)
Domenica 29 marzo 2015, ore 18.00
Cucine Lube Banca Marche Treia – Exprivia Neldiritto Molfetta Live on Lega Volley Channel
(Pol-Zucca)
Sir Safety Perugia – Altotevere Città di Castello-Sansepolcro Live on Lega Volley Channel
(Santi-Cesare)
Tonazzo Padova – Top Volley Latina Live on Lega Volley Channel
(Cipolla-Piluso)
Revivre Milano – Copra Piacenza Live on Lega Volley Channel
(Braico-Vagni)
Rested: CMC Ravenna
Postponed to:
Wednesday april 1 at 8.30pm
Energy T.I. Diatec Trentino – Vero Volley Monza Live on Lega Volley Channel
League table
Energy T.I. Diatec Trentino 56, Parmareggio Modena 54, Cucine Lube Banca Marche Treia 54, Sir Safety Perugia 45, Calzedonia Verona 44, Top Volley Latina 38, CMC Ravenna 32, Exprivia Neldiritto Molfetta 31, Copra Piacenza 22, Vero Volley Monza 20, Tonazzo Padova 15, Revivre Milano 11, Altotevere Città di Castello-Sansepolcro 10
1 more game: Top Volley Latina, CMC Ravenna
Calzedonia Verona – Parmareggio Modena
Fascinating game between two teams coming off defeats. Giani’s men lost in Ravenna before being rested last week and slipped to fifth as Perugia took advantage with a win in Monza. Modena lost ground too, leaving its first place to Trento against which it lost last week. And they now have to be careful at Treia, threatening. Lorenzetti’s men have lost two in a row but will try their best to regain the first place.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 21 (17-4 Modena)
Andrea Giani (coach Calzedonia Verona): “A top level game. We’ll probably face the best team in the league. Modena’s lost two in a row so they’ll be eager to get back on track to chase first place. This will be a crucial game for them. We’ll try to play our game like we did in the first meeting. We’re up for it but we know that if we want to stay close we’ll have to play top quality volleyball. The attitude will be good, the motivation will not go amiss, but technically we’ll need to play well. This will be a great game. In the first encounter, we had pushed them to their limits with our game, we want to do that again”.
Angelo Lorenzetti (coacch Parmareggio Modena): “The Trento loss was not an accident. Accidents happen when you’re distracted or when you’re over confident, that was not the case. We lost against a top quality team, which proved stronger in the clutch time of the game. The road game in Verona will be tough. They have shown what they’re capable of, they play excellent volleyball and can beat anyone. They’re fast and aggressive. We have played some good volleyball this season, now we have to test ourselves in the key part of the season. As for our weaknesses, at times we’re not as effective as we should on the break which puts pressure on ourselves, pressure we have not handled all that well in the clutch time of some sets in the last two games”.
Cucine Lube Banca Marche Treia – Exprivia Neldiritto Molfetta
Thanks to nine consecutive wins, Treia is back in the hunt for the first place. They are now tied with Modena at 54 points (though behind on set difference). After back-to-back wins on tough road games in Perugia and Latina, Treia plays host to Molfetta in what could be a tricky one. Molfetta has indeed locked up 8th place and will play without pressure. In the first meeting, Molfetta had won it at the tie-break.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 3 (2-1 Treia)
Simone Parodi (Cucine Lube Banca Marche Treia): “Let’s be careful with Molfetta, they have already secured their place in the playoffs, they won’t have anything to lose. We have won nine in a row and want to make it ten in front of our fans in the PalaCivitanova arena. We want to keep making progress to reach our best in the playoffs, and finish the regular season as high as possible”.
Davide Candellaro (Exprivia Neldiritto Molfetta): “Reaching seventh place would be another prestigious result, but we know how hard this will be. The least we can say is that we went through a tough period and we’re trying to recover. We had to work extremely hard to beat Piacenza and Ravenna. Two very tight games that lasted five sets in which we had to fight until the very end. We’re definitely feeling good, we won’t have pressure, this is a good aspect. As for me, I am satisfied with my season, I have finally been able to perform with consistency. I have not missed any game with injury and that helped me to show my quality and improve my game”.
