Del Monte Italian Cup A1
Bologna’s semi-finals known
Bologna’s final four participants came out of tonight’s cup action in the quarter-finals. Macerata will take on Perugia, while Piacenza will be up against Trentino.
Del Monte Italian Cup Serie A1 – Quarter-finals
Wednesday January 29
Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata (1) – (8) Bre Lannutti Cuneo 3-0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-23)
Sir Safety Perugia (4) – (5) Calzedonia Verona 3-0 (25-19, 26-24, 25-19)
Copra Elior Piacenza (2) – (7) Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia 3-0 (25-16, 25-23, 25-18)
Diatec Trentino (3) – (6) Casa Modena 3-1 (21-25, 25-13, 25-20, 25-23)
Final Four
PalaDozza – Bologna
Saturday March 8 at 4pm
1st semi-final
Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata – Sir Safety Perugia Live on Rai Sport 1
Saturday March 8 at 6.30pm
2nd semi-final
Copra Elior Piacenza – Diatec Trentino Live on Rai Sport 1
Sunday March 9 at 5.30pm
Finale Del Monte Coppa Italia Serie A1 Live on Rai Sport 1
1 Macerata 3 | |||
Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata | |||
8 Cuneo 0 | |||
8/3, 16.00 | |||
4 Perugia 3 | |||
Sir Safety Perugia | |||
5 Verona 0 | |||
DEL MONTE Italian Cup A1 2013/14 | |||
2 Piacenza 3 | |||
Copra Elior Piacenza | |||
7 Vibo Valentia 0 | |||
8/3, 18.30 | |||
3 Trento 3 | |||
Diatec Trentino | |||
6 Modena 0 |
CUCINE LUBE BANCA MARCHE MACERATA – BRE LANNUTTI CUNEO 3-0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-23) – CUCINE LUBE BANCA MARCHE MACERATA: Henno (L), Parodi 7, Zaytsev 16, Stankovic 2, Kovar 6, Martino 1, Giombini, Kurek 9, Baranowicz 1, Podrascanin 9. DNP Patriarca, Monopoli. Coach. Giuliani.
BRE LANNUTTI CUNEO: Rauwerdink 4, Antonov 5, Marchisio, Gonzalez 6, De Pandis (L), Casadei 11, Kohut 6, Alletti 1, De Togni 7, Rouzier 1, Maruotti 5. DNP Coscione. Coach. Piazza.
Three sets in just over an hour of play were enough to obtain a pass to Bologna’s final four for Macerata, which bounced back after the Champions League knock-out punch and last week’s league loss against Perugia. Cuneo gave it a good fight in the first (16-15 ahead) and in the last set.
Alberto Giuliani (Coach Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata): “An important 3-0 for the qualification but also for the psychological aspect. We’re glad, we needed it, but this level of play will certainly not be enough next Sunday against Trento. We’ll need to be careful and extremely focused. We want to win trophies more than any other team so we have to learn to live with the pressure. Among tonight’s most positive things, there surely was Martino and Parodi coming on, because both have given a solid contribution during the game”.
Roberto Piazza (Coach Bre Lannutti Cuneo): “We have definitely done better than when we played here in the league, which had ended on the same result. Unfortunately tonight we have not been very consistent, otherwise who knows what might have happened”.
COPRA ELIOR PIACENZA – TONNO CALLIPO CALABRIA VIBO VALENTIA 3-0 (25-16, 25-23, 25-18) – COPRA ELIOR PIACENZA: Marra (L), Papi 5, Fei 8, Simon 12, Zlatanov 10, Tencati, Vettori 15, De Cecco 2. DNP Le Roux, Partenio, Smerilli, Kaliberda, Husaj. Coach. Monti.
TONNO CALLIPO CALABRIA VIBO VALENTIA: Trinidad De Haro, Plot, Steuerwald, Randazzo 6, Farina (L), Forni 5, Cisolla 8, Villena 3, Crer 6, Gavotto 12. DNP Sardanelli, Ogurcak, Presta. Coach. Blengini.
