It’s the moment everybody was waiting for: the fight for the league title. Tomorrow and Thursday, the best eight teams of the A1 will meet in the playoffs quarter-finals. Macerata and Treviso will meet for the 55th time of their history and the 17th time in the playoffs. Omrcen will be fit to play for Macerata following his ankle injury. Monza and Modena will face up again just three days after their last meeting. Monza had won it in four sets in Modena and earned fourth place in the table. Trento will entertain San Giustino while Cuneo, which will face Verona, will play the whole post season without Simone Parodi, who injured his knee.
1ª- Itas Diatec Trentino |
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8ª- RPA-LuigiBacchi.it San Giustino |
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4ª- Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza |
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5ª- Casa Modena |
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2ª- Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo |
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| Italian champion |
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| 2010/2011 |
7ª- Marmi Lanza Verona |
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3ª- Lube Banca Marche Macerata |
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6ª- Sisley Treviso |
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QUARTER FINAL SCHEDULE
Playoff Serie A1 Sustenium – QUARTER FINAL GAME 1
Wednesday 6 April at 8.30pm
Lube Banca Marche Macerata (3) – Sisley Treviso (6) Live on Rai Sport 1
Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza (4) – Casa Modena (5)
Thursday 7 April at 8.30pm
Itas Diatec Trentino (1) – RPA-LuigiBacchi.it San Giustino (8) Live on Rai Sport 1
Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo (2) – Marmi Lanza Verona (7)
Playoff Serie A1 Sustenium – QUARTER FINAL GAME 2
Saturday 9 April at 4pm
Casa Modena (5a) – Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza (4a) Live on Rai Sport 1
Sunday 10 April at 6pm
RPA-LuigiBacchi.it San Giustino (8) – Itas Diatec Trentino (1)
Marmi Lanza Verona (7) – Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo (2) Live on Rai Sport 1
Sisley Treviso (6) – Lube Banca Marche Macerata (3)
Playoff Serie A1 Sustenium – QUARTER FINAL GAME 3
Wednesday 13 April at 8.30pm
Lube Banca Marche Macerata (3) – Sisley Treviso (6)
Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza (4) – Casa Modena (5)
Thursday 14 April at 8.30pm
Itas Diatec Trentino (1) – RPA-LuigiBacchi.it San Giustino (8)
Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo (2) – Marmi Lanza Verona (7)
Playoff Serie A1 Sustenium – GAME 4 (If needed)
Saturday 16 April at 4pm
Casa Modena (5) – Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza (4)
Sunday 17 April at 6pm
(one game live at 8.30pm)
RPA-LuigiBacchi.it San Giustino (8) – Itas Diatec Trentino (1)
Marmi Lanza Verona (7) – Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo (2)
Monday 18 April at 8.30pm
Sisley Treviso (6) – Lube Banca Marche Macerata (3)
Playoff Serie A1 Sustenium – GAME 5 (if needed)
Wednesday 20 April
Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza (4) – Casa Modena (5)
Thursday 21 April at 8.30pm
Lube Banca Marche Macerata (3) – Sisley Treviso (6)
Itas Diatec Trentino (1) – RPA-LuigiBacchi.it San Giustino (8)
Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo (2) – Marmi Lanza Verona (7)
PLAYOFF SEMI-FINALS
Game 1: Sunday 24 and Monday 25 April
Game 2: Wednesday 27 and Thursday 28 April
Game 3: Saturday 30 April and Sunday 1 May
Game 4: Wednesday 4 and Thursday 5 May
Game 5: Saturday 7 and Sunday 8
PLAYOFF FINAL
Final (V-Day): Sunday 15 May in Roma (PalaLottomatica)
Game 1 – Quarter-finals
Lube Banca Marche Macerata – Sisley Treviso
Past encounters: 54 (29-25 Treviso).
Alessandro Paparoni (Lube Banca Marche Macerata): “Definitely a very difficult quarter final, Treviso is a prestigious team with a lot of titles. They beat us twice in regular season, but the playoffs is a different thing. We’ll have to make the court advantage count. Game 1 is always important, starting well gives you confidence. A win would enable us to face game 2 in Treviso with less pressure and be motivated. We have to win this debut game in the race for the title”.
Roberto Piazza (coach Sisley Treviso): “Our two regular season victories over them have very little meaning now. This is a new championship for us, it’s open, what has been done so far does not matter anymore. They will definitely be stronger with Omrcen and Martino back. They are important players who we’ll have to watch out. The two teams know each other well. I can’t tell you if this quarter final will finish soon: the two games this season were tight and both lasted over the two hours of play. I have faith in my team, I think Treviso is on the up, we are physically and mentally in good shape. We have to find the playoff spirit”.
Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza – Casa Modena
Past encounters: 4 (2 each).
Luca Monti (coach Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza): “We want to go through. We made a breakthrough in Modena and now we want to repeat the good things done on Sunday. We won the court advantage, this is a good thing, in terms of organisation and kilometres saved on the road. More days working at home gives us more chances. Our attitude must be the same tomorrow, attack our opponent, and stay close to them like we did in the third set on Sunday”.
Daniele Bagnoli (coach Casa Modena): “Monza is reaching the playoffs in great form, while we had and still have a few worries with injuries. Having said that, we know it’s 50-50 and we also know we’ll need an excellent performance on Wednesday. The spirit in the group is good, we believe in our ability, although we also know how strong and in-form Monza is. They proved they had quality and size at the net. Each day we spend in the gym is good to help Bruninho settle it: Hopefully, he will go from strength to strength as the days and games go by”.
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