We’re right back on court this Wednesday for Round 20 of the SuperLega. Revived by the comfortable victory over Milan, Verona is keen to stay on track as Perugia is just one point ahead in fourth place. With Simone Anzani close to a thousand point, Verona will host CMC Romagna, who’s close to the playoffs zone and ready to go after some courageous display in the past five games, all finished at the tie-break (3 wins). In the last round, they came back from a tricky situation although they eventually surrendered in the fifth against Padova.
Perugia is coming off an uneven performance, having led 2-0 before conceding a comeback in Molfetta. They will take on Modena, who’s eager to bounce back after five points lost in the last two games. They also lost first place in the last round in the big clash with Civitanova. Milos Nikic is two away from a thousand points.
A long half time break and some special entertainment organised for the fans in the Kioene Arena as Padova faces a tough game. Coming off back to back wins over Verona and CMC Romagna, but without the injured Marco Volpato (ankle), they’re in the hunt for valuable points to stay in the top 8 as they face Monza, another in-form team. Tied on points with Padova after their four-set win over Piacenza, Monza has taken points in its last three encounters, losing at the tie-break against Perugia and winning in Molfetta. Both teams have no choice but take points given that Latina and CMC are lurking just one point behind.
Trentino’s minimum target will be to secure third place. Winners in Latina, and currently third three points behind Modena, they will entertain Milan, who stumbled again after good games against Monza and Latina. The northerners lost back to back games against Civitanova and Verona, which ruined their chances to finish tenth. They will try to beat Trento and keep a safe distance on the bottom team, Piacenza. Giorgio De Togni is close to a thousand point.
Unbeaten in the league in the second half of season, Civitanova will try top make it nine consecutive victories at home against Molfetta. They have to win to keep Modena behind but it’s not easy against a Molfetta team that is used to winning against the odds. Perugia was its last victim as it wasted a 2-0 advantage. Davide Candellaro is four points away from a thousand.
Finally, On Thursday night, bottom of the table Piacenza will take on Latina. Flashes of excellent volleyball have always been wasted by ups and downs for the hosts, who conceded a come-back defeat in the last round in Monza. Currently ninth with CMC, Latina lost its last four games and is eager not to ruin all the good work done in the first half of season.
SuperLega UnipolSai Round 20
Wednesday 24 February at 7.30pm
Calzedonia Verona – CMC Romagna Live on Lega Volley Channel
Wednesday 24 February at 8.30pm
Sir Safety Conad Perugia – DHL Modena Live on RAI Sport 1
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
Tonazzo Padova – Gi Group Monza Live on Lega Volley Channel
Diatec Trentino – Revivre Milano Live on Lega Volley Channel
Cucine Lube Banca Marche Civitanova – Exprivia Molfetta Live on Lega Volley Channel
Thursday 25 February at 8.30pm
LPR Piacenza – Ninfa Latina Live on RAI Sport 1
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
League table
Cucine Lube Banca Marche Civitanova 50, DHL Modena 47, Diatec Trentino 44, Sir Safety Conad Perugia 36, Calzedonia Verona 35, Exprivia Molfetta 26, Gi Group Monza 22, Tonazzo Padova 22, Ninfa Latina 21, CMC Romagna 21, Revivre Milano 11, LPR Piacenza 7
Calzedonia Verona – CMC Romagna
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 11 (6-5Verona)
Andrea Giani (coach Calzedonia Verona):“We’re coming off a good league win over Milan, which got us on track after the derby lost against Padova. In between, we had registered an important tie-break win in the Challenge Cup. We made an important step forward in this end of regular season. Each game is crucial to consolidate one’s position. We’re one point away from Perugia and we’ll fight till the end to finish fourth”.
Waldo Kantor (coach CMC Romagna): “Verona is a great team, they beat us in straight sets at home and tomorrow they will try to add to their win in Milan. I think they have all their players back to fitness, so they’ll be at their best, we have to be ready for it. Until now, no big teams have managed to beat us with ease. We’ll do our best, it’s an important game for them but for us too. We need more points to reach our goals”.
