Playoffs SuperLega UnipolSai
Quarter-finals game 1
The regular season ended on Easter day, Trento won it and qualified for the Champions League 2015-16. Now is time for the SuperLega playoffs, the quarter-finals start this weekend with Perugia versus Verona the opening game on Saturday. Trento versus Molfetta was postponed to Wednesday due to Trento’s participation in the CEV Cup final return leg.
QUARTER-FINALS GAME 1
Saturday April 11 at 5.45pm
Sir Safety Perugia (4) – Calzedonia Verona (5) Live on RAI Sport 1
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
(Gnani-Pasquali)
Sunday April 12 at 5.15pm
Cucine Lube Banca Marche Treia (3) – Top Volley Latina (6) Live on RAI Sport 2
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
(Puecher-Pol)
Sunday April 12 at 6pm
Parmareggio Modena (2) – CMC Ravenna (7) Live on Lega Volley Channel
(Sampaolo-Vagni)
Wednesday April 15 at 8.30pm
Energy T.I. Diatec Trentino (1) – Exprivia Neldiritto Molfetta (8) Live on RAI Sport 2
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
(Sobrero-Goitre)
1 Energy T.I. Diatec Trentino | |||||
8 Exprivia Neldiritto Molfetta | |||||
4 Sir Safety Perugia | |||||
5 Calzedonia Verona | |||||
Italian champions 2014/15 |
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2 Parmareggio Modena |
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7 CMC Ravenna | |||||
3 Cucine Lube B. Marche Treia | |||||
6 Top Volley Latina | |||||
SuperLega UnipolSai playoffs quarter-finals game 1
Energy T.I. Diatec Trentino – Exprivia Neldiritto Molfetta
Trento will be in Moscow this weekend for the CEV Cup final return leg, which means their playoffs quarter-final game 1 against Molfetta in the SuperLega was postponed to Wednesday. Molfetta won 13 points in the first half of season and went close to make it into the Italian Cup. They did even better in the return games with 19 points with big wins at the tie-break over Trento and Treia.
Past encounters: 4 (3-1 Trento)
This season: 1-1(3-0 for Trento then 3-2 Molfetta).
In the playoffs: None
Pre-game quotes will be online on Tuesday April 14 given that the game is postponed to April 15. (Live on Rai Sport 2 at 8.30pm)
Sir Safety Perugia – Calzedonia Verona
Fourth meeting this season between the two sides. This will put face to face the third best reception, Perugia, and the second best serve of the league, Verona. The latter registered an amazing 146 aces, 43 of which were sent home by Gasparini. On the other side of the net, there will be the league’s top scorer, Atanasijevic, with 516 points, but Verona is the third best in blocking team (Anzani collected 70). The two clubs fought against each other almost all year long for the fourth place. Perugia eventually clinched it and will have the court advantage. Before the start of the game, Atanasijevic will receive the Gazzetta trophy for the second consecutive year and the MVP of the SuperLega for the month of March.
Past encounters: 8 (7-1 Perugia)
This season: 1-1 in regular season (3-1 for Perugia then 3-2 for Verona). One meeting in the cup quarter-finals: Perugia won 3-0.
In the playoffs: None
Adriano Paolucci (Sir Safety Perugia): “The playoffs are finally here! We start off with a very tough game, but from now on they are only difficult games. We have to make the most of the court advantage and try to play a great game with the help of our fans who will fill the arena. We have worked hard during the week, we’re in good shape, I’m sure we will give 100%. Fortunately, Game 2 is in 8 days so we’ll have plenty of time to rest. Verona is a strong and competitive team but tomorrow we have to win at all cost”.
Andrea Giani (coach Calzedonia Verona): “This is the best time of the year. This has already been an excellent season for us, in our last game we registered the record of points of the club and now we’ll focus on those playoffs against a top quality team. We can’t wait to play this game, we know what we can do, and we know that if we play our best volleyball we can win in Perugia. But I repeat, we have to play at our best, we have done it many times and we can