The 72nd season started off as exciting as expected with the top guns of European volleyball firing on all cilynders. It’s now time for the third round.
Among Sunday’s games, there will be Piacenza against Verona. The calendar was not kind to Padova, who lost back to back games against Perugia and Civitanova. The club has just strengthened its squad with the addition of spiker Leonel Marshall. In the last game of round 2, postponed to Wednesday night, Verona had the best of Molfetta and joined the leaders with maximum points. Djuric and Ferreira were back, while Aidan Zingel received his prize of best middle blocker 2015-16.
Latina took its first point of the season in a real chess game against Ravenna. They face a very tricky test this weekend with the venue of Civitanova. The latter, who organised a special event with players and fans in mid-week to gather funds for the earthquake victims, defeated Monza and Piacenza in the first two rounds. Cebulj will celebrate his 100th appearance in the league, and Corvetta game number 500.
Beaten in its first attempt against Civitanova, Monza will try to grab its first home win against Milan. In the second round, they won away in Vibo Valentia 3-0. Milan faces this derby tied with their opponents of the day following the three-point win in Molfetta and the home loss against the champs of Modena in spite of a good performance.
There will be another derby with Ravenna versus Modena. The hosts have played back to back friendlies against Ankara to find their rhythm (one tie-break loss, one 2-2 draw). In the league, a defeat in Padova was followed by a five-set win over Latina. Modena took the SuperCup and then started its regular season with a 3-0 win over Sora and a 3-1 win in Milan.
Sora will play its second consecutive home game. Still without a set following tough matches against Modena and Trento, the newly promoted side is waiting for easier challenges to make its mark. But the fixture list proposes another tough one with Perugia. The SuperCup finalists won their first two encounters on a 3-1 score, in Piacenza and then against Padova.
Vibo Valentia will have another go at home following two opening losses without a set against Trento and in Monza. Just like Sora, and in spite of a long history in the top division, Vibo is trying to adjust to the highest level. They will take on Molfetta, who could not avoid a negative start to the season with a disappointing home defeat against Milan followed by a poor performance in Verona. The latest signing, Cuban Javier Ernesto Jimenez is waiting for the paperwork to go through.
SuperLega UnipolSai round 3
Friday 14 October at 8.30pm
Kioene Padova – Diatec Trentino Live on RAI Sport 1
Diretta streaming su www.raisport.rai.it
Sunday 16 October at 6pm
LPR Piacenza – Calzedonia Verona Live on RAI Sport 1
Diretta streaming su www.raisport.rai.it
Top Volley Latina – Cucine Lube Civitanova Live on Lega Volley Channel
Gi Group Monza – Revivre Milano Live on Lega Volley Channel
Bunge Ravenna – Azimut Modena Live on Lega Volley Channel
Biosì Indexa Sora – Sir Safety Conad Perugia Live on Lega Volley Channel
Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia – Exprivia Molfetta Live on Lega Volley Channel
League table
Cucine Lube Civitanova 6, Calzedonia Verona 6, Diatec Trentino 6, Azimut Modena 6, Sir Safety Conad Perugia 6, Kioene Padova 3, Gi Group Monza 3, Revivre Milano 3, Bunge Ravenna 2, Top Volley Latina 1, Exprivia Molfetta 0, LPR Piacenza 0, Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia 0, Biosì Indexa Sora 0
LPR Piacenza – Calzedonia Verona
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 26 (18-8 Piacenza)
Hirsto Zlatanov (LPR Piacenza): “A very important game for us. We’re back home, a crucial factor. Our supporters are always a big plus, I’m sure they’ll give us a hand again. I think this will be an intense game. We’ll try to come out of this tough start to the season caused by injuries. We have finally welcomed Tzioumakas this week, we’ll be able to train better with him in the group ».
Andrea Giani (coach Calzedonia Verona): “Sunday’s game will be a big test to really see where we’re at. Then we’ll see what we have to work on during the week. The level will be higher, we’ll need top quality volleyball. They have some great players, it should be a game full of technically excellent plays ».
Top Volley Latina – Cucine Lube Civitanova
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 45 (37-8 Civitanova)
Alessandro Fei (Top Volley Latina): « Civitanova has put together a very strong roster. They are favourite, but why not cause an upset. We have to stay composed, play our game and try to make it hard for them. We’re not at our best yet but we’re improving game after game. This is a very important match, if we can give them a game the crowd will give us a hand, but it’s up to us ».
