Comunicato Stampa della Lega Pallavolo Serie A

Playoffs semi-finals

Game 1 Saturday

Here we are at the semi-final stage. Trentino, Perugia, Modena and Latina are the last four ready to fight it out for a place in the title game. Opening game of the series this Saturday.

Playoffs SuperLega UnipolSai – SEMI-FINAL Game 1

Saturday April 25 at 6pm

Energy T.I. Diatec Trentino (1) – Sir Safety Perugia (4)  Live on RAI Sport 1

Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it

Parmareggio Modena (2) – Top Volley Latina (6) Live on Lega Volley Channel

Game 2 on Tuesday April 28 at 8.15pm

In Frosinone:  Top Volley Latina (6) – Parmareggio Modena (2)  Live on RAI Sport 1

Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it

Sir Safety Perugia (4) – Energy T.I. Diatec Trentino (1)  Live on Lega Volley Channel at 8.30pm

Game 3 (if needed) on Friday May 1 at 6pm

FINAL from May 3 to May 17

Playoffs SuperLega UnipolSai: semi-finals game 1

Energy T.I. Diatec Trentino – Sir Safety Perugia

First ever meeting in the playoffs between Trentino and Perugia. The latter have lost all 3 encounters so far this season, including a long tie-break in the Italian cup semi-finals. In the previous round, Trento swept Molfetta with an impressive victory in terms of intensity in game 2 on the road. This will be Trento’s 8^th participation at this stage of the competition, the second in a row for Perugia. Last year, Trento had been knocked out by Modena in the quarter-finals, while Modena had a great season only losing in the final in four games against Macerata having beaten Cuneo in the quarters and Piacenza in the semi-finals. The group led by coach Grbic (Trento setter from 2007 to 2009) had lost the opening game of the quarter-finals against Verona at home but found the resources to win away and then clinch qualification at home in the decider. This promises to be a tight match-up: the constancy and solid game of Trento, with Solé and Birarelli among the best blockers in the league, and Kaziyiski second best server behind Gasparini, while on the other side there is the will power of Perugia, who managed to make up for their ups and downs with great character, they have one of the absolute best pair of setter-outside hitter in the league with De Cecco and Atanasijevic, and they also have veteran Vujevic, the former Trento player remaining one of the top-class players of this Superlega.

Past encounters: 8 (7-1 Trento)

This season: Trento won both games in regular season (3-2 away then 3-1 at home) as well as the Italian Cup semi-finals 3-2.

Playoffs: None

Radostin Stoytchev (Coach Energy T.I. Diatec Trentino): “This will be an extremely tight semi-final. We have great respect for our opponent, we know the previous matches of this and past seasons don’t matter anymore. I hope our fans will help us but as we could see in the quarter-final against Verona, playing home or away does not make much difference for Perugia. We’ll be up against a tough team which we know well. Let’s not forget they reached the final last year, they have excellent players in their roster. They might not have played to the best of their potential this season, but they have been doing well of late. Perugia has been known for its character, they never give up and yesterday’s win over Verona will give them extra motivation”.

Andrea Giovi (Sir Safety Perugia): “We are happy we reached the semi-finals at the end of a quarter-final series in which we were a bit shaky to start with. We initially felt the pressure but then improved along the way. We therefore get to this semi-final with Trento a better team both in terms of quality and mental approach. We are more confident, we know we have qualities that  can help us go far. We’re facing a solid team, well-organised, who deservedly won the regular season. It’s clear this will be a tough series. We have to stay as close as we can in the games, play one rally at a time, give it our best shot and see what happens. Obviously our goal now is to make it in the final”.

Parmareggio Modena –Top Volley Latina

In 34 editions, Modena made it in the playoffs 31 times, and this will be its 22nd semi-final. They swept Ravenna in two games in the quarters, while Latina won its series in the deciding third game on the road against Treia. In the past five years, Modena reached the semis three times, in 2010,2011 and 2014, and all three times, Bruno was their setter. Last year they lost against Macerata in three games. Lorenzetti’s men finished second in regular season and now will try to get rid of Latina to reach the first final since 2003. Latina has stunned everyone by knocking out the Italian champions, winning the series on the road and making it into the second semi-final in the history of the club (the first was in 2012, beaten by Trento in two games). Blengini’s men were capable of winning in spite of the loss of their two starting middle blockers, Semenzato and Van De Voorde, the latter being one of the best blockers in the SuperLega. Latina was also one of the only three teams (with Trento and Treia) who managed to beat Modena in regular season, 3-1 at home in March.

Past encounters: 27 (17-Modena)