That 2022/23 will be remembered as one of the most unpredictable and incredible editions of the Play Offs ever, with constant reversals, twists and comebacks that are stubborn to say the least. The Final could therefore only close with Game 5: with the victory in four sets yesterday at the Eurosuole Forum, Cucine Lube Civitanova extended the series against Itas Trentino in the last act, effectively awarding the Scudetto for the fourteenth time in the history of the Championship at the end of a “playoff” race (Race 3 or Race 5); seventeen including V-days.
This uncertainty and spectacular nature is certified by one fact in particular: with that of Wednesday evening, the last match of the SuperLega Credem Banca season, 34 Play Off matches will be played, out of a potential 35, with six series out of seven (4 Quarters, 2 Semifinals and the Final) in which it was necessary to play the “beautiful” to decree the passage of the round or, as in the last case in chronological order, to award the Scudetto.
With none of the series finished in three games and only one match of the potential Play Off challenges (Game 5 between Trento and Monza) not played, as well as two comebacks from 2-0 to 2-2, the Quarters had already hinted at the degree of uncertainty of the post season, which then continued with two Semifinals decided at the photo finish. Now only the last act is missing, a sort of “V-day”, with the BLM Group Arena in Trento preparing to host the showdown.
Below, grouped by “phase”, some statistical curiosities on the Play Offs, as well as the link to download the Play Off press kit (updated before the Finals), with winning players, roll of honor, results and much more.
Finals Play Off Scudetto Credem Banca
https://www.legavolley.it/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/RO-SUPERLEGA-FINALS-2022-23-Diretta-VW.pdf
Play Off Scudetto Credem Banca
https://www.legavolley.it/risultati/?Anno=2022&IdCampionato=886
Finals Game 5 – Play Off SuperLega Credem Banca
Mercoledì 17 maggio 2023, ore 20.30
Itas Trentino – Cucine Lube Civitanova
Diretta Rai Sport e Volleyballworld.tv
CURIOSITIES ABOUT THE FINALS (before race 5)
All in one night: 14th time in the playoff, 17th counting V-days
For the fourteenth time in the history of the Championship, the Scudetto will be awarded at the end of a “play-off” match (Race 3 or Race 5), seventeen including the V-days (2009/10, 2010/11 and 2011/12 the The Final was played with a single match on a neutral venue).
The 14 play-off matches to award the Scudetto (except for V-DAY):
– 81/82 Santal Parma – Robe di Kappa Turin 2-1 (0-3, 3-0, 3-1)
– 82/83 Santal Parma – Robe di Kappa Turin 2-1 (0-3, 3-2, 3-0)
– 84/85 Mapier Bologna – Panini Modena 2-1 (1-3, 3-1, 3-1)
– 86/87 Panini Modena – Santal Parma 3-0 (0-3, 3-2, 2-3, 3-1, 3-0)
– 87/88 Panini Modena – Maxicono Parma 3-2 (3-0, 1-3, 3-0, 0-3, 3-2)
– 95/96 Sisley Treviso – Alpitour Traco Cuneo 3-2 (Cuneo +1) (3-1, 2-3, 3-1, 3-0)
in that year the Beach Volleyball format was played
– 96/97 Las Daytona Modena – Sisley Treviso 3-2 (3-1, 0-3, 1-3, 3-2, 3-0)
– 05/06 Lube Macerata – Sisley Treviso 3-2 (0-3, 3-2, 0-3, 3-1, 3-0)
– 07/08 Itas Diatec Trentino – Copra Nordmeccanica Piacenza 2-1 (3-0, 2-3, 3-0)
– 08/09 Itas Diatec Trentino – CoprAtlantide Piacenza 2-3 (3-2, 1-3, 2-3, 3-0, 2-3)
– 12/13 Itas Diatec Trentino – Copra Elior Piacenza 3-2 (3-1, 1-3, 3-0, 0-3, 3-2)
– 17/18 Sir Safety Conad PG – Cucine Lube Civitanova 3-2 (3-1, 2-3, 31. 1-3, 3-0)
– 18/19 Sir Safety Conad PG – Cucine Lube Civitanova 2-3 (25-22, 25-21, 12-25, 21-25, 10-15).
– 22/23 Itas Trentino – Cucine Lube Civitanova 2-2, Race 5 on May 17, 2023.