Micah Christenson (Cucine Lube Civitanova): « Last season, we faced Latina away various times in league, cup and playoffs. We know the Pala Bianchini arena very well, and it’s never easy there. Obviously, there are two different teams now. We’ll have to watch out for Fei, we know how strong he is. The most important thing right now is focus on the aspects of our game more than the opponent. It’s too early to evaluate the various teams, so let’s focus on getting better all the time ».
Gi Group Monza – Revivre Milano
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 7 (4-3 Milan)
Thomas Beretta (Gi Group Monza): « This will be an emotional game, not only because this is the Lombardy derby, but also because being the start of the season a win could really give us confidence. We’re extremely motivated, we had a good performance in Vibo and had a good training week. After two full weeks, we’re starting to see the results, in terms of our game and the union of the group, even if we’ll need more time to reach our best. It’s true being home has never helped us against Milan but we’ll try to use the momentum of the second round win to change that ».
Sasha Starovic (Revivre Milano): « This will be an exciting game, on and off the court. It’s a derby and like all derby, players and fans are really up for it. Monza has a much better roster than last season and they’re coming off a comfortable win in Vibo Valentia. After the game against Modena, we understood we had to start better, be more focused and impose our game from the beginning. Everyone has to put more energy into it from the first minutes, put pressure on the opponents and start strong. Against Modena, we managed to do that only from the third set on. In Monza we’ll need to do it from the first rally of the first set ».
Bunge Ravenna – Azimut Modena
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 72 (58-14 Modena)
Fabio Soli (coach Bunge Ravenna): « We have played two useful friendly games this week against Ankara to work on our strengths as well as weaknesses. I could see my full squad on court and I got good feedbacks from everyone. We have a very tough one ahead of us in terms of technique and tactics, but certainly not in terms of motivation. We’ll try to be a pain for Modena, who’s a top level team. They have so many champions, the only way to make it hard for them will be to give everything on every single point, without thinking too much ».
Roberto Piazza (coach Azimut Modena): « We know it will be tough in Ravenna. We had an intense week of training, in which the boys kept working to improve their game. I’ll see who starts, I know I have a lot of quality in the roster and various alternatives. Wednesday’s game against Padova ? One step at a time. Besides, Modena has to focus on Modena. We should never lower our guards, we need focus, each game is different ».
Biosì Indexa Sora – Sir Safety Conad Perugia
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 4 (2 each)
Mattia Rosso (Biosì Indexa Sora): « In spite of the two defeats in the first two rounds, we’re really motivated. This is an important opportunity for us to face top quality teams, and at home too. The game against Perugia will be very tough, they play top level volleyball, it will be up to us to remain consistent from start to finish. The serve will probably make the difference. This will be the main factor. Perugia seems to be a team without flaws and the serve is one of their strengths so we’ll need to serve well ourselves to try to push their game as far away from the net as possible, this would help us read better the plays ».
Federico Tosi (Sir Safety Conad Perugia): « We’re coming off a very good training week. We worked hard in the weight room because we’ll soon have a game every three days so we needed to put fuel in our bodies. Sunday’s win over Padova gave us some good indications, especially in terms of character. We understood it will be tough every Sunday in ths league. I expect it to be hard in Sora too. They’ll surely play with fighting spirt at home, they can make it hard for us. We are the favourites, but this is a tricky one, we’ll have to adjust to the challenge and try to stay in control. We should not let them gain confidence. We’ll have an intense period after that so it’d be nice to face it with a win in Sora ».
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 4 (3-1 Vibo)
Rocco Barone (Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia): « Both teams are hungry for points. Molfetta cannot be underestimated, but we’re home and want the three points. This week we worked on the things that did not go well against Monza. We know for well that we’ll need a different attitude against Molfetta. We have to serve well because this is the first offensive fundamental. Then we’ll need some good dig to rebuild well, because it’s been our weakness so far ».
Giulio Sabbi (Exprivia Molfetta): « Vibo Valentia is an easier task than Verona for us. We played them in a friendly in Avellino a few weeks ago, this is a team that has a big competitive spitit. We need to stay focused, play after play. Thiaguinho is on his way back, while Olteanu played in Verona. Together with Jimenez they are important players of our team, they’ll definitely play a big part in our game. This will be an important game for both teams, who are still without a point. We have to become a better team on the road. I know some of our fans will be there. We have to give it all to win it ».
Round 2
The debut of the Check system was positive with an impact on various inverted decisions. Round 2 will kick off on Saturday night in Ortona, who’s coming off a roller coaster victory in Tricase. They will play home against Santa Croce, a team they faced 30 years ago. The wolves are coming off a home win behind some superb serves from the Brazilian Hugo De Leon Guimaraes and the determination of Tamburo in attack.
