Monza and Piacenza played a friendly game with a good intensity. Both teams were looking to prepare for the Challenge playoffs quarter-finals as Piacenza eventually clinched it in the tie-break. Monza had been out of action for over two weeks but they got off to a strong start, taking the first two sets thanks to a good team display and some good attacking (Raic and Galliani stood out). In the third and fourth set, coach Cattaneo made a lot of changes. It was tight but Piacenza found some good serves at the end of sets. And they had some excellent performances from Perrin and Luburic. Both teams made wholesale substitutions in the fifth set.
“It’s been an excellent friendly game that got us back in our rhythm – said spiker Mario Mercorio – We had two good first sets, we played with determination and accuracy. Then, we made changes to try different game situations and Piacenza took advantage to win the next three sets. The aim was to see where we were at, and I think we can be satisfied”.
Gi Group Monza – LPR Piacenza 2-3 (25-22, 25-22, 21-25, 21-25, 6-15) Gi Group Monza: Botto 6, Beretta 9, Raic 14, Galliani 12, Verhees 5, Jovovic 4; Rizzo (L). Mercorio 6, Daldello, Sala 10, Brunetti (L), Gao Qi 3. Coach. Cattaneo
LPR Piacenza: Perrin 21, Tencati 6, Luburic 18, Zlatanov 4, Kohut 14, Tavares 1; Lampariello (L). Ter Horst 14, Cottarelli, Papi (L), Coscione 1, Sedlacek. DNP. Patriarca. Coach. Giuliani