Sir Safety Perugia – Altotevere Città di Castello-Sansepolcro
Big derby for Perugia, still in the hunt for the fourth place which they obtained last week thanks to the three points taken in Monza, while Verona was being rested. As for Città di Castello, they will fight not to finish bottom of the table. Polidori’s men have slipped to the last position last week by losing against Milan, their direct rival.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 8 (5-3 Città di Castello)
Carmine Fontana (Ass.coach Sir Safety Perugia): “Some might think this will be an easy game by looking at the table but that won’t be the case. Castello certainly had its trouble but they sure have a lot of quality in attack too so when they hang on in reception they become very dangerous. And then we have to consider this is a derby, which always makes it a special game. We have seen two Perugia teams in March: at times we struggled, and at times we played excellent volleyball. We’ve been working hard on our serve, which often allowed us to get results, that has to be our main strength. And we have worked on the reception-attack phase to be more consistent. We want the three points and defend our fourth place”.
Alessandro Franceschini (Altotevere Città di Castello-Sansepolcro): “The derby is a big game here, and a big one for me as I grew up here. Maybe the players who came in this season might not feel the same about it. We know it will be tough but we hope to make it hard for them by being humble. We believe, this derby is worth more than a season for us given how things went”.
Tonazzo Padova – Top Volley Latina
Last week, Padova thrashed Piacenza and stayed clear of the last positions. Before the game, Stefano Giannotti will receive the MVP award for February. He scored 46 points in two games in round 17 and 18. This game will be the last in regular season for Latina. They will be rested next week but sixth place is already secured. Blengini’s men will just wait and see who they will face in the playoffs quarter-finals.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 17 (9-8 Latina)
Gonzalo Quiroga (Tonazzo Padova): “We’ll be up against one of the strongest teams in the league. I am sure they will do well in the playoffs. They not only have two very strong spikers and middle blockers, but they also have Starovic, and can turn things around on his own. We had played well in our first meeting, but in the end the team that made the least mistakes prevailed. That’s why we’ll need to serve and receive well. If these two fundamentals go fine, we’ll have a chance to make it hard for them”.
Davide Pellegrino (Top Volley Latina): “Our opponents will do everything possible to win, given that they have been doing very well too lately. Even if our position in the table won’t change, we have prepared this game like any other. We’re expecting a tough game. They have a solid team, but we’ll do our very best to clinch victory”.
Revivre Milano – Copra Piacenza
Milan defeated Città di Castello last week and are not bottom any more. And to avoid that last position, Maranesi’s men will try to get points in their last two games against Piacenza and Ravenna. As for Piacenza, a rare miss on the playoffs following the ones in 2011 and 2003 on its debut in the elite. As announced at the start of the season, Samuele Papi will retire, an opportunity for Piacenza to pay tribute and celebrate a great player, who can reach another record as he is just six points away from the 8000 points in the league.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 1 (Piacenza)
Marco Maranesi (coach Revivre Milano): “The team is in good shape, the last win got us a boost. The boys are eager to play and get a win for the fans. We have trained well, especially on the serve, which will be important to prevent Piacenza from dishing the ball to their middle blockers, who are probably their most dangerous players in attack. They lost against Padova and are not going through a good spell, but they have players like Zlatanov, Papi, Kohut, we’ll have to be very careful”.
Marco Camperi (coach Copra Piacenza): “First of all this is a game we have to play for ourselves and for our amazing fans, who never gave up on us during this whole difficult season. In spite of some physical worries, we managed to train well. We know Milan is feeling good right now following their first three-point win of the year. We’ll need to go all out and try to enjoy ourselves without any pressure”.
Energy T.I. Diatec Trentino – Vero Volley Monza
The match was postponed to Wednesday due to Trentino’s CEV Cup semi-final return leg being scheduled on Saturday night. Monza will try to improve their position in the league and move above Piacenza in 9th place, while Trentino will try to defend the first place they conquered with their latest win in Modena.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 1 (Trento)
Pre-game quotes will be out on Tuesday in a special article dedicated to Wednesday’s game.
Serie A2 UnipolSai
Playoffs quarter-finals game 1
The playoffs begin on Sunday. Onl
