2016 CEV Challenge Cup
Verona in European debut
Verona will make its European debut on the back of two league wins obtained last week, in the forwarded fourth round game against Latina and in the third round game against Molfetta at the tie-break. This will be Verona’s first ever appearance in a European competition. Their first opponent in the Challenge Cup 16th of final first leg will be the Portuguese side of Fonte Bastardo Azores, a team that has been playing in this competition for many years. They obtained their best result last season as they were knocked out by their neighbours of Lisbon in the 8th of finals.
FORMULA
The Challenge cup is divided into first round (2 teams), second round, 16th of finals, 8th of finals, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final. The 16 teams that come out of the 16th of finals will meet 16 teams coming down from the CEV Cup. Home and away games for every round, including the final (no final four for this event).
Fixtures
2nd Round first leg
Wednesday 11 November at 8.30pm
Calzedonia Verona (ITA) – Fonte Bastardo Azores (POR)
(Valentar-Bensimon)
2nd Round return leg
Wednesday 18 November at 10.30pm
Fonte Bastardo Azores (POR) – Calzedonia Verona (ITA)
(Frigne-Richter)
SuperLega UnipolSai
Round 4 preview
It’s full speed all the way in this SuperLega. Sunday’s fourth round hardly gone, we’re ready to get back on court for Wednesday and Thursday’s action.
Verona and Latina however will be able to rest as they played this fourth round encounter last Wednesday. Verona had the better in straight sets and made it two wins in a week with a tie-break victory over Molfetta on Sunday. As for Latina, they bounced back with a solid outing against Civitanova. Difficult to know if they can be happy with the point taken or the missed opportunity of taking all three as they were 2-0 up and close to victory in the third. But one thing is for sure, Latina showed some quality and tormented Civitanova with a club record 21 blocks. The Bulgarian Viktor Yosifov had seven on his own.
In spite of a nice come-back led by the 28 points of Juantorena, the current top scorer, Civitanova did not look like a perfect machine yet. Padova will try to take advantage and add to their first three points of the season collected in Piacenza. Padova won this match-up only 6 times in 37 tries but would love to create the upset to celebrate their game number 1000 in the Serie A.
Milan must react immediately. Currently bottom of the league, they want to make the most of their home court advantage to take their first point of the season against Molfetta. The latter has gathered 5 points so far after their fifth set defeat against Verona. Their middle blocker, Rocco Barone, reached the 1000 points (1002) thanks to the 8 points scored on Sunday.
CMC Romagna won’t even have the time to celebrate the road win in Monza, given that Kantor’s men will play host to Perugia, still under the effect of euphoria following their 3-1 win over the Italian champions of Trento with an Atanasijevic coming from mars (31 points). Birarelli needs one spike to make it a thousand in the league.
Tough task for Monza in its second consecutive home game. Disappointingly defeated by CMC Romagna last Sunday, Vacondio’s men will take on the league leaders of Modena, still unbeaten following Sunday’s easy 3-0 win over Milan. Earvin NGapeth will not play.
Finally, a big game to seal the round on Thursday between the Italian champions and Piacenza. Trento is eager to bounce back from their 3-1 defeat against Perugia, while Piacenza wants to put the last two losses behind them with a positive result. The last defeat at home against Padova was especially difficult to take in. Tine Urnaut is still injured for Trento. Samuele Papi is just two points from the 8000 in the league.
SuperLega UnipolSai Round 4
Wednesday 11 November at 8.30pm
Tonazzo Padova – Cucine Lube Banca Marche Civitanova Live on RAI Sport 1
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
(Cappello-Tanasi)
Revivre Milano – Exprivia Molfetta Live on Lega Volley Channel
(Puecher-Rapisarda)
CMC Romagna – Sir Safety Conad Perugia Live on Lega Volley Channel
(Pasquali-Boris)
Gi Group Monza – DHL Modena Live on Lega Volley Channel
(Zanussi-Florian)
Thursday 12 November at 8.30pm
Diatec Trentino – LPR Piacenza Live on RAI Sport 1
Live on streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
(Simbari-Goitre)
Played on 4/11/15 Ninfa Latina – Calzedonia Verona 0-3 (23-25, 21-25, 22-25)
League table
DHL Modena 8, Calzedonia Verona 8*, Cucine Lube Banca Marche Civitanova 7, Sir Safety Conad Perugia 6, Diatec Trentino 6, Ninfa Latina 6*, Exprivia Molfetta 5, CMC Romagna 4, LPR Piacenza 3, Tonazzo Padova 3, Gi Group Monza 1, Revivre Milano 0
1 game more: Calzedonia Verona, Ninfa Latina
Tonazzo Padova – Cucine Lube Banca Marche Civitanova
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 37 (31-6 Civitanova)
Santiago Orduna (Tonazzo Padova): “We’re up against a very strong opponent, they have a team built to win. We have been improving of late and we proved that both in Trento and in Piacenza. We obviously won’t be the favourites but we’ll play our game, why not take a little something out of this one too against Civitanova. We have to focus on ourselves and the good things we know how to execute”.
