Results:
Cucine Lube Banca Marche Civitanova – Ninfa Latina 3-2 (23-25, 25-14, 24-26, 25-22, 15-13)
Calzedonia Verona – Sir Safety Conad Perugia 2-3 (26-24, 25-20, 17-25, 21-25, 10-15)
DHL Modena – Tonazzo Padova 3-0 (25-20, 34-32, 25-20)
Diatec Trentino – Exprivia Molfetta 3-0 (25-21, 25-15, 25-20)
CUCINE LUBE BANCA MARCHE CIVITANOVA – NINFA LATINA 3-2 (23-25, 25-14, 24-26, 25-22, 15-13) – CUCINE LUBE BANCA MARCHE CIVITANOVA: Fei 5, Parodi, Juantorena 17, Stankovic 8, Priddy 1, Christenson 5, Cester 12, Grebennikov (L), Miljkovic 11, Cebulj 20, Podrascanin 5. DNP Vitelli, Kovar, Corvetta. Coach. Blengini.
NINFA LATINA: Sottile 2, Sket 10, Pavlov 9, Romiti (L), Tailli 1, Hirsch 13, Yosifov 7, Rossi 7, Maruotti 17. DNP Krumins, Mattei, Ferenciac. Coach. Placì.
No surprises in the Eurosuole Forum in Civitanova, where the hosts started its chase for the league title with an opening victory over Latina in the quarter-final series (best of five games, first to three wins). However, it’s been nothing but easy for Giuliani’s men who had to face a spirited team with character and also made a lot of mistakes in attack. In the end, they managed to find a way to come back from 2-1 down to clinch victory in the fifth set after nearly three hours of battle. This was Civitanova’s fifth win over Latina in as many games this season. MVP Klemen Cebulj
Ivan Miljkovic (Cucine Lube Banca Marche Civitanova): “We have stopped to count points, the only thing that matters now are victories. And this one came after a never-ending game. We knew it would be a tough encounter, you have to learn to survive through the tough times in the playoffs otherwise you won’t go anywhere. But it has to be said we lacked the determination to play this game as we should have, we’ll really have to improve on that before Game 2”.
Camillo Placì (coach Ninfa Latina): “I am extremely pleased with the way we played, because all the boys have given their best. But I’m not happy with the result, I really thought we could do it at one point. But let’s look ahead with even more confidence than what we had before coming here”.
CALZEDONIA VERONA – SIR SAFETY CONAD PERUGIA 2-3 (26-24, 25-20, 17-25, 21-25, 10-15) – CALZEDONIA VERONA: Zingel 9, Kovacevic 20, Pesaresi (L), Gitto, Lecat 1, Spirito, Baranowicz 3, Starovic 16, Bellei, Sander 13, Anzani 7. DNP Frigo, Bucko. Coach. Giani.
SIR SAFETY CONAD PERUGIA: Buti 7, Fromm, De Cecco 4, Kaliberda 14, Giovi (L), Russell 24, Tzioumakas 1, Elia, Atanasijevic 29, Birarelli 10. DNP Holt, Dimitrov, Franceschini. Coach. Kovac.
Perugia strikes first in this quarter-final series thanks to a hard-fought come-back from 2-0 down to clinch it at the tie-break. Led by the eventual MVP, Atanasijevic (29 points), the visitors maintained a high level of concentration throughout, even in the most difficult times, like after losing the second set. At the start of the fifth set, Sander is forced out of the game because of an ankle injury, substituted by Lecat. It was all tied at 7-7 when the team changed sides, that’s when Perugia escaped (10-7) and never let go of its lead.
Aleksandar Atanasijevic (Sir Safety Conad Perugia): “This is a great victory. We always believed we could do it, even when we were 2-0 down. The boys had a great game, and our fans were fantastic. But now we have to forget about this win because game 2 will be even more difficult”.
Andrea Giani (coach Calzedonia Verona): “We put our feet off the pedal too much from 2-0 up. We had won the first two sets, then we tried to get back from behind but we did not manage. Perugia gained confidence while we failed to make the most of our opportunities in the fourth set. In the tie-break, we let them escape after the change of sides and we let them play too much”.