Sir Safety Conad Perugia – DHL Modena
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 8 (4 each)
Goran Vujevic (Sport director Sir Safety Conad Perugia): “It’s a very important game for us. This year we have lost almost every game against the top teams. Besides, lately we’ve been playing well at the start of games before losing our way. We need to perform with character and heart on Wednesday to get a positive result and regain a bit of confidence”.
Andrea Sartoretti (GM DHL Modena): “We’re three games from the end so it’s crucial for us not to lose this second place in the table. Perugia is coming off a defeat like us, this will definitely be a tough game, tense, tight. The boys are well aware of how important is this game, and they’re ready for yet another battle”.
Tonazzo Padova – Gi Group Monza
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 10 (6-4 Padova)
Nicolò Bassanello (Tonazzo Padova): “The victory in Forlì proved we’re a team with the guts to battle hard. Monza will come here to take points but we’ll have to deny them any space to maneouvre and focus on our game. When you get to this point of the season, you not only need to be physically strong but also mentally solid”.
Claudio Bonati (Sport director Gi Group Monza): “We’re going to Padova with the intention to clinch the best possible result, useful to stay in the top eight. Padova has been doing well of late, they’ll surely aim to take all three points. But we’ve shown some excellent volleyball too against Piacenza, a team that was certainly not easy to beat. It’s a big clash between two teams playing for a place among the bests of this league. Our main goal is to make the playoffs, the position in which we’d be is not important”.
Diatec Trentino – Revivre Milano
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 3 (Trento won all 3)
Oleg Antonov (Diatec Trentino): “Important points at stake because with a win we’d secure third place and we’d keep our chance of going second alive. We’re therefore extremely motivated, we want all three points. We’re not looking too much into the dense fixture lists or the players missing: everybody face this kind of problems in such a compressed season”.
Fabio Lini (Sport director Revivre Milano): “We’re expecting a quality performance like the one in Verona, but being more clinical to take at least a point. I want to underline the good work done by the players that usually have less court time. Tomorrow’s game against Trento won’t be easy, but we have to try our best, and we’ll need to do our best until the last round, especially for the Challenge Cup playoffs, which we’ll begin as soon as the regular season is over”.
Cucine Lube Banca Marche Civitanova – Exprivia Molfetta
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 5 (4-1 Civitanova)
Klemen Cebulj (Cucine Lube Banca Marche Civitanova): “We’ve clinched first place but we know there’s still a long way to go and work to do to stay where we are. We have three more games to play, starting this Wednesday night against Molfetta. The Apulia team has done well of late, having beaten Perugia last Sunday. So maximum focus and fighting spirit is needed again”.
Daniele De Pandis (Exprivia Molfetta): “The win over Perugia gave us a big boost after a few under par performances. The fighting spirit with which we played in Perugia is exactly what we need to make progress against a very strong team like Civitanova. We’re trying our best to respond to the new coach’s demands, he is focusing on various fundamentals. And it’s precisely certain details that can make us improve. The game against Civitanova will be important, then we’ll need points too against Latina and Piacenza to get to the playoffs in good shape”.
LPR Piacenza – Ninfa Latina
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 29 (19-10 Piacenza)
Samuele Papi (LPR Piacenza):“In our last game against Monza, we have seen some more progress and that’s a positive thing: that’s the way to go, we need more of the same against Latina. Our will is to win and try to maintain a high level for more than one set. We have to try our very best. Our goal is to improve our understanding, we’re working on that to be ready before the Challenge Cup playoffs at the end of the regular season”.
Candido Grande (Sport Director Ninfa Latina): “Our next two games will be like finals for us. The first one in Piacenza will be the most important one. We’re in clutch time, we’ve had a tough time of late and now we have to prove we have overcome the difficulties. Against Trento, we proved we could play face to face against the best after two games against Milan and Ravenna in which we had not played our best volleyball. It’s been a season with great satisfaction too. I believe in ourselves, we have to stay motivated and reach the goal we’ve targetted since the start of the season: the playoffs. It’s time to show what we’re worth”.
