Three-way race for the title of winter champ between Civitanova, Trentino and Modena. There will also be some interesting battles this weekend to get a good position for the Italian Cup. The top four have already secured their place in the quarter-finals, while the other eight will play in the 8th of finals.
Just a few days from its Champions League debut, Modena will play its last card to become winter champ by hosting the league leaders. With a 3-0 win, they’d move above Civitanova on the set quotient. But the first place would be down to the result between Molfetta and Trento. If the latter was to win at the tie-break, we’d have to look at the set quotient. Civitanova needs to win to make sure they stay top in Kaliberda’s hundredth appearance and Kovar’s 200th appearance in the league.
It’s been a superb run since Bernardi took over in Perugia. The club secured fourth place synonymous of cup quarters. In De Cecco’s 200th appearance, Perugia has a slim chance to move up to third if Modena loses. They have to beat Milan first though. Beaten by Latina in spite of leading, Milan is now bottom and needs a miracle to get in the cup, a win and various results going the right way.
Molfetta needs a win to make sure it takes part in the Italian Cup. Gulinelli’s men have the ninth place in sight but they take on Trentino, who needs a three-point win to have a chance to be winter champ. They however need Civitanova not to win more than a set in Modena.
Thanks to the two points taken in its come-back win over Milan, Latina still has a chance to be in the cup. They need a win over Vibo Valentia and a few results going their way. Eighth with 15 points, Vibo will try to defend its position as the seventh place is out of reach.
Padova will hope to move above Vibo in 8th place by beating Verona and hoping Vibo falls in Latina. Verona is going through the hardest spell of its recent history. The club registered five consecutive defeats but a road win in the derby could give them a big morale boost.
Monza came back from the PalaTrento with a point last week. Falasca’s men are dreaming of a jump into fifth place. They need a better result or the same as Verona but with a better set difference. They will entertain Piacenza, who’s coming off a four-set defeat against Modena. Still, they remain among the in-form teams of the league as they try to consolidate their fifth place. Even a defeat at the tie-break would do it.
Ravenna and Sora are tied in 11th place with Molfetta. Ravenna is close to the cup but only a win would make it certain. A 3-0 win, and a Padova defeat 3-0 could even take them two positions above. Sora has the opportunity to qualify for the cup in its first year in the SuperLega. To do so, Bagnoli’s men needs a win, while they also have position nine in sight.
SuperLega UnipolSai round 13
Sunday 4 December at 6pm
Azimut Modena – Cucine Lube Civitanova Live on RAI Sport 2
Live streaming su www.raisport.rai.it
Sir Safety Conad Perugia – Revivre Milano Live on Lega Volley Channel
Exprivia Molfetta – Diatec Trentino Live on Lega Volley Channel
Top Volley Latina – Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia Live on Lega Volley Channel
Kioene Padova – Calzedonia Verona Live on Lega Volley Channel
Gi Group Monza – LPR Piacenza Live on Lega Volley Channel
Bunge Ravenna – Biosì Indexa Sora Live on Lega Volley Channel
League table
Cucine Lube Civitanova 31, Diatec Trentino 29, Azimut Modena 28, Sir Safety Conad Perugia 25, LPR Piacenza 21, Calzedonia Verona 19, Gi Group Monza 19, Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia 15, Kioene Padova 14, Biosì Indexa Sora 11, Bunge Ravenna 11, Exprivia Molfetta 11, Top Volley Latina 9, Revivre Milano 9
Azimut Modena – Cucine Lube Civitanova
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 72 (36 each)
Roberto Piazza (coach Azimut Modena): “We’re ready to face this tough but exciting encounter. Civitanova has done exceptionnally well in this first half of season, this is a great team. But our team is excellent too, this will be a quality game in a sold out PalaPanini arena. The most composed, accurate and ‘nasty’ team in the clutch time will win it. We’re not focused on the table, we think about winning, we’ll look at the rest after the game ».
Dragan Stankovic (Cucine Lube Civitanova): “We’re ready for this important match, though not decisive for the season. We will obviously give our very best against the Italian Champions, who will once again be among the favourites to win the title. We will need a top performance to make the breakthrough in the PalaPanini arena and stay top of the table ».
Sir Safety Conad Perugia – Revivre Milano
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 4 (All Perugia)
Andrea Bari (Sir Safety Conad Perugia): “Looking at the table and the fact we’re playing home are deceiving aspects. The truth is, and many results proved it, that each Superlega team has strong players. It’s always hard and Milan has some important weapons. I think the most important thing is to get on court with determination like we did last Sunday in Verona to make them understand what are our intentions. If we do that, I am sure we’ll manage to win that game ».
