Serie A1
Round 19
Results:
Diatec Trentino – Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia 3-1 (25-16, 23-25, 25-17, 25-16); Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata – Calzedonia Verona 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-16); Exprivia Molfetta – Copra Elior Piacenza 1-3 (25-19, 16-25, 23-25, 20-25); Sir Safety Perugia – CMC Ravenna 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-12); Bre Lannutti Cuneo – Altotevere Città di Castello 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-15)
Postponed to Tuesday March 11 at 8.30pm
Casa Modena – Andreoli Latina
DIATEC TRENTINO – TONNO CALLIPO CALABRIA VIBO VALENTIA 3-1 (25-16, 23-25, 25-17, 25-16) – DIATEC TRENTINO: Sintini 1, Birarelli, Solé 14, Suxho 1, Thei, Lanza 16, Colaci (L), Fedrizzi 14, Burgsthaler 7, Van Dijk 23. DNP Mazzone, Nelli. Coach. Serniotti.
TONNO CALLIPO CALABRIA VIBO VALENTIA: Scopelliti, Trinidad De Haro, Plot 2, Steuerwald 1, Randazzo 15, Farina (L), Forni 6, Crer 11, Gavotto 18, Ogurcak 4, Presta. DNP Cisolla. Coach. Blengini.
Trento confirmed they’re back on the right track with a second consecutive win following the one obtained last week away against Città di Castello. They had the better of Vibo Valentia at home. This defeats pushes Vibo out of playoff contention. Dutch outside hitter Van Dijk shined with 5 blocks and 6 aces although he did find it hard in attack (32%).
Donald Suxho (Diatec Trentino): “It’s not been an easy week for us, we had to deal with injuries and players with the flu, we did not train much at all so taking three points today is just fine. That’s two wins in a row, now we can focus on the Italian Cup hoping to get somebody back before the semi-final against Piacenza.
Luigi Randazzo (Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia): “We tried our best right until the end, we had a good attitude but it’s obvious that after a while all the players missing, combined with Ogurcak’s injury, took its toll. We proved we had character by taking the second set. The character we showed all season. This was not enough to get into the playoffs but we’re still proud of what we’ve done”.
BRE LANNUTTI CUNEO – ALTOTEVERE CITTÀ DI CASTELLO 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-15)
BRE LANNUTTI CUNEO: Rauwerdink 3, Antonov 10, Marchisio (L), Gonzalez 5, De Pandis (L), Casadei 8, Kohut 13, De Togni 7, Coscione, Rouzier, Maruotti 12. DNP Alletti. Coach. Piazza.
ALTOTEVERE CITTÀ DI CASTELLO: Franceschini 1, Fromm 13, Carminati, Corvetta, Dolfo 1, Massari 3, Tosi (L), Piano 4, Van Walle 12, Rossi, Marchiani. DNP Lensi, Sartoretti. Coach. Radici.
Supported by over 2500 fans, Cuneo bounced back from last week’s severe defeat against Ravenna and took all three points against Città di Castello.
MVP: Emanuel Kohut with 5 blocks and a total of 13 points.
Emanuel Kohut (Bre Lannutti Cuneo): “We played well, that was an excellent game. Everything worked out fine, especially our decision making at the net. This is a crucial win, given how close is Città di Castello”.
Andrea Rossi (Altotevere Città di Castello): “I am personally always happy to go back to Cuneo, this is for me an opportunity to see many friends. But today, nothing really worked out for us, the reception was very poor. Cuneo studied us well, I know how Piazza works and I am sure he prepared that one in details”.
EXPRIVIA MOLFETTA – COPRA ELIOR PIACENZA 1-3 (25-19, 16-25, 23-25, 20-25)
EXPRIVIA MOLFETTA: Piscopo 6, Mazzone 5, Izzo 1, Del Vecchio 2, Cesarini (L), Sabbi 28, Zanuto 7, Fornés Jul, Casoli 8, Saitta 1. DNP Diamantini, Porcelli. Coach. Cichello.
COPRA ELIOR PIACENZA: Marra (L), Le Roux 6, Papi 14, Fei 13, Kaliberda 14, Simon 12, Zlatanov 1, Tencati, Vettori 8, De Cecco 4. DNP Partenio, Smerilli, Husaj. Coach. Monti.
Great atmosphere at the PalaPoli arena and a nice welcome to Piacenza from the home crowd. Zlatanov injured his ankle in the first set but was brilliantly substituted by Papi. Zlatanov is doubtful for the cup. Sabbi did the job once again for Molfetta with 28 points, while Kaliberda, Fei and Simon were the main architects of the victory for the visitors. Despite the defeat, Molfetta was on the up and it is said the club is about to sign the Cuban Rolando Despaigne next week.
Luciano De Cecco (Copra Elior Piacenza): “Playing in Molfetta is really tough. Congratulations to their fans for the atmosphere they created during the whole game. We got off to a poor start in the first set, then we started to find our rhythm. Not all the clubs can boast a Papi on the bench, he helped us to keep playing at the highest level. Now we’ll focus on the Italian Cup, we can do well. I hope Zlatanov’s injury is not serious”.
Giulio Sabbi (Exprivia Molfetta): “This was a tough game today, our fighting spirit was not enough. Piacenza got off to a bad start but then they got back to their usual standard and showed how strong they are and effective on the serve. We tried our best and are satisfied despite the result”.
CUCINE LUBE BANCA MARCHE MACERATA – CALZEDONIA VERONA 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-16) CUCINE LUBE BANCA MARCHE MACERATA: Henno (L), Parodi 17, Zaytsev 15, Stankovic 4, Patriarca, Bulfon, Kurek 11, Baranowicz 1, Podrascanin 5. DNP Kovar, Monopoli, Giombini. Coach. Giuliani.
