SuperLega UnipolSai
Round 2 preview
The live game of this second round on Rai Sport will be Verona versus Modena, while all the other encounters will be on streaming on the Lega Volley Channel.
Verona will make its home debut following its impressive victory in Perugia last week. As for Modena, they’re coming off two tie-break wins, in the Super Cup and then in the league.
Trentino bounced back from their Super Cup disappointment by taking three points against Monza, which put an end to four seasons losing the opening game. They will play host to Padova, defeated last weekend by Latina.
Milan takes on Perugia as both clubs look to redeem themselves from a poor debut. Monti’s men were swept by Piacenza. Setter De Cecco and middle blocker Birarelli are still doubtful for Perugia.
Latina plays home following its superb road victory in Padova, they face Monza which was beaten home in the postponed game by Trento but which showed character and quality against the Italian champions.
It’s the 40th encounter between Civitanova and Piacenza. Blengini’s men worked hard to snatch two points against Romagna with a superb outing from Juantorena (33 points), while coach Giuliani will return to Civitanova where he spent four years, won two league titles and two Super Cups. He led Piacenza to a debut game victory against Milan last Sunday with convincing performances from the Canadian Perrin (17 points) and their captain Zlatanov.
Finally, Molfetta takes on Romagna on Tuesday night. Both are coming off tie-break losses, but it was a point taken more than two lost. Indeed, they were up against two top teams in Modena and Civitanova. Molfetta could count on an extraordinary Hierrezuelo (5 blocks for 10 points) who handled the team extremely well and led his men to come back from 2-0 to 2-2. As for Romagna, they were the first exploding off the starting blocks, taking a 2-0 lead. They were very close to the breakthrough but could not hold off the comeback of Civitanova led by the unstoppable Juantorena.
SuperLega UnipolSai Round 2
Sunday 1 November at 6pm
Calzedonia Verona – DHL Modena Live on RAI Sport 1
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
(Braico-Sobrero)
Diatec Trentino – Tonazzo Padova Live on Lega Volley Channel
(Zucca-Gnani)
Revivre Milano – Sir Safety Conad Perugia Live on Lega Volley Channel
(Satanassi-Piana)
Ninfa Latina – Gi Group Monza Live on Lega Volley Channel
(Bartolini-Cappello)
Cucine Lube Banca Marche Civitanova – LPR Piacenza Live on Lega Volley Channel
(Vagni-Pasquali)
Tuesday 3 November at 8.30pm
Exprivia Molfetta – CMC Romagna Live on RAI Sport 1
Diretta streaming su www.raisport.rai.it
(Cesare-Zavater)
Calzedonia Verona – DHL Modena
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 22 (18-4 Modena)
Uros Kovacevic (Calzedonia Verona): “We’re up against a fantastic team with top class players, it will be a tough game. This will be all new for me, I have never played against Modena, which was my first team in Italy. It will be a good game, everybody should come, it will be fun. We played good volleyball and took three points against Perugia. We have a good team, winning in Perugia was not a surprise. But now we have to focus on the Modena game, there will be a great atmosphere, we have what it takes to do well, we’re all in good shape. How can we beat Modena? We all have to play at 100% and leave it all on the floor. That’s the only way, otherwise it’s going to be complicated.
Angelo Lorenzetti (coach DHL Modena): “This will be a tight hard-fought game. Verona is one of our rivals in the race for the top four spots, which would give an advantage to play the Italian cup. We have to think one game at a time, so now let’s start with Verona, then it will be Ljubljana in the Champions League. This will be that kind of year, with a game every three days, we’ll have to get used to it”.
Diatec Trentino – Tonazzo Padova
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 22 (18-4 Trento)
Sebastian Solé (Diatec Trentino): “We’ll finally have the opportunity to play in our PalaTrento arena, it’s been a while. We’re glad to play in front of our fans even if we’re not hundred percent because of quite a few niggling physical problems. But we’ll try to give our supporters the victory. This will be a special game for me because I will play against my friend Quiroga: I really want to win this one”.
Stefano Giannotti (Tonazzo Padova): “On Sunday we have a very difficult task in Trento, who will fight for the title again this year. We’re not the favourite and we definitely have a lot to work on to become competitive against top teams. But we will put maximum effort into it, we know the road ahead of us is not easy but we will try to constantly get better”.