Massimiliano De Marco (Ass.coach Revivre Milano): “Paradoxically, these are the easiest games for us because we get on court with free minds because we have nothing to lose. We play loose and we manage to do things that we fail to do in moments of pressure. This is what we’ll try to do, play loose and see how it goes. We know how difficult it is to get a result against Perugia, they’ve been on fire of late. We worked hard on our serve this week, it had not gone well against Latina last week. We know we have our chance against teams of our level but it is more difficult against Perugia. With De Cecco and the spikers they have on high balls, even away from the net, they are tough to contain. We’ll try to limit our mistakes and get more out of our serves ».
Exprivia Molfetta – Diatec Trentino
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 15 (10-5 Trento)
Flavio Gulinelli (coach Exprivia Molfetta): “I think we have to keep playing as we’ve done so far but we must do better in the clutch time. We have a young team, we have our qualities and we must insist on them. We’ll be home, this is an important factor for a team like ours. I am confident this will be another spectacular game, and a tight one ».
Simon Van De Voorde (Diatec Trentino): “We had a whole week to prepare Sunday’s game and we tried to make the most of it because winning in the PalaPoli arena is never easy. Last season, we could see how tough it was there, the atmosphere is always heated, there’s always a lot of noise. We’ll need to get there with a good attitude. We must never lower our guards even in the most complicated spells we’ll face during the game ».
Top Volley Latina – Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 16 (10-6 Latina)
Carmelo Gitto (Top Volley Latina): “Vibo will be up for it on Sunday ready to fight for every point and make life difficult for us. We have to focus on ourselves without thinking about them. We have been following the coach’s orders and we’re improving. We do have problems but we’re solving them. We did a good job of limiting our mistakes in Milan and stay in the game ».
Antonio Valentini (Ass.coach Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia): “Latina is an experienced team with excellent players who know this league well. Besides, they’re coming off a road win against Milan, so it’s obvious we’ll need to face this game with maximum focus and determination. We’ll have to focus on our game and try to be effective, we’ll have to be more consistent than in the last game and reduce our mistakes on the serve. We’ve done well of late and we want to keep taking points ».
Kioene Padova – Calzedonia Verona
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 16 (10-6 Verona)
Valerio Baldovin (coach Kioene Padova): “This will be a very tough match for both teams, who are coming off negative results in the last few rounds. A very tricky game to play for us but we need to bounce back from our negative performance against Sora and become more efficient ».
Angiolino Frigoni (Sport director Calzedonia Verona): “This is a particular situation, the last game definitely not helped us to solve our problems. This will be a crucial game for many reasons, and the first one is that we need a result ».
Gi Group Monza – LPR Piacenza
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 5 (4-1 Monza)
Marco Rizzo (Gi Group Monza): “We’re facing a very tough game against a team that has been playing excellent volleyball. Their main strengths are the serve, they have three agressive Cubans in that department. Keeping a high level of reception and being patient on the counter could be the key to stop them and get a win that could be worth the fifth place and a good draw in the Italian Cup 8th of finals. We had a few unepxected points lost and a bit of bad luck in the first part of season but now we want to keep our recent positive run going and finish this first half of season on a high ».
Loris Manià (LPR Piacenza): “We’re not going to look at the standings, we’ll go to Monza to try to get as many points as possible. It will definitely not be a stroll in the park. This will be a tough game, Monza is an excellent team, they’re physically in great shape, they proved it. The points will not only be important for the Italian Cup but also for the playoffs, and our goal are to go as high as possible ».
Bunge Ravenna – Biosì Indexa Sora
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 5 (All Ravenna)
Fabio Soli (coach Bunge Ravenna): “We have to forget about our poor display against Vibo Valentia but at the same time learn our lesson. Our opponents are coming off three straight wins, they are full of enthusiasm, they reached the SuperLega with their strength and determination. As for me, I can only be grateful to Sora for the opportunity they gave me last season, which ended in the playoffs victory. But at the same time, this is an important game for Ravenna both for the participation in the cup and playoffs. I want to see the team become more solid, able to play at its best and with more patience in a tricky game like the one coming ».
Marco Lucarelli (Biosì Indexa Sora): “Our team improved a lot and you can see it from the victories we obtained. The spirit of the team got a lot better with the good results, we’ll travel to Ravenna to try to get something out of it. I expect a tough match full of emotions. I’m sure this will be a battle, just like all the recent games we played. They have strong and motivated players. But i twill be nice to meet Mr Soli in the SuperLega. We had some good experiences together, we shared some intense emotions but our goal will be to end this first half of season with a result, so we’ll give everything in order not to stop this splendid run ».
In Round 9, the Blue Group will play on Saturday and the White Group on Sunday.
