LPR Piacenza will need to step up at PalaBanca to come back in the series after the clear loss at PalaEvangelisti in Perugia versus Sir Safety Conad in Game 1. Will be a no tomorrow game for Alberto Giuliani’s team, who will need a monstre performance to force the series to Game 3 next sunday. Luciano De Cecco, Perugia’s setter, is a former Piacenza player, from 2012 until 2014. Sir Safety Conad Perugia will play in Piacenza the first “match ball” of the series, looking forward to semifinals, where they evenctually face the winner of Lube-Tonno Callipo series. Lorenzo Bernardi’s team is the big favourite of this series, but Piacenza is a team who can put in trouble also powerhouses like Perugia.
Previous Matches: 20 (10 Piacenza, 10 Perugia)
Championship: 3 – 2 in Regular Season 2 wins Perugia (1-3 3-1) and 1 in Italian Cup Quarterfinals (Piacenza 2-3).
Play Off: 7 -5 Semifinals (3 Perugia, 2 Piacenza), 2 Quarterfinals (2 Piacenza).
Former Players: Luciano De Cecco Piacenza 2012-2014, Aimone Alletti Perugia 2012-2013, Georgios Tzioumakas Perugia 2014-2016.
RECORDS
2016-17 Fernando Hernandez – 4 attacks to 500, Viktor Yosifov – 2 aces to 100 (LPR Piacenza); Simone Buti – 3 points to 2000 e – 2 aces to 100 (Sir Safety Conad Perugia).
Championship and Italian Cup: Andrea Bari – 1 game to 500, Dore Della Lunga – 4 blocks to 100 (Sir Safety Conad Perugia).
Play Off: Leonel Marshall – 12 points to 800 (LPR Piacenza); Emanuele Birarelli – 1 point to 600 (Sir Safety Conad Perugia).
Loris Manià (LPR Piacenza): “We look forward to Game 2, Game 1 is the past right now, we are ready to fight and we’ll try to force the seres to Game 3. PErugia has good fundamentals, about tomorrow’s game we need to keep the game on the edge, forcing them to play point by point. We’ll play in front of our fans at PalaBanca, they always helped us in the tough moments of the season, I’m sure they will do it on tomorrow”.
Lorenzo Bernardi (Sir Safety Conad Perugia): “On wednesday I expect a tough game, difficult and long, it will be a mind game. Piacenza can play much better as they did in Perugia on saturday, so I will expect a big reaction from them. We will have to go there knowing that they will never surrender, ready to play on every single ball. We will have to play our way, and improving where we need to improve. We have to be focused on our volleyball, as we did last saturday”