Revivre Milano – Sir Safety Conad Perugia
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 2 (Perugia won both)
Daniele Sottile (Revivre Milano): “Last Sunday we had some difficulties with our various line-ups because of injuries, I think that was obvious. We tried our best, but we couldn’t make it, maybe we could have done better. We have trained real hard this week, we tried to create a good atmosphere in the group to face Sunday’s game in the best possible way. Perugia is one of the best teams in the league, they aim for the title so it will be tough. We have to play one point at a time and try to give it our best shot”.
Andrea Giovi (Sir Safety Conad Perugia): “We’re going to Milan to make up for our poor home display in the opening game. Right now we have to focus on finding our rhythm and improving day after day as a team. We’ve had an intense training week, we worked on the schemes that caused us some problems last Sunday. I have seen everybody up for it, motivated. We really need to win this one, this would not only do us some good mentally but that would also put us some points on board. Besides, this would give our fans a first joy, I know they will come in numbers for this away game”.
Ninfa Latina – Gi Group Monza
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 2 (1 each)
David Krumins (Ninfa Latina): “This will be a tricky game, and this will be our home debut against my former team. So this will be kind of a special game for me. This will be complicated because they have quality players that are also physically strong, so we have to prepare this game really well. We have to execute well in order to be able to win it”.
Oreste Vacondio (coach Gi Group Monza): “Latina is a well-organised team with excellent players. They’ll have some momentum given that they won their opening game against Padova. But I think we can do well given the good things done against Trento. We’ll need more of a finishing touch though, last Wednesday, we created a lot, were present at the net, deflected a few balls and rebuilt many times, we need to capitalise on that. If we had sealed a few more rallies we could have had a great opportunity to beat the Italian champions”.
Cucine Lube Banca Marche Civitanova – LPR Piacenza
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 39 (21-18 Civitanova)
Dragan Stankovic (Cucine Lube Banca Marche Civitanova): “We want to have a good start in front of our fans too. After our win in Forlì, it’s important to validate that good performance against Piacenza, which is definitely a good team and led by Giuliani, our coach of the past four seasons. So we’ll need maximum focus and hard-work in order to gel as well as get good results”.
Alberto Giuliani (coach LPR Piacenza): “We’ve been working hard to prepare this game. The season comes very soon, we’re at the start and all the teams need to find their rhythm. We have decided to build a roster with a mix of youth and experience: the main theme will be to give our all in every training session. Civitanova is one of the five favourites for the title, this is also the team that changed its starting six the most with the addition of Juantorena, Christenson, Grebennikov, Cebulj. They are packed with talented athletes and their target is to dominate in Italy but also in the Champions League”.
Exprivia Molfetta – CMC Romagna
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 4 (3-1 Molfetta)
Francesco Del Vecchio (Exprivia Molfetta): “The team is in good spirit but it’s only the beginning, so let’s not get carried away. We have to focus exclusively on Tuesday night’s game and prepare for it as well as we can. It’s true that taking a point in Modena helps to feel less tired but Romagna proved they could play excellent volleyball against Civitanova. We’ll be home, and it’s an important factor, hopefully we’ll have a top performance at home too”.
Andrea Bari (CMC Romagna): “I think Molfetta did a great job on the market this summer. They have a lot of character and quality in the pair of setter-outside hitter, Hierrezuelo-Hernandez. The setter is a real leader and he can score ten points a game, while the outside hitter has been in his national team for years, I am curious to see him in this league, I’m sure he’ll do very well. The fact they had almost all their players available from the start of pre-season allowed them to be ahead of schedule compared to the other teams. They proved it in Modena, where they had a solid game and played without fear. I am convinced that the level of the mid-table teams has become stronger. I think more than ever, this year we’ll have to battle hard point after point every game to get some results. But we’re ready, we’ll give it all and try our best until the last rally”.
Serie A2 UnipolSai
Round 2 preview. Cantù vs Club Italia Friday night
In this second round, we will have an example of the new schedule with games set from Friday to Monday, all on live streaming on Lega Volley Channel. Five teams took all three points in the first round and one of them was the big upset of newly promoted side Civita Castellana, winner in the house of Vibo Valentia.
Cassa Rurale Cantù – Club Italia Roma. This extended weekend of volleyball starts on Friday night with Massimo Della Rosa’s team and the Under 19 of Club Italia Roma. Cantù won 3-1 on the road against Alessano, while Club Italia obtained a come-back victory against Castellana Grotte.
