SuperLega UnipolSai
Round 5
Free Ghoncheh Ghavami
The first European week is over and we’re back with some league action in a weekend that will be marked by the support of the Italian Volleyball League and all its clubs to Ghoncheh Ghavami. The young British girl with Iranian origins was condemned to one year in prison for taking part in a pacific protest against the ban on women to assist any sport event in public facilities along with men. She was arrested as she tried to enter to watch the World League game between Iran and Italy on June 20. The message FREE GHONCHEH will be exposed by the SuperLega and Serie A2 teams with big banners requesting her release. The message will also be on the advert boards of each club, which means it will be seen abroad thanks to the streaming and worldwide TV broadcast.
SuperLega UnipolSai round 5
Saturday November 8 at 5.30pm
Vero Volley Monza – CMC Ravenna Live on RAI Sport 1
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
(Gini-Cesare)
Sunday November 9 at 5pm
Cucine Lube Banca Marche Treia – Copra Piacenza Live on RAI Sport 1
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
(Santi-Pol)
Sunday November 9 at 6pm
Sir Safety Perugia – Calzedonia Verona Live on Lega Volley Channel
(Sampaolo-Bartolini)
Energy T.I. Diatec Trentino – Revivre Milano Live on Lega Volley Channel
(Zucca-Tanasi)
Tonazzo Padova – Exprivia Neldiritto Molfetta Live on Lega Volley Channel
(Simbari-Vagni)
Top Volley Latina – Altotevere Città di Castello-Sansepolcro Live on Lega Volley Channel
(Pasquali-Cipolla)
Rested: Modena Volley
League table
Modena Volley 12, Cucine Lube Banca Marche Treia 9, Copra Piacenza 9, CMC Ravenna 9, Energy T.I. Diatec Trentino 8, Sir Safety Perugia 7, Exprivia Neldiritto Molfetta 7, Calzedonia Verona 6, Top Volley Latina 5, Vero Volley Monza 0, Altotevere Città di Castello-Sansepolcro 0, Revivre Milano 0, Tonazzo Padova 0
* 1 game in hand: Altotevere Città di Castello-Sansepolcro, Cucine Lube Banca Marche Treia, Revivre Milano, Vero Volley Monza
Vero Volley Monza – CMC Ravenna
Rested in the last round, Monza is back in action against Ravenna as it still hunts for its first points. Monza tried to make it hard for Latina, Piacenza and Modena but always finished on the losing end. Ravenna lost its place of leader in the last round by conceding their first defeat against Treia. Renan was the only one worth noticing with 15 points and 60% in attack.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 2 (one each)
Oreste Vacondio (Coach Vero Volley Monza): “I think we have our chance. It’s hard to predict the result of the game, but we won’t allow them to have a walk in the park. They’re coming off a loss against Macerata, which is an excellent team, we had the same fate against Modena. They are patient, they often wins the long rallies. We’ll need to be clinical, and try not to make those rallies last too long”.
Waldo Kantor (Coach CMC Ravenna): “We’ll have to take our responsibilities and work hard, which we have always done except for two sets against Treia, who played at a very high level. We have fully absorbed the last defeat and we’re ready to get back to winning in this coming encounter”.
Cucine Lube Banca Marche Treia – Copra Piacenza
Treia and Piacenza have to leave behind the European disappointment as both were defeated at the tie-break in the Champions League first round. Not easy to reset it all: Treia threw away a 2-1 and 23-20 lead in the fourth in Turkey, while Piacenza did not make the most of the home court advantage against the Romanian side of Costanta. The two teams are tied in the league with 9 points but Treia has already been rested.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 37 (19-18 Treia)
Alessandro Paparoni (Cucine Lube Banca Marche Treia): “We want to bounce back from our Champions League loss right away in what has become a classic against Piacenza. Both teams had convincing wins in the league, so it should be tight and tough, just like it had been in the Super Cup. Our goal is to take all the points as our fans will give us their support”.
Valerio Vermiglio (Copra Piacenza): “We will both want to bounce back. Treia is a consolidated group, while we have been trying to sort out a few problems. We try to give it our best shot in every game in order to get better and reach our maturity. It will surely be a great game on Sunday, we will do everything possible to play to the best of our abilities. We’ll see what we can get out of this top level game”.