In Montefiascone, Club Italia will try to bounce back from the severe three-set defeat in Siena. Totire’s young men will take on Tuscania in a derby. The visitors had to work very hard to prevail on Aversa at home.
At 6pm on Sunday, Potenza Picena will be in Civitanova’s Eurosuole to take on Alessano following the 3-1 loss against Santa Croce. Alessano was on the losing end too after Ortona came back from behind to take the tie-break.
Winners on the road against Tuscania in the first round, Aversa will make his home debut against Castellana Grotte. The latter celebrated their return in the Serie A2 with a spectacular opening win in straight sets against Lagonegro. Cazzaniga needs one ace to make it 400 in regular season.
Defeated in Castellana Grotte last weekend, Lagonegro has a tough one ahead with Siena coming over. The Tuscans would like to celebrate Fabroni’s 400th appearance with a victory. Noda Blanco is back from the European Championships and ready to get going in the league.
In the blue group, the Saturday night game will be Spoleto, who will try to make up for the come-back loss in Mondovì, against Grottazzolina, who came back in the A2 and immeditely registered a 3-0 win at home against Castellana Grotte.
Unusual Sunday for Materdominivolley.it Castellana Grotte who will play at noon following its poor debut game against Grottazzolina in spite of a good performance from Christian Casoli in reception and serve. They will try to bounce back at home against Cantù, who ill try to make it two in a row wafter the tie-break win over Brescia. This will be Dario Monguzzi’s 100th appearance in regular season.
Centrale del Latte McDonald’s Brescia will make its home debut in the Pala San Filippo arena. Having to make do with only one point against Cantù in the first round, they hope to do better against Mondovì, who caused one of the upset of the day by beating spoleto in five sets behind a terrific performance from outside hiiter Matteo Paoletti, who scored 27 points (2 blocks).
Conad Reggio Emilia’s first one home in the PalaBigi arena will be against Bergamo. While Reggio lost in four sets on the road against Montecchio Maggiore, Bergamo had Dutch star Sjoerd Hoogendoorn leading the team to a superb victory over Civita Castellana. He scored no less than 39 points as Bergamo came back from 2-0 down to clinch it in the fifth.
In Montefiascone, Civita Castellana, who had an incredible come-back away against Bergamo, will play host to Montecchio Maggiore. The latter boasts three points obtained last Sunday at home against Reggio Emilia behind 29 points from Michele Pranovi.
Serie A2 UnipolSai round 2 – WHITE GROUP
Sabato 15 ottobre 2016, ore 20.30
Sieco Service Ortona – Kemas Lamipel Santa Croce Live on Lega Volley Channel
Domenica 16 ottobre 2016, ore 16.00
In Montefiascone Club Italia Roma – Maury’s Italiana Assicurazioni Tuscania Live on Lega Volley Channel
Domenica 16 ottobre 2016, ore 18.00
GoldenPlast Potenza Picena – Aurispa Alessano Live on Lega Volley Channel
Sigma Aversa – BCC Castellana Grotte Live on Lega Volley Channel
Basi Grafiche Geosat Lagonegro – Emma Villas Siena Live on Lega Volley Channel
White group standings
Emma Villas Siena 3, BCC Castellana Grotte 3, Kemas Lamipel Santa Croce 3, Sieco Service Ortona 2, Maury’s Italiana Assicurazioni Tuscania 2, Sigma Aversa 1, Aurispa Alessano 1, GoldenPlast Potenza Picena 0, Basi Grafiche Geosat Lagonegro 0, Club Italia Roma 0
BLUE GROUP
Saturday 15 October at 8.30pm
Monini Spoleto – Videx Grottazzolina Live on Lega Volley Channel
Sunday 16 October at 12am
Materdominivolley.it Castellana Grotte – Pool Libertas Cantù Live on Lega Volley Channel
Sunday 16 October at 6pm
Centrale del Latte McDonald’s Brescia – VBC Mondovì Live on Lega Volley Channel
Sunday 16 October at 7.30pm
Ceramica Globo Civita Castellana – Sol Lucernari Montecchio Maggiore Live on Lega Volley Channel
Conad Reggio Emilia – Caloni Agnelli Bergamo Live on Lega Volley Channel
Blue group standings
Videx Grottazzolina 3, Sol Lucernari Montecchio Maggiore 3, Pool Libertas Cantù 2, VBC Mondovì 2, Ceramica Globo Civita Castellana 2, Caloni Agnelli Bergamo 1, Monini Spoleto 1, Centrale del Latte McDonald’s Brescia 1, Conad Reggio Emilia 0, Materdominivolley.it Castellana Grotte 0