CALZEDONIA VERONA: Zingel 8, Blasi, Pesaresi (L), Ter Horst 4, Gasparini 10, White 6, Boninfante, Bellei, Anzani 6. DNP Coali, Centomo, Gonzalez. Coach. Giani.
Macerata remains unstoppable in its Fontescodella arena. It’s win number 15 for Giuliani’s men, 10 in the league, 4 in the Champions League and 1 in the Italian Cup. Molfetta was the latest of 11 teams swept by the league leaders this season. Kurek was back as a starter for Kovar and the first set ended with an incredible 9-0 run. And the rest of the game was dominated by the host.
Simone Parodi (Cucine Lube Banca Marche): “I am extremely happy for the team, we had an excellent game, got on court with the right attitude. This was a good test before the Italian Cup. We stayed focused for the whole game, while on other occasions our concentration level had ups and downs. Today we were ready to play on every rally. I think our bad spell is really behind us. We’re giving everything we have to be technically and mentally ready for the cup, a competition we love and a trophy we’d really like to win”.
Andrea Giani (Coach Calzedonia Verona): “We’re not a team anymore, as soon as the first barrier comes up we start playing individually. We’ve been doing this kind of performances of late which in my opinion does not reflect the good things done for most of the season. We worked well blocking, but we did not take advantage of our opportunities when Macerata took its foot off the pedal. We made so many mistakes in attack, and I repeat, only at the net we did well. We struggled in reception too, especially on strong serves. I am very disappointed to end the season the way we are”.
Played Saturday
SIR SAFETY PERUGIA – CMC RAVENNA 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-12)
SIR SAFETY PERUGIA: Buti 8, Paolucci 1, Petric 16, Della Corte, Giovi (L), Della Lunga, Mitic 2, Vujevic 8, Atanasijevic 13, Fanuli (L), Semenzato 7. DNP Cupkovic, Barone. Coach. Kovac.
CMC RAVENNA: Mengozzi 7, Kauliakamoa Jr, Cricca, Toniutti 2, Tillie 7, Jeliazkov, Koumentakis 3, Klapwijk 8, Cester 4, Bari (L), Cebulj 4. DNP Scarpi, Patriarca. Coach. Bonitta.
League table
Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata 52, Copra Elior Piacenza 51, Sir Safety Perugia 42, Diatec Trentino 36, Bre Lannutti Cuneo 29, Altotevere Città di Castello 25, Calzedonia Verona 25, Casa Modena 25, CMC Ravenna 20, Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia 19, Exprivia Molfetta 15, Andreoli Latina 15.
1 game in hand: Casa Modena, CMC Ravenna, Exprivia Molfetta, Andreoli Latina
Del Monte Italian Cup Serie A1 – 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
FinalA1 Live on Rai Sport 1
League fixtures
Serie A1 round 20
Saturday March 15 at 6pm
Altotevere Città di Castello – Andreoli Latina Live on RAI Sport 1
Sunday March 16 at 5.30pm
Diatec Trentino – Sir Safety Perugia Live on RAI Sport 1
Sunday March 16 at 6pm
CMC Ravenna – Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata Live on Sportube.tv
Copra Elior Piacenza – Calzedonia Verona
Tonno Callipo Calabria – Bre Lannutti Cuneo
Casa Modena – Exprivia Molfetta
European Cup
Latina in Challenge Cup final
ISTANBUL BBSK – ANDREOLI LATINA 3-2 (34-36, 25-16, 25-21, 19-25, 15-13)
ISTANBUL BBSK: Keskin 6, Kiyak 1, Holmes 7, Özdemir (L), Antanovich 3, Hayirli 13, Mert (L), Celitans 23, Coskovic 16, Mustedanovic 13, Cihan 2, Cin 2. Coach. Ozbey.
ANDREOLI LATINA: Candellaro, Rossini (L), Gitto 8, Sottile 4, Michalovic 1, Skrimov 17, Verhees 9, Tailli, Paris, Noda Blanco 14, Starovic 26, Fragkos 3. Coach. Simoni.
Latina will play a European Cup final for the second year running. Beaten by Halbank Ankara last season in the Cev Cup, they will meet another Turkish side this time around, Fenerbahce. One more similarity to last year: in the semi-final they had knocked out another Turkish team, MMP Ankara, just like tonight, the bbsk Istanbul. Last year, they faced two teams from Ankara, and this year two from Istanbul. Latina needed two sets to go through and mission was completed in the fourth, making it a useless tie-break.
Daniele Sottile (Andreoli Latina): “It’s been as tough a game as we expected. They made it hard for us from the first set but we managed to snatch it. We did well in the fourth, maybe the best of our season. A hard-fought game played against the crowd and the referees”.
Salvatore Rossini (Andreoli Latina): “An emotional game in which we fought against everyone and everything, including the refs. The atmosphere was great. But that’s with a burning feeling inside that we clinched the two sets we needed to go through to the final. We don’t want to end up sad like in Ankara last year, we want the cup this time”.
Dario Simoni (Coach Andreoli Latina): “I am happy with the game and qualification obtained at the end of this extremely difficult game. This win belongs to the boys and our back-up setter who showed tonight how hard he works in the gym. We did a good job of taking a tight first set. We faded in the second and third, while we turned things around in the fourth and in the end made them surrender”.
2014 Challenge Cup – Semi-final return leg:
Istanbul BBSK (TUR) – Andreoli Latina (ITA) 3-2 (34-36, 25-16, 25-21, 19-25, 15-13)
Nantes Rezé Métropole (FRA) – Fenerbahçe Grundig Istanbul (TUR) 0-3 (13-25, 16-25, 18-25)
First leg<SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'; COLOR