Maury’s Italiana Assicurazioni Tuscania – Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia. This was a dream start for Tuscania who came back from Reggio with a 3-0 triumph. They will play without new libero Bonami, Serie A2 champion with Potenza, as he will be qualified from round 4. As for Vibo, it was shockingly defeated home by the newly promoted Civita Castellana. They will be eager to redeem themselves and take revenge on the unexpected tie-break loss of last season. Coach Mastrangelo knows the absence of Michalovic and Pinelli’s injury have prevented his team from finding their rhythm early.
Globo Scarabeo Civita Castellana – VBC Mondovì. A clash of newly promoted side. While Civita Castellana can boast a superb victory against the super stars of Vibo Valentia. Barisciani’s men were a little shy on the other hand, struggling to settle in the game before getting a set against Sora, but they surrendered 3-1. In the meantime, Mondovì has begun another challenge outside the court with the “crowdfunding” of the fans. If this turned out to be successful, this would strengthen the relationship between the club and supporters even more, and relieve the club as well from the financial burden.
Centrale del Latte McDonald’s Brescia – Volley Potentino Potenza Picena. A special gathering of young talents. Indeed, Brescia and the Serie A2 champions, Potenza, have two of the youngest rosters in the division. Both are coming off encouraging outings. Zambonardi’s men are led by the in-form Bisi and the talent of Tiberti and Cisolla. In the first round, they freightened Sora though they could only take one point. On the other hand, Potenza had fourty huge points from the pair Cavuto-Moretti and, pushed by their amazing fans, they inaugurated their fourth season in the division with a 3-1 marathon that lasted over two hours against Siena. The only down side is that they will only be able to use spiker Ferrini from the fourth round.
Emma Villas Siena – Sieco Service Ortona. Siena will try to upset the regular season winner 2015 Ortona at home as they could not do it with the champions of Potenza in the opening round. They will be without Maric and Mengozzi, qualified from round 4, but they will have Majdak and an alternative with experience in the middle with Di Marco. On the other side of the net, there will be a tough client though. Ortona got a scare in Brescia but improved as the game wore on and took two points.
Globo Banca Popolare del Frusinate Sora – Aurispa Alessano. The PalaGlobo arena is expected to be sold out for this second round. The hosts are hot favourite, not only because they play home, but also because they count top players like Fabroni and Rosso in their roster. And it’s no wonder Sora took three points in the first round in Mondovì, while Alessano will dream of an upset following their 3-1 home defeat against Cantù. But this league promises to be tight and nothing is written yet. Besides, Alessano has quality players such as outside hitter Jeliazkov, Bolla and Cernic.
Materdominivolley.it Castellana Grotte – Conad Reggio Emilia.
This will be the tenth season in the Serie A for the PalaGrotte arena, which will reopen its doors on Sunday for Castellana vs Reggio. Fanizza’s men could only take a point in a crazy tie-break loss against the youngsters of Club Italia and will try to bounce back against Reggio, which is a good team but troubled with injuries (setter Marchiani, spiker Dolfo). They were defeated severely by Tuscania in the first round. The past had some pressure on the Reggio shoulders: in three attempts on the road against the southerners, they always found themselves on the losing end.
Serie A2 UnipolSai Round 2
Friday 30 October at 8.30pm
Cassa Rurale Cantù – Club Italia Roma Live on Lega Volley Channel
(Pisterà-Bassan)
Saturday 31 October at 8.30pm
Maury’s Italiana Assicurazioni Tuscania – Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia Live on Lega Volley Channel
(De Simeis-Moratti)
Sunday 1 November at noon
Globo Scarabeo Civita Castellana – VBC Mondovì Live on Lega Volley Channel
(Oranelli-Saltalippi)
Sunday 1 November at 4pm
Centrale del Latte McDonald’s Brescia – Volley Potentino Potenza Picena Live on Lega Volley Channel
(Piubelli-Prati)
Sunday 1 November at 6pm
Emma Villas Siena – Sieco Service Ortona Live on Lega Volley Channel
(Turtù-Marotta)
Globo Banca Pop. Frusinate Sora – Aurispa Alessano Live on Lega Volley Channel
(Montanari-Carcione)
Materdominivolley.it Castellana Grotte – Conad Reggio Emilia Live on Lega Volley Channel
(Talento-Zingaro)