Tuscania is already qualified for the Italian Cup A2 but it is keen to bounce back from the come-back defeat in Castellana grotte. Tuscania will take on Ortona, who added the Norther American spiker Sam Holt, on loan from Verona. He comes in to substitute Peda. Ortona suffered some injuries that got them to slow down and they lost in four sets at home against Lagonegro in the last round.
Siena needs a win and Castellana Grotte to stumble to get back in first place. But Aversa will travel to Tuscany hoping to move up to second place. If they were to take three points and Tuscania was to take two points against Ortona, they would make it. If Siena, Aversa and Tuscania were all tied at 19 points, Siena would slip to fourth.
Potenza Picena got back on track with a 3-1 win in the capital against Club Italia. Potenza is out of the cup but it aims to consolidate its fifth place, the last spot available for the playoffs. Castellana Grotte will move to Potenza to stay top. If they were to lose 3-0 or 3-1 and Siena was to take three points, they’d slip to second.
Santa Croce has lost five of its last six games, which led to a meeting between coaching staff and board of directors. The team will try to get on track against Club Italia, bottom and still without a point. In spite of playing with maximum fighting spirit, somehow they never managed to win more than a set.
8th in the table, Lagonegro is a team on the up, with three straight wins and 8 out of the last 9 points. In the last round, they won on the road in four sets in Ortona. Falabella’s men face a tricky game against Alessano. Mastrangelo’s men will try to win to move above Potenza Picena, who’s facing a tough one against the leaders of Castellana Grotte.
Tied at the top of the Blue group with Spoleto and Brescia, Mondovì will try to stay where it stands with a win over Cantù, which is desperate for points in spite of being already out of the cup. Cantù is coming off a tie-break win over Grottazzolina, which put an end to a three-game losing streak.
Still bottom of the group, Materdomini Castellana Grotte need to step up a gear as they take on Civita Castellana, fourth but only one point from the three leaders.
Spoleto is in the race for the title of winter champ but a home loss against Montecchio Maggiore could make it slip to fourth. The newly promoted side of Montecchio is tenth with 5 points : three marathons that went to the tie-break, two won, in the past three rounds. Marconi’s men never give up.
Grottazzolina is last from bottom and it lost outside hitter Moretti on November 20 through injury (two ribs broken). A 21-19 tie-break defeat folowed two tie-break wins over Montecchio Maggiore and Bergamo. They will try to bounce back against Reggio Emilia, who’s seventh and out of cup. Led by Kody, one of the top scorers in the A2, Reggio obtained a 3-1 win before being dominated at home by Spoleto.
Bergamo has amassed some regrets, wasted opportunities. They lost four games in the fifth set. This young team with huge potential will challenge Brescia, in the race for the winter champ title. Third but tied on points with Mondovì and Spoleto, even with a win, they will depend on the results of its rivals.
Serie A2 UnipolSai Round 9 – WHITE GROUP
Sunday 4 December at 6pm
Maury’s Italiana Assicurazioni Tuscania – Sieco Service Ortona Diretta Lega Volley Channel
Emma Villas Siena – Sigma Aversa Diretta Lega Volley Channel
GoldenPlast Potenza Picena – BCC Castellana Grotte Diretta Lega Volley Channel
Kemas Lamipel Santa Croce – Club Italia Crai Roma Diretta Lega Volley Channel
Basi Grafiche Geosat Lagonegro – Aurispa Alessano Diretta Lega Volley Channel
White group Standings
BCC Castellana Grotte 20, Emma Villas Siena 19, Sigma Aversa 16, Maury’s Italiana Assicurazioni Tuscania 16, GoldenPlast Potenza Picena 11, Aurispa Alessano 11, Kemas Lamipel Santa Croce 10, Basi Grafiche Geosat Lagonegro 9, Sieco Service Ortona 8, Club Italia Crai Roma 0
Serie A2 UnipolSai round 9 – BLUE GROUP
Saturday 3 December at 8.30pm
VBC Mondovì – Pool Libertas Cantù Live on Lega Volley Channel
Materdominivolley.it Castellana Grotte – Ceramica Globo Civita Castellana Live on Lega Volley Channel
Monini Spoleto – Sol Lucernari Montecchio Maggiore Live on Lega Volley Channel
Videx Grottazzolina – Conad Reggio Emilia Live on Lega Volley Channel
Caloni Agnelli Bergamo – Centrale del Latte McDonald’s Brescia Live on Lega Volley Channel
Blue group standings
VBC Mondovì 16, Monini Spoleto 16, Centrale del Latte McDonald’s Brescia 16, Ceramica Globo Civita Castellana 15, Caloni Agnelli Bergamo 12, Pool Libertas Cantù 11, Conad Reggio Emilia 11, Sol Lucernari Montecchio Maggiore 10, Videx Grottazzolina 9, Materdominivolley.it Castellana Grotte 4
