From European action to the Italian league. Round 20 starts off this Friday night with Monza versus Padova.
Qualified into the CEV Cup 8th of finals, Trento will try to bounce back from last weekend’s defeat in Perugia as it takes on Ravenna, beaten at the tie-break by Molfetta.
Modena wants its place back in the top three. Winners in Vibo Valentia 3-1 last week, they entertain the second, Perugia, in a remake of the Italian Super Cup final. Modena had come back from behind to clinch it at the tie-break and they had made the double with a league win in Perugia 3-1. The latter is full of confidence following its 3-0 win over Trento, which was followed by a 3-2 victory over Belgorod in the Champions League.
After its breakthrough in Ravenna, Molfetta takes on Latina, who registered a superb 3-0 home win over Monza.
Verona is alive and kicking since Grbic took over. Sora was the fourth consecuitve win after the ones over Piacenza, Monza and Ravenna. They will take on Milan, a team they have never lost against in five attempts. Milan is coming off a 3-1 defeat against Piacenza.
Piacenza had to fight hard but it came away with the three-points against Milan, another satisfaction after the breakthrough in Perugia and the cup final four qualification. Giuliani’s men also made it into the Cev Cup 8th of finals this week as it prepares to take on Sora, bottom of the table, just one point behind Milan.
Straight set winners in Poland in the Champions League, Civitanova has been dominating in Italy. They count a four-point edge on Perugia as it plays host to Vibo Valentia this weekend. The newly promoted side gave it a good fight against the Italian champs of Modena in the last round, though they were defeated 3-0.
SuperLega UnipolSai Round 20
Friday 20 January at 8.30pm
Gi Group Monza – Kioene Padova Live on RAI Sport 1
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
Saturday 21 January at 8.30pm
Diatec Trentino – Bunge Ravenna Live on Lega Volley Channel
Sunday 22 January at 6pm
Azimut Modena – Sir Safety Conad Perugia Live on RAI Sport 1
Live streaming su www.raisport.rai.it
Exprivia Molfetta – Top Volley Latina Live on Lega Volley Channel
Calzedonia Verona – Revivre Milano Live on Lega Volley Channel
LPR Piacenza – Biosì Indexa Sora Live on Lega Volley Channel
Cucine Lube Civitanova – Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia Live on Lega Volley Channel
League table
Cucine Lube Civitanova 50, Sir Safety Conad Perugia 46, Diatec Trentino 44, Azimut Modena 43, Calzedonia Verona 37, LPR Piacenza 30, Gi Group Monza 28, Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia 24, Exprivia Molfetta 20, Bunge Ravenna 20, Top Volley Latina 18, Kioene Padova 14, Revivre Milano 13, Biosì Indexa Sora 12
Diatec Trentino – Bunge Ravenna
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 11 (10-1 Trento)
Simone Giannelli (Diatec Trentino): “This is a very important and difficult game : Ravenna is a young team, they’ve done some great things this season and they made it hard for some of the top teams, even away from home. But we want to get right back on track in the SuperLega, we intend on winning this game with the help of our fans ».
Fabio Soli (coach Bunge Ravenna): “We’ll have to be humble, we know it will be tough to take anything out of this game. We’ll have to stay focused and positive from the start. If our opponents play at their best, it will be very difficult to trouble them, but we have to take our responsibilities. We have to stop looking in the past or regreting the wasted opportunities. What happened to us should lead us to think positive, we have to try to express our talent. We’ll need our very best, only a team performance together with some individual breakthroughs can lead us to a positive result ».
Azimut Modena – Sir Safety Conad Perugia
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 14 (10-4 Modena)
Roberto Piazza (coach Azimut Modena): “This is a tough game, like the others. They will be determined to take revenge on us as we beat them twice, in the SuperCup and in the league. And they have a lot of talent. This is an important period for them as they look to stay at the top in Italy and Europe. We’ve been preparing this game well. We face a very strong team in attack and we’ll have to find answers. Modena can do so many things and they can elevate their game against the top teams, and we have the opportunity to prove it this weekend. We’re facing some big matches and we have to show we’re up to the task ».