Sir Safety Perugia – Calzedonia Verona
Perugia comes to this encounter full of confidence following its triumphant debut in the Champions League over Ankara. That followed league wins over Latina and Padova, which had restored some excitement in the club after a dull start to the season (defeats vs Modena and Trento). Verona is looking for its first points on the road following its defeats in Treia and Piacenza. Giani’s men will need to show the kind of display they were capable of at home against Milan and Trento, which brought them 6 points.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 5 (All Perugia)
Adriano Paolucci (Sir Safety Perugia): “This is the most difficult game. We have very little time to get rid of the Euphoria brought about by our Champions League win yesterday, but we have to forget about it immediately. Verona greatly strengthened its squad, this is an excellent team, we just can’t afford to lower our level of concentration. On the contrary we have to use the momentum and stay on the right track. I expect another tough game, but if we can maintain our level of play and focus, with the help of our fans, we have a chance to clinch it”.
Andrea Giani (Coach Calzedonia Verona): “We’ll be up against one of the strongest teams in the league. Perugia had an extraordinary season in 2013-14 and now they have an even more competitive roster. They have quality everywhere, they have put together a roster to win the league and do very well in the Champions League, testimony the result in their debut against Ankara. Our target is to play with a good attitude, play one point at a time, in the end the team that will play the best volleyball will win”.
Energy T.I. Diatec Trentino – Revivre Milano
Trentino bounced back from Sunday’s league defeat in Verona with a positive European debut in Serbia, where Lanza scored 22 points, Birarelli had 6 blocks and Nemec stepped up in the clutch time. As for Milan, they are still looking for their first points.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: None
Massimo Colaci (Energy T.I. Diatec Trentino): “The game against Milan in certain respects will be similar to the one played against Novi Sad Tuesday night in the CEV Cup. The pressure will be on us again, we’re the ones expected to get the result at home. Milan will therefore be able to play and take some extra risks. We’ll have to contain them and try to win to improve our position in the table with the Italian Cup quarter-finals in our minds. This is the right opportunity to prove the Verona defeat was just an accident”.
Marco Maranesi (coach Revivre Milano): “Trento is a strong team, slightly more predictable compared to Modena which we met last Sunday, but it remains a top class team. They have just stumbled in Verona, but they have a lot of quality, with excellent players on high balls, they’re powerful. Birarelli and Solé are two good middle blockers too. We have what it takes to play a good game, just like we did against Modena, we can even do a little better. We can do it if we manage to be aggressive on their reception, which is good but could be Trento’s most vulnerable point”.
Tonazzo Padova – Exprivia Neldiritto Molfetta Diretta
Padova’s start of the season proved extremely complicated with encounters against Trento, Modena, Treia and Perugia. No points and no sets won. Still, despite the fact they are without Rosso, they improved game after game. Molfetta conceded two consecutive defeats after a good start to the season, the latest at home at the tie-break against Latina. Di Pinto’s boys remain close to the top teams though and they will try to get more points to get even closer to the first places.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 4 (Molfetta 3-1)
Valerio Baldovin (coach Tonazzo Padova): “Despite the fact we’ve only met top teams so far we played some good volleyball. I am curious to see what we can do against Molfetta because it will be a much better test than our previous matches. They have been playing very well, and they’ve especially been brilliant in the blocking department. Our goal will be to stay focused and to limit our lapses”.
Roberto Romiti (Exprivia Neldiritto Molfetta): “We had a good start, 7 points in 12 available is not bad at all. We’ve only lost points in Trento, which is a top team. I am satisfied with the work done so far. I think I have been useful with my digs. We all have to get better and work hard, we still have a big margin for improvement. In order to beat Padova, we must be aggressive on every play with a good block-dig department. Padova really want to get their first win at home and they’ll have Mattia Rosso back, he’ll want to do well on his debut. Their main strength is their unity, but if we play at our best, we can come out unscathed from this game”.
Top Volley Latina – Altotevere Città di Castello-Sansepolcro
It was hard but Latina came away from Latina with two points which maintains them in mid-table. Tine Urnaut stood out finishing top scorer with 26 points ( 5 blocks, 4 aces). The Slovenian spiker will try to repeat that kind of performance against Città di Castello. The latter is still without a point as it wasted a few opportunities in the previous round. Montagnani’s boys will try to redeem themselves against Latina.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 4 (3-1 Latina)
Gianrio Falivene (President Top Volley Latina): “It won’t be easy to face Città di Castello because they haven’t taken any points yet and they’ll come fired up. We have to keep making progressing as we’ve done in every game. Hopefully, a lot of people will come, we need the help of our fans”.
Luigi Randazzo (Altotevere Città di Castello-Sansepolcro): “The game in Latina will be important for us as a team because we want to play to the best of our abilities to forget the poor game played against Piacenza last Saturday. We know it will be tough: Latina is a good team with excellent players, but like in every game, we have to focus first on our game”.
Serie A2 UnipolSai
Round 4
Domar Matera – Cassa Rurale Cant