Marko Podrascanin (Cucine Lube Banca Marche Civitanova): “Padova is coming off a superb victory in Piacenza, so they’ll have the momentum and they’ll be home so I expect them to be at their best. As for us, we had a marathon in Latina, and very little time to rest but we’ll aim at gathering another victory to stay in the top part of the table. In spite of a few problems, we’re still unbeaten and we want this to stay that way in this second road game of the season”.
Revivre Milano – Exprivia Molfetta
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 2 (Molfetta won both)
Luca Monti (coach Revivre Milano): “What we’re going through is unreal. We have to work hard as if everything was normal. We’re having some difficulty in developing our game and with the team. On paper, we should have our chance against Molfetta, even if the two tie-breaks they had against Modena and Verona prove that they’re in great shape. We have to play as a unit, whoever is selected to play, and try to get a result”.
Adriano di Pinto (Ass.coach Exprivia Molfetta): “This game will be a bit particular because both the teams are going through certain situations. Milan has just made a change with Sbertoli coming in as setter. On the one hand, this will bring new life into them, on the other side it’s a bit like starting over even if they played Modena with this line-up. As for us, we have recovered mentally and physically from our battle against Verona. The boys have given so much and they had an excellent performance, especially on the serve, but a lot of energy was left on court”.
CMC Romagna – Sir Safety Conad Perugia
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 8 (6-2 Perugia)
Maximiliano Cavanna (CMC Romagna): “We had a good win in Monza after a poor performance against Molfetta. We got on court with more determination and fighting spirit. We could feel it in the air it was all different already in the warm-up. We had a good game and we proved that when we play as a team, it can be hard for anyone. Now we’re focused on the game against Perugia. They have a lot of strong players, Atanasijevic is the most dangerous one. We’ll be home and we’ll try to give them a game just like we did with Civitanova. The key to make it hard for them is to serve well and be very careful in the block-dig department to try to contain their outside hitter. It’s very exciting for me to meet two Argentines, I know De Cecco and Castellani very well, I can’t wait to play”.
Fabio Fanuli (Sir Safety Conad Perugia): “We’re extremely motivated and confident ahead of our trip to Forlì. We know we’re working well, we’re on the right track, the win over Trento is testimony. But we do know we have not solved all our problems just because we won a big game. So it’s nice to feel confident and be aware of our ability, but we have to stay extremely focused because tomorrow’s game is anything but easy. CMC Romagna is an excellent team, we have to be very careful. But this is the Italian league for you, where there are no easy games, and the level got higher this season. It will be tough, we’ll need to play well and give everything we have to get a victory”.
Gi Group Monza – DHL Modena
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 2 (Modena won both)
Oreste Vacondio (coach Gi Group Monza): “We’re facing Modena in just about the same situation we were in last season, the only difference is that we’ll play the first one at home. Hopefully, the fans will give us a hand. They have top players in every position, they play some of the best volleyball in this league. We’ll have to maintain a high level of play, and try to limit our mistakes as much as we can because they have a lot of quality. We have what it takes to have our say, I am sure that this test, no matter the result, will tell us where we stand and will help us in our evolution for the future of the season”.
Andrea Sartoretti (GM DHL Modena): “This will definitely not be an easy game. It’s no secret they have some excellent players in their roster, they a lot of new ones that are getting used to play together. Playing every three days is not easy for anyone, neither for us nor for them. We have proved in this beginning of SuperLega and Champions League that we have a quality team. It’s important that the players realise it too, we have set ourselves some targets, the boys are training well, we’ll travel to Monza with the same goal as ever, win. We’ll always have maximum respect for our opponent but we’ll play without fear”.
Diatec Trentino – LPR Piacenza
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 46 (29-17 Trento)
Massimo Colaci (Diatec Trentino): “Thursday’s game in our PalaTrento arena against Piacenza will definitley be a very tough one. Just like us, they’re coming off a defeat and they’ll be keen to bounce back. They have more experience than us and they’ll try to make the most of it. But we’re at home, we have to prove we have one extra gear and take points”.
Miguel Tavares (LPR Piacenza): “This is a short week for us but we’re trying to work on the things that did not work against Padova on Sunday. Trento is a tough opposition, they won the league last season and we’ll play them away, let see if we can get something out of this”.
