Montichiari is back where it was at the beginning of the series. After two thrilling victories that had Cuneo very close to the exit, it is now tied at 2-2 and forced to play for the qualification away from home. The 25-9 suffered in the last set of game 3 was a good warning for Mauro Berruto’s team. Game started with the same dynamic, with Cuneo having nothing to lose, being led by an outstanding Wout Wijmans (Mvp of the game). Still, the whole team played well and with determination. On the other side of the net, Montichiari lacked consistency and went for too many individual plays, making early mistakes that gave Cuneo the advantage from the start.
Cuneo looked eager to force a fifth game, while Montichiari made already 5 mistakes on the serve in the first set. Cuneo’s serve was strong and accurate, and Gonzalez sealed it at 25-22.
The second set is a carbon copy of the first. Montichiari did not seem to have the solution to stop Wijmans and co. Cuneo’s serve kept bothering the hosts. However, Gavotto and Horstink combined to reduce the gap to two (18-20), but once again Cuneo’s serve was the difference.
The hosts got off to the better start in the third and led for a long time until Cuneo evened things up at 19 on a Gavotto mistake. Gonzalez and Fortunato then made sure the game would not go any further and sealed it in three sets.
The decider will now take place on Wednesday night.
ACQUA PARADISO GABECA MONTICHIARI – BRE BANCA LANNUTTI CUNEO 0-3 (22-25, 21-25, 22-25)
ACQUA PARADISO GABECA MONTICHIARI: Sala 10, Rauwerdink 9, Pesenti, Horstink 17, Tiberti, Esko 1, Howard 7, Gavotto 11, Mani� (L). Dnp Forni, Bellei, Zito. Coach. Berruto Mauro.
BRE BANCA LANNUTTI CUNEO: Wijsmans 16, Gonzalez 4, Fortunato 9, Vergnaghi (L), Nikolov 15, Curti 3, Abbadi, Pieri (L), Platenik 8. Dnp Ariaudo, Rossi, Nuti, Biribanti. Coach. Prandi Silvano.
Robert Horstink (Acqua Paradiso Gabeca Montichiari): “We have to go to Cuneo and give everything we have on court, because it will be our last opportunity to go to the semi final. In my opinion, we have to improve all our game, because this Cuneo team cannot be beaten anymore by just serving and blocking well. They really had a great performance, they improved in every area of the game…We have to react accordingly”.
Marco Pistolesi (DS Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo): “We did a good job of getting to game 5, though we should not be thinking that having tied to 2-2 means having reached our target. In my opinion, Montichiari is playing an excellent series and they played well today too. We might have been a little more composed at the end of each set. Now we’ll play game 5 with our fans, which I have to thank for being there all the time”.
QUARTER FINAL GAME 4
Saturday 11 April at 4.30
Acqua Paradiso Gabeca Montichiari – Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo 0-3 (22-25, 21-25, 22-25)
QUARTER FINAL GAME 5
Wednesday 15 April at 8.30
Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo – Acqua Paradiso Gabeca Montichiari
IL PROGRAMMA DELLE SEMIFINALI
GAME 1
Saturday 18 at 6
Lube Banca Marche Macerata – Copra Nordmeccanica Piacenza LIVE ON SKY SPORT 2
Sunday 19 April at 6
Itas Diatec Trentino vs vincente CN/MONT LIVE ON SKY SPORT 2
GAME 2
Tuesday 21 April at 8.30pm
Copra Nordmeccanica Piacenza – Lube Banca Marche Macerata LIVE ON SKY SPORT 2
Wednesday 22 April at 8.30pm
Vincente CN/MONT vs Itas Diatec Trentino LIVE ON SKY SPORT 2
GAME 3
Friday 24 April at 8.30
Lube Banca Marche Macerata – Copra Nordmeccanica Piacenza
Saturday 25 April at 6
Itas Diatec Trentino vs vincente CN/MONT LIVE ON SKY SPORT 2
GAME 4 (If needed)
Monday 27 April at 8.30
Copra Nordmeccanica Piacenza – Lube Banca Marche Macerata LIVE ON SKY SPORT 2
Tuesday 28 April at 8.30
Vincente CN/MONT vs Itas Diatec Trentino
GAME 5 (If needed)
Friday 1 May at 6
Lube Banca Marche Macerata – Copra Nordmeccanica Piacenza
Itas Diatec Trentino vs vincente CN/MONT
2008/09 playoff draw
1�- Lube Banca Marche Macerata | 3 |
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3-0; 3-2; 3-1 |
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8�- Sisley Treviso | 0 |
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4�- RPA-LuigiBacchi.it Perugia | 0 |
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1-3; 1-3; 1-3 |
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5�- Copra Nordmeccanica Piacenza | 3 |
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2�- Itas Diatec Trentino | 3 |
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3-2; 3-0; 3-2 |
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7�- Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia | 0 |
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3�- Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo | 2 |
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