V day:
– 09/10 Bre Banca L. CN – Itas Diatec TN 3-1
– 10/11 Itas Diatec TN – Bre Banca L. CN 3-0
– 11/12 Lube Macerata – Itas Diatec TN 3-2
Record of… Defeats
Whatever the result of Game 5, the Italian Champion team will equal (or surpass) the seasonal record of defeats between the Regular Season and the Play Offs. The current record is held by Piacenza (2008/09), which won the title by losing on aggregate 13 meetings. If Trento were to win in Race 5, it would reach 13 (8 in RS, 1 in Quarterfinals, 2 in Semifinal and 2 in Final), while if it had the upper hand, Civitanova would be an absolute record with 15 (9 in RS, 2 in Quarterfinals, 2 in Semifinal and 2 in Final)
Backs against the wall
Including the last upcoming match, Cucine Lube Civitanova will have played seven games without “second chances”, against opponents one match away from qualifying: three against Verona (against which they were 2-0 down), two against Milan (with a 2-1, up to 3-2), to which are added Race 4 and Race 5 of the Finals. Only two inside-out challenges for Itas Trentino: the play-off in Game 5 against Piacenza and the one in the Final which will be played on Wednesday.
NUMBERS AND CURIOSITIES OF THE SEMIFINALS
Both Semifinals in Race 5
Both Semifinal series ended in the last act, like the last edition, where Perugia and Civitanova had won the Final in Game 5 against Modena and Trento. It is the fifth time this has happened, as well as the first time that 10 Semifinals have been played for two consecutive years: Game 5 in both series had in fact only been necessary in 1992/93, 2002/03 and 2010/11.
Absolute record of Games in the Play Offs (already post Semi-finals record)
The hard-fought Quarter Finals and the Semi Finals with an uncertain outcome right up to the end gave rise to the Play Off with more matches than ever. With 19 matches in the quarter-finals (absolute record) and 10 in the semi-finals (success only 4 other times), there are already 29 matches in the Play Off Scudetto. The result is already a record in itself, as it equals the 29 matches of 1992/93 and 2002/03, and will reach a minimum of 32 (in case of 3-0) up to a maximum of 34 (in case of 3 -2).
NUMBERS AND CURIOSITIES OF THE QUARTER
23 victories for Perugia between Regular Season and Play Offs
With the defeat in the fifth set in Game 2 in Milan, Sir Safety Susa Perugia’s winning streak between the Regular Season and the Play Offs was interrupted after 23 games (22 in the Regular Season, 1 in the Play Offs). Since the advent of the Rally Point System, no team had been able to maintain the unbeaten run for so many races, in SuperLega or Serie A1: to find such a result it is necessary to go back to the beginning of 1996, where Modena reached 25 races without defeat, while the record absolute is from Turin, between the end of 1979 and March 1982, where the Piedmontese formation even reached 51 matches without defeat.
None Series ended 3-0
It is only the second time in the history of the SuperLega and Serie A1 Play Offs that all the matches have been extended to Game 4; the first was in the 2003/04 edition.
Record of matches played (19) in the Quarter Finals. For the first time, three challenges in Race 5
Out of the 20 potential matches of the Quarter Finals (four series to the best of 5 matches) 19 were played, with only the series between Trento and Monza concluded in Game 4. A goal never achieved: in 2003/04 and in 2015/ 16, the other Play Offs with the highest number of games in the Quarterfinals, had reached a maximum of 17. In the 2003/04 one, the only one to arrive with four challenges in Game 4 like the current one, only one challenge had arrived in Game 5 (against the current 3), while in 2015/16 there were three challenges in the fourth act and two in the fifth.
First against Octave
Since the advent of the Play Offs, it had only happened three other times (1999/00, 2000/01 and 2003/04) that the eighth-placed team at the end of the Regular Season (Allianz Milano) ousted the top seed in the Quarter-finals of Finale (Sir Safety Susa Perugia).
8 aces for Nikolov: Herrera’s “seasonal” record equaled
No less than eight winning services for Aleksandar Nikolov in Game 4 of the Quarter Finals: in the match on Saturday 1 April, the Lube spiker thus equaled the 8 aces in a match by Perugia’s opposite Herrera, on the 8th day of return; in the victory against Trento, however, the Cuban had played five sets, against the four played by the number 11 of the cooks. In addition to the two “records” of the current season, only 16 other times in the history of SuperLega (and Serie A1) an athlete has been able to achieve this result. The virtual ranking of “most aces in a match” still sees Ngapeth’s record (12 aces in 2017/18) in the lead.
