Change of referee


 


The main referee to whistle the Italian Cup final has changed. Instead of Nico Castagna there will be Fabrizio saltalippi, who has been a Serie A ref since 1995 and on the international scene since 2001.


 


 


Semi-final preview


 


The best of volleyball is back in Roma after the V-Day 2011. On Saturday 18 and Sunday 19, all eyes will be on the PalaLottomatica arena where there will be the Italian Cup Final Four. Macerata, Trentino, Modena and Belluno are the four teams that made it that far and will fight for the 34th Italian Cup.  


 


Roma – PalaLottomatica


Saturday February 18 at 4pm


1st semi-final


Lube Banca Marche Macerata (1) – Casa Modena (4)  Live on Rai Sport 1


(La Micela-Boris)


 


Saturday February 18 at 6.30pm


2nd semi-final


Itas Diatec Trentino (2) – Sisley Belluno (6)  Live on Rai Sport 1


(Sobrero-Cesare)


 


Sunday February 19 at 5.30pm


Finale  Live on Rai Sport 1


(Saltalippi-Cipolla)


 


 


Lube Banca Marche Macerata – Casa Modena


 


PAST ENCOUNTERS: 57 (31-26 Modena)


In the cup: 9 (5-4 Modena)


 


Jiri Kovar (Lube Banca Marche Macerata): “The Italian Cup represents an extremely important trophy, all the teams will give their maximum to get this first trophy of the season. Us included, obviously. We have not had a positive run of late, but we have always managed to find our best in the in-or-out situations. We’re hoping to do well again in Roma. Modena is a tough opponent, especially on a knock-out game. They have similar characteristics to ours, I think that to beat them we’ll need first of all to put pressure on them with our serve. We really want to do well in this competition, we will give it our best shot for the club and the fans”.


 


Daniele Bagnoli (coach Casa Modena): “These are really special moments, different games from the others. The moment of form as well as the capacity to adapt to the pressure and the arena can make the difference. In that respect, Macerata certainly has more experience than us. It’s true that neither of us are going through a positive period, we have both lost a few games of late. Macerata is a top quality team, they put you under pressure with their serve and consequently at the net. We’ll have to do well to contain them and be aggressive ourselves. Macerata is definitely the favourite, but we have to focus on our game, we proved that when we played at our best we could give a game to anyone”.


 


Macerata in the cup:


17 participation, 4 titles in 2001 against Treviso, in 2003 against Treviso, in 2008 against Roma and in 2009 against Cuneo.


 


 


Modena in the cup:


29 participation and 10 titles: 1979, 1980, 1985, 1986, 1988 (vs Bologna), 1989 (vs Treviso), 1994 (vs Parma), 1995 (vs Treviso), 1997 (vs Cuneo), 1998 (vs Cuneo).


 


 


Itas Diatec Trentino – Sisley Belluno


 


PAST ENCOUNTERS: 32 (21-11 Belluno)


In the cup: 4 (3-1 Belluno)


 


Matey Kaziyski (Itas Diatec Trentino): “The only fact to be facing this club, which in the past has often knocked us out of the Italian Cup represents for us a good reason not to underestimate them. Belluno knocked out the holders, Cuneo, and they will try to make it hard for us too. They have improved a lot lately. It will be up to us to overcome this obstacle”.  


 


Roberto Piazza (coach Sisley Belluno): “We’ve come to this event in excellent form, the team is starting to realize what is its potential and that’s very important. Trento is a team built to win in Italy, Europe and in the World, we all know that. This is one of the strongest teams in the world, but they are not unbeatable, even if it’s true they very rarely lose. This season, they have lost against Macerata and Latina, and one game in the Champions League, they must have a couple of weaknesses, although they have many more qualities than weaknesses. If we can stay close from first to last point like in last December in Belluno, and if we don’t make the silly mistake we’d made that day, we could have a go. We’ll need the perfect game, without ever giving up. We have to do well to receive their serve, that’s where they build their advantages and when they’re ahead you never see them again”.


 


Trento in the cup:


10 participations and 1 title: 2010 (vs Cuneo)


 


 


Belluno in the cup


23 Participations and 5 titles: 1993 (vs Parma), 2000 (vs Montichiari), 2004 (vs Cuneo), 2005 (vs Vibo Valentia), 2007 (vs Roma).


 


 


Schedule


 


1st semi-final


Live on Rai Sport 1 at 4pm


Live streaming on http://www.raisport.rai.it/dl/raisport/multimedia/diretta.html


Saturday February 18


Lube Banca Marche Macerata – Casa Modena


 


2nd semi-final


Live on Rai Sport 1 at 6.30pm


Live streaming on http://www.raisport.rai.it/dl/raisport/multimedia/diretta.htmlSaturday February 18


Itas Diatec Trentino – Sisley Belluno


 


Final


Live on Rai Sport 1 at 5.30pm


Live streaming on http://www.raisport.rai.it/dl/raisport/multimedia/diretta.html


Sunday February 19