Serie A1
68th championship: we’re off
The 68th Serie A championship is finally under way. As the tradition goes, the first live game on Rai Sport will be dedicated to the Italian champions. On Saturday at 5.30pm, Macerata, recently winners of the Super Cup, will take on San Giustino. One of the key fixtures will be Modena versus Verona, two teams that have greatly renovated their rosters during the summer and that are ready to get their fans going. Newly promoted Castellana will be up against Cuneo, coached this season by Roberto Piazza. Trento will try to bounce back from their Super Cup tie-break loss as they entertain Vibo Valentia.
Round 1
Saturday October 6 at 5.30pm
Altotevere San Giustino – Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata Live on Rai Sport 1
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
(La Micela-Gnani)
Sunday October 7 at 5.30pm
CMC Ravenna – Copra Elior Piacenza Live on Rai Sport 1
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
(Padoan-Puecher)
Sunday October 7 at 6pm
BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte – Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo
(Rapisarda-Pessolano)
Itas Diatec Trentino – Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia
(Pol-Prandi)
Casa Modena – Marmi Lanza Verona Diretta Sportube.tv
(Zucca-Saltalippi)
Andreoli Latina – Sir Safety Perugia
(Satanassi-Cipolla)
Altotevere San Giustino – Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata
PAST ENCOUNTERS: None
Marco Fenoglio (coach Altotevere San Giustino): “I have a good feeling. We have great will to play after two months of intense work. Each day, in every training session, in every friendly game, we gave hundred percent. So I can say we’re ready. We’ll be up against one of the strongest teams but we’ll have nothing to lose. Macerata is a top class team, composed of great champions, they have changed very little of their roster this summer. Useless to deny it, it’s going to be very tough for us, they will put pressure on us during the whole game and we’ll have to limit the mistakes and try to take advantage of their weaknesses. I expect the best of my players, I said it several times, whoever gets on court must know he has given everything he had. I am personally happy, on Saturday I will make my debut as head coach in the top division. I have worked hard in recent years to get here and I will make the most of this opportunity”.
Marko Podrascanin (Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata): “We’re going to San Giustino to take three points but we also know we’ll need to fight till the end to get them. In the first few rounds, surprises are always around the corner, and to avoid falling in the trap you need to play with determination, and forget about the Super Cup win, which is already part of the past”.
CMC Ravenna – Copra Elior Piacenza
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 2 (1 each)
Antonio Babini (coach CMC Ravenna): “We’re coming off a difficult period, with injuries and players arriving late because of their international commitment. So this is not the ideal moment for us to begin the league. Besides, when it will be able to line up Simon, Piacenza will become one of the favorites for the league title. But Ravenna will not give up, it will fight in front of its fans, which I hope will come in numbers again”.
Luca Monti (coach Copra Elior Piacenza): “Our pre-season lasted 8 weeks, in the first three we focused on the physical work. Unfortunately, we were not able to start all together, but we can count ourselves lucky because we managed to train three all weeks with the full squad. There is a lot of work ahead for us but we have to try to start off well and take advantage of the excitement that our qualification into the Challenge Cup brought. We begin with two games that are not impossible and that we have to make ours at all cost. Sunday’s Ravenna game is the first one of the season so it’s always going to be tough, while the game against San Giustino will be the first one home. Then, we’ll travel to Macerata, which is not only the Italian champion but the winner of the Super Cup. This encounter will be very important to realize where we stand and how far we are from the top teams”.
BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte – Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 2 (1 each)
Flavio Gulinelli (coach BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte): To be honest I would have preferred to get to this game in better shape. But it’s normal because we’re working with a totally new team with players that have basically never played together. So I think we’ll need a little bit more time to get things go a little more smoothly. But we’re mentally ready to face this season and Cuneo in this first game”.
Dore Della Lunga (Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo): “I expect the boys to make some progress in this beginning of season, like we’ve done in the pre-season games. We started off with difficulty, but that is understandable with the load of physical work carried out. We’ll have to be tough, play our game and improve our understanding. I think this game will serve as well to make us discover bit by bit what kind of team we’ll be this season”.
Itas Diatec Trentino – Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 19 (17-2 Trento)
Raphael Vieira De Oliveira (Itas Diatec Trentino): “The game against Vibo Valentia will be anything but easy and for me that’s a special game because I used to play there. They have made a lot of changes, they strengthened the squad in each department and kept the players that had done well. So a tough game but also an opportunity to test ourselves before the World Club Championships. It will indeed be our last game before flying to Doha so it’s definitely an important one”.
Gianlorenzo Blengini (coach Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia): “The first league game is always a special one, we have prepared it for a long time and can’t wait to get on court. We want to understand where we stand after all this preparation. This will clearly be a complicated encounter: everybody knows Trento, they will be there in the end fighting for the league title, and they’ll be more motivated than ever following their Super Cup defeat. They only play to win, in each and every game. We’ll just play our game and play the best volleyball possible, by focusing on our attitude rather than what’s happening on the other side of the net”.