DIATEC TRENTINO – EXPRIVIA MOLFETTA 3-0 (25-21, 25-15, 25-20)
DIATEC TRENTINO: Kaziyski 16, Nelli 14, Giannelli 1, Lanza, Solé 6, Colaci (L), Van De Voorde 6, Mazzone (L), Urnaut 10, Mazzone. DNP Antonov, Bratoev, De Angelis, Djuric. Coach. Stoytchev.
EXPRIVIA MOLFETTA: Candellaro, Spadavecchia 1, De Barros Ferreira 14, Barone 4, De Pandis (L), Porcelli (L), Hierrezuelo 2, Fedrizzi 5, Hernandez Ramos 10. DNP Kaczynski, Mariella. Coach. Di Pinto.
The Italian champions got off to an excellent start in the playoffs 2016 with a sweep of Molfetta on the day Matey Kaziyski made his return to the club. But he was not the only star to shine. The other two spikers Urnaut (MVP) and Nelli (14 points at 65%) played an important part in the victory too. Without any alternatives in position 4 and with Hernandez seemingly without much energy, the visitors found it hard to keep up with their opponents, while they were less inspired than usual on the serve.
Radostin Stoytchev (coach Diatec Trentino): “I am satisfied for the victory as well as for the character shown by the boys. Some of the guys have played exceptionally well, like Colaci or Tiziano Mazzone, who worked hard through some physical problems. I’m happy with Kaziyski too, after so many days out of action, he played a great game. These are things I particularly appreciate and I want to underline them. This win will generate excitement, but now we have to improve our game because there’s a lot of work to be done, we have to re-create a team cohesion. Kaziyski is doing us a huge favour, there will always be a place for him in Trento. He came back here because the city and club are in his heart. Now it’s important to get him physically fit and insert him in the schemes. He averaged 65% in attack but he can play even better”.
Michele Fedrizzi (Exprivia Molfetta): “This game was a carbon copy of the one played in the regular season at the PalaTrento a month ago. We never managed to keep up and they really got us in trouble with their serve. That prevented us from being fluid in attack and being effective on the break. In Game 2 on Sunday, our fans will have to be our extra man on court like Kaziyski has been for Trento tonight”.
DHL MODENA – TONAZZO PADOVA 3-0 (25-20, 34-32, 25-20)
DHL MODENA: Mossa De Rezende 5, Rossini (L), Sartoretti, Ngapeth 17, Nikic 11, Piano, Bossi 6, Saatkamp 8, Vettori 10. DNP Donadio, Soli, Casadei, Sighinolfi. Coach. Lorenzetti.
TONAZZO PADOVA: Cook 13, Orduna 2, Giannotti 11, Balaso (L), Bassanello, Quiroga 1, Volpato, Averill 6, Berger 9, Milan, Diamantini 3. DNP Leoni, Lazzaretto. Coach. Baldovin.
Modena takes the lead in this quarter-final series even if Padova played with maximum fighting spirit and made it hard for the hosts, especially in the second set when they had several opportunities to seal it. In the end, the outstanding performance from Ngapeth, always there when it mattered the most, made the difference. He was named MVP of the game.
Angelo Lorenzetti (coach DHL Modena): “That is an important victory. The start of the playoffs is always tricky. Padova played good volleyball and never gave up. It’s clearly not easy to always give 100% but now we have four days to prepare Sunday’s game 2 in Padova. Another game we have to win”.
Valerio Baldovin (coach Tonazzo Padova): “We lost against a superb squad. I am satisfied with my boys who showed they would never give up. Now we have to give everything we’ve got on Sunday in front of our supporters in another extremely difficult game”.
Fixtures
League playoffs, quarter-finals game 2
Sunday 13 March at 5pm
Exprivia Molfetta – Diatec Trentino Live on RAI Sport 1
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
Sunday 13 March at 6pm
Ninfa Latina – Cucine Lube Banca Marche Civitanova Live on Lega Volley Channel
Sir Safety Conad Perugia – Calzedonia Verona Live on Lega Volley Channel
Tonazzo Padova – DHL Modena Live on Lega Volley Channel
