Serie A1
Round 4
Some big games coming up in this round four. Trentino versus Macerata, remake of the Super Cup won by Serniotti’s men, will be the one not to miss. Verona against Perugia is another one worth having a look at.
Serie A1 round 4
Saturday November 9 at 6pm
Calzedonia Verona – Sir Safety Perugia Live on RAI Sport 1
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
(Piana-Boris)
Sunday November 10 at 5.30pm
Diatec Trentino – Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata Live on RAI Sport 1
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
(Rapisarda-Puecher)
Sunday November 10 at 6pm
Altotevere Città di Castello – Casa Modena Live on Sportube.tv
(Goitre-La Micela)
Copra Elior Piacenza – CMC Ravenna
(Braico-Cipolla)
Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia – Andreoli Latina
(Bartolini-Ravallese)
Exprivia Molfetta – Bre Lannutti Cuneo
(Cesare-Perri)
League table
Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata 9, Diatec Trentino 6*, Calzedonia Verona 6, Copra Elior Piacenza 5, Casa Modena 5, Sir Safety Perugia 4, Bre Lannutti Cuneo 4, Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia 3, Altotevere Città di Castello 3, Exprivia Molfetta 3, CMC Ravenna 3, Andreoli Latina 0*.
* 1 game in hand: Diatec Trentino, Andreoli Latina
Calzedonia Verona – Sir Safety Perugia
Excitement all around in Verona, currently third in the table after two consecutive wins over Cuneo and Città di Castello. They will take on Perugia, beaten last week by Macerata after two tie-break wins to open the season.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 2 (2 for Perugia)
Andrea Giani (coach Calzedonia Verona): “A tough game against a strong opponent, which makes it for a very exciting game. They have a roster in which each player could be starters in any team. They deserve maximum respect. We know what our strengths our, and we know that if we want to win we’ll have to play top quality volleyball. Besides, this game will tell us a lot about the work we’ve done thus far. We’ll get on court with a feeling of responsibility but at the same time knowing that one of the great aspects of sport is to measure yourself with strong and well-prepared opponents.
Boban Kovac (coach Sir Safety Perugia): “Verona proved they were in great shape. They have played top quality volleyball in the last two games, no wonder their players are at the top of the stat categories. Giani’s team is physical, this is a tough one to beat, they have two tall spikers who attack well both as 4 or in pipe, they have the very strong middle blocker Zingel and an experienced setter in this league in Boninfante. It will be up to us to do better than them and play differently than against Macerata. We talked a lot about the mistakes made last Sunday when nothing really worked for us. We are all keen to bounce back and prove that the Macerata game was just a bad day for us”.
Diatec Trentino – Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata
They are both dominating in the league as well as in the Champions League. They are undefeated in both competitions. But Trento has one trophy in its cabinet: the Super Cup won on October 9 at the expense of Macerata.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 41 (25-16 Trento)
Massimo Colaci (Diatec Trentino): “Macerata will be desperate to take revenge on the Super Cup played a month ago in Trento. I am sure they were not at their true level, they had made a lot of mistakes and we had done a good job to take advantage. This will therefore be an extremely difficult encounter, but we have the big advantage to play at home, we’ll have no fear and we’ll want to keep surprising. This will be a great game”.
Marko Podrascanin (Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata): “We’re back in Trento a month after the Super Cup. After that defeat, we won six in a row between league and Champions League, and we’ll try to keep this winning streak going in this revenge match in the PalaTrento arena. This will be a crucial game for the Regular Season standings, we are both undefeated, this should therefore be a top quality game, in which we’ll need to give our all and play with maximum focus”.
Altotevere Città di Castello – Casa Modena
Città di Castello took its first and only three points in the opening game of the season against Piacenza, but then could not add up to it against Molfetta and Verona. They will meet Modena, on its second road game of the season following the tie-break loss in Perugia. Modena travelled without manager Bruno Da Re, who left the club.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 2 (both for Modena).
Marco Bartolini (Assistant coach Altotevere Città di Castello): “First of all I want to say this is an honour for us to play against Modena, a city and club symbol of volleyball. We perfectly know how difficult aspects we’ll face against the boys led by Lorenzetti, a legend of Italian volleyball. We tried to prepare this game at best, trying to cut down on mistakes that cost us the game against Verona and with the will to maintain the same level of play during the whole match, and not only for short periods. Hopefully we’ll be able to reproduce what we have seen in this week of hard work”.