Lorenzo Bernardi (coach Sir Safety Conad Perugia): “Wednesday’s victory in the Champions League was crucial, that gave us a boost ahead of Sunday’s match in Modena. We have to focus on our game now though, this is not just about the Modena-Perugia rivalry. We’ll be up against a very strong team, which was my favorite to win the league at the start of the season. This could be a very important game for the regular season, we are aware of this, but this is not Game 5 of a playoff final ».
Exprivia Molfetta – Top Volley Latina
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 7 (6-1 Latina)
Joao Rafael de Barros Ferreira (Exprivia Molfetta): “There’s a lot at stake against Latina. The dream of taking 8th place and be in the playoffs is not impossible anymore. We have improved a lot, we’re more focused in attack and in the clutch time. Latina will want to take points to stay in the race too. We know there will be a great atmosphere in the PalaPoli arena, we’ll have to make the most of it. I’ve done well but I don’t think of my own season, I prefer to stay focused on the final rush ».
Gabriele Maruotti (Top Volley Latina): “We have some games against direct rivals that could lead us to reach our target : the playoffs. There are seven games left and 5 are against direct rivals. We start with Molfetta, a tough place to go to, many top teams have lost points there, it won’t be easy. We have to focus on ourseves, if we play well, we can win it ».
Calzedonia Verona – Revivre Milano
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 5 (all Verona)
Simone Anzani (Calzedonia Verona): “I think we’ve been working well of late and the results have come. We cannot get carried away though, let’s keep our feet on the ground and keep working hard to prepare for Milan. And there will be more important games coming in the next couple of weeks. That’s when we’ll see if we can meet the expectations ».
Massimiliano De Marco (Ass coach Revivre Milano): “I think Verona had played their best game of the first half of season against us. Then, they lost against the top teams and that got them off track. They bounced back with Grbic’s arrival on the bench. As for us, we’ve been training fine, and we showed some improvement against Piacenza. We cannot make excuses anymore, we have to show what we’re capable of in each and every game and improve on our current position ».
LPR Piacenza – Biosì Indexa Sora
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 1 (Piacenza)
Alberto Giuliani (coach LPR Piacenza): “We obtained a great victory in Innsbruck and qualified for the CEV Cup 8th of finals. We had a day off on Thursday even if our mind was already set on the next SuperLega match against Sora. In January we played most of our games away from our arena, and now I’m happy to be back home with our fans, even more so now that we’ve reached our targets in the Italian cup and CEV Cup. We cannot lower our guards against Sora, this will be a tough game, a lot harder than what the league table might suggest ».
Nicola Tiozzo (Biosì Indexa Sora): “We are extremely up for it, we’re determined and desperate for points. We’ve been working hard in the gym to be physically ready. We’ve tried to sort out a few simple tactical things too, things that did not work out last Sunday. We’ll face a solid team, who managed to beat Perugia in the cup. Papi and co are full of confidence, they have two great spikers, Marshall and Clevenot. We’ll have to watch out. We expect therefore a hard-fought encounter, we must play with will, hungry for points, but it’s obvious they will not let us play at will ».
Cucine Lube Civitanova – Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 25 (19-6 Civitanova)
Dragan Stankovic (Cucine Lube Civitanova): “Sunday’s game will be tricky because that comes after our long trip to Poland. We’ll be up against an extremely motivated team so we’ll need maximum focus. We don’t have much time to recover our mental and physical energy but we want to maintain our advantage at the top and we’ll try to do this with the help of our supporters ».
Peter Michalovic (Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia): “Our last encounter against Modena taught us that in order to be competitive against the top teams we have to make as few mistakes as possible and be extremely sharp when the opponent give you an opportunity. If we improve on that, we’ll be able to do well in the house of the league leaders, Civitanova, and maybe give them more food for thoughts than we did in our first meeting and in the cup a few days ago. We’ve had a good season so far, but we have to keep going strong. Now comes the key moments of the season, and we have some important targets to reach ».
Two games to go and a lot to play for as teams are battling to get into the playoffs, avoid the playouts or simply take as many points as possible into the second phase.
Potenza Picena has been struggling and sliping to seventh, five points away from the playoffs. They will take on the young guns of Club Italia Roma, bottom of the group.
While it is waiting to play the A2 Cup final against Siena on January 29, Tuscania will first go for second place in the league as it plays host to BCC Castellana Grotte. The latter had won the first match at home but is coming off a severe defeat against Siena, who stole their first place.
