Serie A1
Round 10
Things are getting more and more exciting as the first half of the season is coming to an end and big points are at stake for the Italian cup qualification. There are two rounds left, 6 points to play for. Six teams (Trento, Macerata, Cuneo, Latina, Vibo Valentia and Piacenza) have already secured their tickets for the quarter-finals but there is still a fight for the best places and home advantage to fight for. Behind, there’s the battle for the last two spots.
Serie A1 round 10
Saturday December 8 at 5.45pm
Altotevere San Giustino – Casa Modena Live on RAI Sport 1
(Rapisarda-Caltabiano)
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
Sunday December 9 at 5.30pm
Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo – Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata Live on RAI Sport 1
(Gnani-Cipolla)
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
Sunday December 9 at 6pm
Andreoli Latina – Copra Elior Piacenza
(Vagni-Saltalippi)
Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia – Sir Safety Perugia
(Boris-Zucca)
Marmi Lanza Verona – Itas Diatec Trentino Live on Sportube.tv
(Bartolini-Pol)
CMC Ravenna – BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte
(Perri-Braico)
League table
Itas Diatec Trentino 23, Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata 21, Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo 18, Andreoli Latina 17, Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia 17, Copra Elior Piacenza 16, Sir Safety Perugia 13, Casa Modena 12, Altotevere San Giustino 8, Marmi Lanza Verona 8, BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte 6, CMC Ravenna 3
Altotevere San Giustino – Casa Modena
PAST ENCOUNTERS: None
Giorgio De Togni (Altotevere San Giustino): “It’s a clash between two teams hoping to get into the cup. Modena has a four-point advantage following its two consecutive wins so we’ll need a three-point victory at all cost to keep our hopes alive. They are in great shape right now, they’ve just beaten Cuneo and Macerata. They made the most of the opportunities that came their way during the games, this is not the best moment to play against them, but we’ll do our best, as usual. We’ll have the crowd on our side. It’s not easy for anyone to play in San Giustino, and we proved it in previous games playing well and making it difficult for better teams than us like Macerata and Latina. We still have to improve a lot mentally, and we’re working on that every day, but to improve this aspect, you need time, you acquire the composure to overcome the difficult moment of a game by playing games at a high level. Going back to the game against Modena, we’ll have to be aggressive from the start, play fast, be solid, and limit our mistakes, especially on the serve, there’s no other way to take the three points”.
Angelo Lorenzetti (Casa Modena): “We had an intense week in which we used a lot of mental and physical energy. You could feel it in training this week but we have to be able to handle those situations. We made ourselves a favour in the league table, but now there are two other games as difficult in which we need to get points to get into the Italian cup. San Giustino plays aggressive, they make the most out of their serve and are tough to stop when they have the momentum. We’ll have to be ready to handle any situation and be mentally strong. Let’s focus on one set at a time, with maturity, concentration and discipline”.
Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo – Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 68 (36-32 Cuneo)
Nikola Grbic (Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo): “One of the top teams is coming over. They’ll try to redeem themselves after the Modena defeat, I am expecting a reaction from them. This will be a tough game, like all games against such team are. These games are extremely complicated but they also bring the best out of the players, so it should be a good one”.
Marko Podrascanin (Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata): “This is certainly the toughest game we could have had right now. With only two games to the halfway point of the season, this is a big match with second place at stake. We need a positive result to stay where we are. It won’t be easy given the quality of the opponent, they’re also playing home, but we have to make it, we have to bounce back from the bad home game played last week against Modena. We have a great group, we have overcome all the difficulties thrown at us so far, we’ll have to do it one more time in this game”.
Andreoli Latina – Copra Elior Piacenza
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 22 (13-9 Piacenza)
Stefano Patriarca (Andreoli Latina): “Piacenza is very strong, they have some champions in their roster. They will come here to take the three points. We’ll need to face this game without fear and take advantage of the support of our fans. We need to play with the energy and will of a team that wants to be among the top four”.
Alessandro Fei (Copra Elior Piacenza): “Last week’s game against Trento gave us renewed motivation to train even harder. In order to beat Latina, we’ll need maximum focus and determination. It’s not easy to go there, they have a very strong team. If we want to get back among the best, in the top four, we’ll need to play at our best, with no mercy. In the Challenge Cup game played yesterday in Tallinn, we finally had Zlatanov back, he will be crucial for us on Sunday”.
Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia – Sir Safety Perugia
PAST ENCOUNTERS: None
Denis Kaliberda (Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia): “We’re facing a very difficult game against a team that has been playing well. It’s very important for us to get a positive result right now. They receive and attack well and they have a solid group with a few experienced players. It will be important for us to maintain a good level on the serve and at the net, and be very careful too in dig in order to contain players like Vujevic and Tamburo, who are their men stars”.