Angelo Lorenzetti (Coach Casa Modena): “The week that has just gone by, in addition to the previous one, underlined the fact I have a very good group: in a situation in which many suffer from illnesses typical of this time of year, the boys have given their best. We still don’t know who we’ll be able to line-up but we know what we want and we’re going to San Giustino with confidence. Città di Castello has a good style of play, you can see they have quality. Even when they were behind, they always kept pulling together. They’re coming off a home defeat and they’re playing home again, so this will definitely be a dangerous opponent”.
Copra Elior Piacenza – CMC Ravenna
Piacenza is coming off a Champions League victory, ready to approach this league game with confidence. Without Zlatanov, who will be back on November 27, the team could count on an excellent Kaliberda (20 points in the derby against Modena). As for Ravenna, they put an end to 581 days without a home win against Vibo Valentia and will try to make it two wins in a row.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 4 (3-1 Piacenza).
Luca Monti (coach Copra Elior Piacenza): “A crucial game for us, we need to get the three points because after that we’ll play Perugia away. We’re aiming for the three points not because we underestimate Ravenna, but because we play home and have to show our quality. Even with the home court advantage, it will not be easy: They have a young and motivated team, they have quality players, led by a coach for whom I have maximum respect”.
Marco Bonitta (coach CMC Ravenna): “We’re on the road to meet a very strong team with an excellent roster, even without Zlatanov. We’re coming off a good victory, I think my team is ready to play a good game in which we’ll try to take advantage of any bad spell Piacenza might have during the game”.
Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia – Andreoli Latina
Vibo is coming off two bitter road games against Piacenza and Ravenna. They’re back on home ground to take on Latina, which celebrated a winning debut in the Challenge Cup this week. Still, they’re still looking for their first victory in the league. The opening game against Trento was postponed and then they were denied twice by Macerata and Cuneo.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 14 (9-5 Latina).
Gianlorenzo Blengini (coach Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia): “This will be a rather complicated encounter. Latina is a good team, well put together, they have done very well in recent years. But we want to bounce back after last Sunday’s game, in which we know we could have done better. We’re eager to get on track as soon as possible and Sunday’s game is the perfect opportunity to do so. But we know it will not only depend on our will, but the level of play we express and the one of the opponent. We obviously want, just like them but with a game in hand, to get our first points”.
Sergio Noda Blanco (Andreoli Latina): “This will be a difficult game as Vibo is playing very well and is improving game after game. Besides, they will be at home. But we have to take some points at all cost. The Cup victory gave us a boost, now we have to keep going like that”.
Exprivia Molfetta – Bre Lannutti Cuneo
Molfetta is coming off a 3-0 loss against Trento, but they proved they were a team that would never give up on anything. They’ll host Cuneo, who got off the mark in the league against Latina after qualifying for the next round of the Cev Cup. Manuel Coscione, who missed the first three games due to paperwork regulations, will make his debut.
PASTE ENCOUNTERS: None
Bruno Zanuto (Exprivia Molfetta): “It won’t be easy for anyone in Molfetta. We proved it against Città di Castello and I am sure we’ll show that again on Sunday against Cuneo. This is thanks to our fantastic supporters. We have a big margin for improvement and we see that day after day”.
Massimiliano Giaccardi (Assistant coach Bre Lannutti Cuneo): “We’re facing a long road game in Molfetta, but the boys are motivated and determined to take the points home. We’ll try to make the most of the work done during the week, in which we prepared well, without any interruption from the European Cup. The next game will be tough, like every game in this league. This will be a great challenge, not only because Molfetta is a quality side but also because there will be a great atmosphere there”.
Serie A2
Round 4
The fourth round includes two team news: the come-back of Matej Cernic in Italy and Corigliano, and the departure of Ivan Benito Ruiz from Castellana Grotte.
Sidigas HS Avellino – Sieco Service Ortona. The players will try to overcome the financial problems announced by Avellino during the week with a good performance on court against Ortona, who could leapfrog Avellino in the table with a victory.
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