Casa Modena – Marmi Lanza Verona
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 16 (13-3 Modena)
Andrea Sala (Casa Modena): “Both the fans and ourselves are curious to see how we fair on court. We want to see what we’re capable of. We have worked hard and efficiently: the team is totally new and young, but these have been intense and quality weeks. There is a good positive atmosphere in the squad with people keen to do well. We can’t afford to lower our guards on Sunday, we’ll need to stay composed, be that when we’ll be ahead or trailing. We’re starting off with a very difficult one, Verona is an excellent team and one with the same targets as ours. We have to do everything possible to win it. This will also be my first time as captain, this will be a nice feeling but also an extra responsibility. If we play as well as we did in training, without ever giving up and losing our concentration, we’ll surely be able to play solid and entertaining volleyball”.
Bruno Bagnoli (coach Marmi Lanza Verona): “We’ll go for it without fear, we’ll be courageous and leave the pressure to the hosts of Modena as they are the favorites. Playing in Modena is always a great satisfaction, makes you proud because it’s not only a great arena but there’s always a great atmosphere, they have competent fans that are fair play. The hosts can boast some top quality Italian players like Sala, Manià and Baranowicz, who play alongside foreigners that are looking to prove themselves at the highest level such as Kooy and Vesely and excellent signing like Deroo and Celitans. You have to add to that all-around players like Quesque, Molteni, Piscopo and casadei, who could be starters in many other teams in the Serie A1. We’ll respond with our mix of experienced and young motivated players, and try to find a good balance as quickly as possible in order to play spectacular as well as efficient volleyball”.
Andreoli Latina – Sir Safety Perugia
PAST ENCOUNTERS: None
Silvano Prandi (coach Andreoli Latina): “The beginning of a new adventure is always exciting, hopefully we’ll be able to convey this excitement to our fans. Every day I feel the need to get in the gym and get better. We will be competitive in every game starting with Perugia. Then, we can win or lose. I think there will be some good volleyball this season. We have some of the best coaching staffs in the world here, even if other leagues try to take them away from us, we’ll be the best league again”.
Andrea Giovi (Sir Safety Perugia): “The players are fine. We’re all motivated and want to take points from day one, and that will be the target every Sunday. We have improved a lot since the beginning of the season. There was a lot of new players, so we had to solve a few problems at the start. But we have worked hard, and now we have reached a good level technically and as a team. Sunday’s game will be an opportunity to see where we stand. At the beginning of the season, you don’t know that well the opponents but it’s clear that it will be tough against Latina. Latina put together an excellent roster to be competitive both in the league and Europe. They have quality players in every department and an excellent setter, who’s been playing in the A1 for years. But we’ll be ready to fight to come back to Perugia with a good result”.
Serie A2
Round 1
Two places at stake for the Serie A1 in 2013-14. The run to promotion starts this Sunday for the 13 teams involved in the A2. One team will be rested for each round: first is Città di Castello.
Elettrosud Brolo – Vero Volley Monza. Brolo will make its full debut in the A2 at home. First year as coach of a men’s team for Paolo Tofoli. Tough opponent: Monza is coached by Fumagalli, in its third consecutive season in the A2.
Sieco Service Ortona – Tonazzo Padova. Ortona is back in the A2 after 24 years in the lower divisions. Padova was relegated from the A1 last season and will aim to get right back up.
Pallavolo Loreto – Caffè Aiello Corigliano. Loreto is in its 16th consecutive season in the Serie A. They will host the Corigliano team guided by Bulgarian coach Jeliazkov, who brought south some quality players such as Giombini and Fabroni, proof of the great ambition of the club.
Coserplast Matera – Pallavolo Molfetta. A first in the A2 for Matera too. Draganov’s team is up against the big surprise of last season: Molfetta, who made it into the Cup Final Four as well as the playoff final. They will try to do as well although they have lost outside hitter Caceres and will be without newcomer Kay Van Dijk for the first three games.
Sidigas Atripalda – Conad Reggio Emilia. Initially both relegated, they stayed in the division by buying the sport rights of Santa Croce and Correggio. Atripalda and Reggio begin this new challenge with bigger ambitions. These should be two difficult teams to play for anyone this season. Reggio will be without Ukrainian spiker Andrii Diachkov for the first three games, as he was signed after the summer deadline.
Globo Banca Popolare del Frusinate Sora – B-Chem Golden Plast Potenza Picena. Only one goal for Sora: going up. In its fourth season in a row in the A2, they have put together a very competitive squad with top quality players like Paolucci, Patriarca, Fortunato, Milushev and the Fin Siltala. Potenza Picena is a newly promoted side, who’s aim will be to stay up.
Serie A2 Round 1
Sunday October 7 at 6pm
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