No more unpleasant surprises at the quarter-final stage for Piacenza, which used a straight set win over Vibo to reach the semi-finals five years after its last appearance. Zlatanov and co had it all easy and sealed the deal in just over an hour. The serve was key with 7 aces for Piacenza, which dominated the other areas of the game too, like the attack (57 vs 45%).
Luca Monti (Coach Copra Elior Piacenza): “We could definitely have played better, we did not play well, it’s been all very soft, but what matters is the result: this is my first time in the Italian cup final four. This is the end of a tough run of games, we have done a good job of getting the result we wanted. Congratulations to everyone, we managed to stay alive in all three competitions: League, Italian Cup and Champions League”.
Pablo Damian Crer (Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia): “Piacenza is extremely strong, they were clearly better than us and totally deserved the win. Now our main goal is to play good volleyball again. We can and have to do it already this coming Sunday”.
DIATEC TRENTINO – CASA MODENA 3-1 (21-25, 25-13, 25-20, 25-23)
DIATEC TRENTINO: Sintini, Birarelli 10, Solé 6, Ferreira 10, Suxho, Lanza 14, Sokolov 27, Colaci (L), Burgsthaler 1. DNP Thei, De Paola, Szabo, Fedrizzi. Coach. Serniotti.
CASA MODENA: Manià (L), Donadio, Sala 5, Sket 2, Deroo 13, Kampa, Bartman 19, Beretta 7, Bossi, Mossa De Rezende 5, Hendriks, Kovacevic 11. Coach. Lorenzetti.
The two-times cup champions, Trento, will be able to defend their title in Bologna’s final four thanks to their win over Modena. The hosts did a good job not to panic once they conceded the first set. A great Bartman, well-inspired by Bruninho was not enough for Modena to push it to the tie-break. From the second set on the Italian champions expressed an effective style of play. They also did well at the net with 11 blocks (Birarelli had 4) and some good serving that had the Brazilian setter running for miles.
Tsvetan Sokolov (Diatec Trentino): “We are thrilled because we deservedly qualified to this final four by playing good and effective volleyball. We put our hearts in every rally, this was a great team victory. Our fans deserved to go to Bologna but we also deserved it, we never gave up when we faced some difficulties”.
Bruninho (Casa Modena): “I made a huge mistake on an important play of the game, at 24-23 in the fourth set, I set it up badly for Bartman. This game is the metaphor of what we’re doing right now: we play face to face with big teams but there’s always something that leaves us short. Things got a little nervous at the net but nothing serious, when there’s so much at stake, that kind of thing happens”.
SIR SAFETY PERUGIA – CALZEDONIA VERONA 3-0 (25-19, 26-24, 25-19)
SIR SAFETY PERUGIA: Buti 2, Paolucci, Petric 6, Giovi (L), Cupkovic 4, Barone 6, Mitic 1, Vujevic 9, Atanasijevic 22, Fanuli (L), Semenzato 5. DNP Della Corte, Della Lunga. Coach. Kovac.
CALZEDONIA VERONA: Zingel 5, Blasi, Pesaresi (L), Ter Horst 10, Gasparini 9, White 9, Boninfante 1, Bellei 1, Anzani 7. DNP Coali, Centomo, Gonzalez. Coach. Giani.
Perugia is on its way to Bologna thanks to a sweep over Verona as it confirmed the excellent moment of form it is having. This is a historical moment as the club makes it into the cup final four for the first time ever. Kovac’s boys might not have been as brilliant as on Sunday against Macerata but they were solid and consistent, well guided by the class of MVP Goran Vujevic. Good games as well from the outside hitter Atanasijevic and setter Paolucci, who remained composed at all time. Verona had a hard time in reception (7 aces for the hosts).
Adriano Paolucci (Sir Safety Perugia): “This was not the greatest of game, it was not easy after the five sets played last Sunday. We used some energy out of motivation, we managed to stay in it and showed character to come back in the second set. This is an exceptional victory that sends us to the final four, an achievement we dedicate to the club. We’re having a good time right now, let’s enjoy it”.
Dante Boninfante (Calzedonia Verona): “Perugia has been more consistent, they did not have the low moments we had and they made less mistakes than us, they deserved the victory. We can’t argue with it, they proved they were in great form, congratulations to them”.