Benedetto Rizzuto (Sport director Sir Safety Perugia): “Very complicated encounter for us on Sunday against one of the most in-form teams of the league. Vibo can play excellent volley and they’ll be at home. We know we’ll need our best to get a result, our serve will be fundamental to limit their fast pace game”.
Marmi Lanza Verona – Itas Diatec Trentino
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 19 (15-4 Trento)
Bruno Bagnoli (coach Marmi Lanza Verona): “I am satisfied with the potential of the team and I think that if we improve in training we can face the game with a consistent level of play. We’ll have to fight on every ball against Trento and prove, one point at a time, that we believe in it, we’ll also have our extraordinary fans on our side”.
Filippo Lanza (Itas Diatec Trentino): “I can’t wait to play, it’s a special game for me, because I am from there. I really want to do well, like I did last season, that would be nice If I could play a lot and prove that Trento’s bench is as good as the great players there are in the starting line-up. The points are stake are particularly important for us, especially to be the winter champions. We’ll give it our best shot to keep this winning streak going”.
CMC Ravenna – BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 2 (both won by Castellana Grotte)
Mauro Fresa (coach CMC Ravenna): “We have prepared well for this game which we want to win. We are finally back home after a month and a half, and Castellana Grotte is a team that we can beat. This doesn’t mean this will be an easy game, on the contrary, we’ll have to be ready for a battle. Hopefully, the paperwork for Owens will be ready on time”.
Marco Falaschi (BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte): “The result against Latina was very important for us. We keep working hard for the next two games, and we want to get points out of them. Ravenna might be at the bottom of the table but we can’t underestimate them because they have excellent players like Zhoukoski, the setter, who’s been playing very well in his first season as starter. And everybody knows Creus, Mengozzi, Sirri and Moro. We’ll prepare our game, taking into consideration they could be using their new American player”.
Serie A2
Round 11
Globo Banca Popolare del Frusinate Sora – Elettrosud Brolo. Sora runs for a place in the top four thanks to three consecutive wins. Brolo is coming off a big win against the former second of the league table, Ortona. The Sicilians will be without Nicola Sesto, suspended for one round.
Vero Volley Monza – Sieco Service Ortona. Change of coach on the Monza bench this week, the assistant Horacio De Federico took over Marco Fumagalli. Tiberti and co need a result to stay up there and keep fighting for a place in the Italian Cup. Ortona has lost its last two games and slipped to third in the table. Michele Simoni is suspended for one game as Lanci’s team will have to defend their third place from Molfetta and Sora, who are just two points behind.
Pallavolo Loreto – Tonazzo Padova. With only one win so far, Loreto is desperate to get a result to get away from last position in the table. As for Padova, in spite of last week’s defeat home against Sora, they can still make it in to the top four and the cup.
Exprivia Molfetta – Gherardi SVI Città di Castello. Starting with its new main sponsor, Molfetta will try to do what nobody managed to do thus far, beat Città di Castello. A win could help them maintain fourth place or even go third if Ortona was to lose. The guests are looking for a tenth consecutive win.
Caffè Aiello Corigliano – Sidigas Atripalda. Two wins and six points in the last two games brought Corigliano to a new level. They still are five points from fourth place but will try to keep it going as they face Atriplada, another team going through a great run. They’ve won six in a row, rocketing the club to second place.
Conad Reggio Emilia – B-Chem Golden Plast Potenza Picena. Important game for both clubs. Reggio slipped to ninth following last week’s home loss against Molfetta. As for Preziosi’s boys, they were rested in the last round and focused on the preparation of the game to try to get their third win of the season, the second in a row as they beat Padova in their last game.
Serie A2 Round 11
Sunday December 9 at 6pm
Globo Banca Popolare del Frusinate Sora – Elettrosud Brolo
(Florian-Paravano)
Vero Volley Monza – Sieco Service Ortona
(Zanussi-Gelati)
Pallavolo Loreto – Tonazzo Padova Differed on RAI Sport 1 (Tuesday December 11 at 8pm)
(Fretta-Venturi)
Exprivia Molfetta – Gherardi SVI Città di Castello
(Goitre-Cardaci)
Caffè Aiello Corigliano – Sidigas Atripalda
(Valeriani-Zavater)
Sunday December 9 at 8.30pm
Conad Reggio Emilia – B-Chem Golden Plast Potenza Picena
(Prati-Lot)
Rested: Coserplast Matera
League table
Gherardi SVI Città di Castello 26, Sidigas Atripalda 22, Sieco Service Ortona 20, Pallavolo Molfetta 18, Globo Banca Popolare del Frusinate Sora 18, Vero Volley Monza 14, Tonazzo Padova 14, Caffè Aiello Corigliano 13, Conad Reggio Emilia 10, Elettrosud Brolo 8, Coserplast Matera 7, B-Chem Golden Plast Potenza Picena 6, Pallavolo Loreto 4
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