Winners of Club Italia in a postpned game in mid-week, Lagonegro still has a little chance to get into the playoffs but the priority is to consolidate sixth place and take valuable points for the playouts against a direct rival, Ortona. The latter has experienced a tragic period with the snow and earthquake, but they will try to make the breakthrough and take revenge on the defeat conceded in the first meeting.
The country is covered in snow but in Santa Croce it feels like spring synonimous of playoffs after the three points taken in Tricase. They will take on Aversa, already qualified in the promotion group and determined to take some valuable points for the second phase.
Siena is hoping to celebrate this last home game of the first phase as leaders. The Tuscans are coming off a three-set victory in Castellana Grotte and now they’ll want to take revenge on Alessano who had beaten them in the first match. Alessano is coming off a loss against Santa Croce in spite of having led early.
In spite of being for a long period without its top score Matteo Paoletti, Mondovì is very close to make it into the playoffs. In the last game, Bolla did the job in attack with 33 points, helping the team take an important point in Reggio Emilia. They face Civita Castellana, fourth with Bergamo after its road win in Brescia.
Blue group leader Spoleto has no intention to slow down as it takes on Reggio Emilia. The latter is coming off a home win over Mondovì thanks to a huge performance from Arthur Kody, who scored 40 points.
Materdomini Castellana Grotte needs big points to get off the bottom as they host Brescia, who can do no wrong any more after its loss against Civita Castellana if it wants to keep its hopes of playoffs alive.
Grottazzolina is in the hunt for valuable points to increase its chances of staying up as it faces the relagation group in the second phase. Federico Moretti is still not hundred percent as they entertain Cantù, seventh, beaten in the last round by the leaders.
Key game to get in the promotion group for Bergamo, who’s coming off a feisty encounter against Grottazzolina away which brought two points. They entertain Montecchio Maggiore, who dream of ending this first phase as it had started it, with plenty of victories. Yesterday, they had the better of Materdomini Castellana Grotte.
Serie A2 UnipolSai round 17 – WHITE GROUP
Saturday 21 January at 8.30pm
GoldenPlast Potenza Picena – Club Italia Crai Roma Live on Lega Volley Channel
Maury’s Italiana Assicurazioni Tuscania – BCC Castellana Grotte Live on Lega Volley Channel
Sunday 22 January at 12am
Basi Grafiche Geosat Lagonegro – Sieco Service Ortona Live on Lega Volley Channel
Sunday 22 January at 6pm
Kemas Lamipel Santa Croce – Sigma Aversa Live on Lega Volley Channel
Sunday 22 January at 7.30pm
Emma Villas Siena – Aurispa Alessano Live on Lega Volley Channel
White group standings
Emma Villas Siena 39, BCC Castellana Grotte 36, Maury’s Italiana Assicurazioni Tuscania 34, Sigma Aversa 28, Kemas Lamipel Santa Croce 25, Basi Grafiche Geosat Lagonegro 21, GoldenPlast Potenza Picena 20, Sieco Service Ortona 19, Aurispa Alessano 15, Club Italia Crai Roma 3
Serie A2 UnipolSai round 17 – BLUE GROUP
Saturday 21 January at 8.30pm
VBC Mondovì – Ceramica Globo Civita Castellana Live on Lega Volley Channel
Sunday 22 January at 6pm
Monini Spoleto – Conad Reggio Emilia Live on Lega Volley Channel
Materdominivolley.it Castellana Grotte – Centrale del Latte McDonald’s Brescia Live on Lega Volley Channel
7.30pm
Videx Grottazzolina – Pool Libertas Cantù Live on Lega Volley Channel
Wednesday 25 January at 8.30pm
Caloni Agnelli Bergamo – Sol Lucernari Montecchio Maggiore Live on Lega Volley Channel
Blue group standings
Monini Spoleto 37, VBC Mondovì 31, Conad Reggio Emilia 29, Caloni Agnelli Bergamo 28, Ceramica Globo Civita Castellana 28, Centrale del Latte McDonald’s Brescia 26, Pool Libertas Cantù 19, Sol Lucernari Montecchio Maggiore 17, Videx Grottazzolina 13, Materdominivolley.it Castellana Grotte 12
