Result :
Cucine Lube Civitanova – Sir Safety Conad Perugia 1-3 (22-25, 25-21, 29-31, 19-25)
CUCINE LUBE CIVITANOVA – SIR SAFETY CONAD PERUGIA 1-3 (22-25, 25-21, 29-31, 19-25)
CUCINE LUBE CIVITANOVA: Sokolov 14, Candellaro 5, Pesaresi, Kaliberda 4, Juantorena 18, Casadei 2, Stankovic 9, Jaumel, Cester 3, Grebennikov (L), Corvetta 1, Cebulj 8. DNP Randazzo. Coach. Blengini.
SIR SAFETY CONAD PERUGIA: Russell 14, Zaytsev 21, Della Lunga, Mitic, Berger 11, De Cecco, Bari (L), Birarelli 9, Podrascanin 12. DNP Buti, Tosi, Chernokozhev, Franceschini, Atanasijevic. Coach. Kovac.
Perugia joins Modena in the SuperCup final thanks to a four-set victory over Civitanova. This will therefore be a remake of last year’s league final. Modena has won 8 of the 12 matches between the two clubs, and tomorrow they will have the court advantage.
It’s been a superb encounter, which ended on the same result as last year’s playoffs series. Perugia clinched the opening set by the minimum margin before being pegged back, but they bounced back in the third and cruised in the fourth thanks to an early sprint. Perugia was stronger at the serve, in attack and in the block-dig area. Civitanova tried to limit the damage with some good reception and in the third they looked close to make the breakthrough. But in the end they had to surrender against their former stars Zaytsev (top scorer with 21 points) and Podrascanin, who both took care of business in the clutch time.
Gianlorenzo Blengini (coach Cucine Lube Civitanova): “At this time of the year all the teams are trying to work it all out. Besides, we were without a couple of players. We have to manage to stay close to our opponents, without giving up, we must resist more. We have to get used to the difficult times and learn to fight through them. We’re obviously disappointed with the defeat and with the third set which was key, as it often is when it’s decided at the death. There was also some confusion in the end on some plays, from both teams, but like I said it’s part of the process at this time of year. Shame because one of those plays in our favour would have given us the set but instead… ».
Antonio Corvetta (Cucine Lube Civitanova): “We knew it was going to be tight against Perugia. After the third set, we found it hard to start the fourth in our rotation in position one. And then we could not cut the deficit. Shame because it was a tight game and played fairly well in spite of being the start of the season. I think the positive came from our attack and the middle. If we look at the level of play of most of the game I think it was good. Tomorrow we’ll play another top team, Trento, another opportunity to get better ».
Marko Podrascanin (Sir Safety Conad Perugia) “A great game and a great victory for us. The end of the third set was key because Civitanova faded a bit in the fourth. We’re getting better. Now we’ll focus on tomorrow ‘s final because we want to bring back this trophy for the club and our supporters ».
Federico Tosi (Sir Safety Conad Perugia): “We made a good first step in this SuperCup. That was a tough game, they never gave up except for the final set. We did a great job in the third, and that gave us confidence. But there’s nothing to celebrate. We won an important game that allows us to play the final, which is the game that matters. That was a great feeling to see all those fans in Modena ».
At the link http://www.legavolley.it/Photogallery.asp you can see the pictures of the game.
Del Monte® SuperCup
Game for third place
Sunday 25 September at 2.30pm
Cucine Lube Civitanova – Diatec Trentino Live on Lega Volley Channel
FINAL
Sunday 25 September at 5.30pm
Azimut Modena – Sir Safety Conad Perugia Live on RAI Sport
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
