Here comes the last round of the regular season with all its verdicts before the league and Challenge Cup playoffs.
We have a few certainties like the top three that will remain unchanged, Civitanova regular season champ, followed by Modena and Trentino in third place.
There is a battle for fourth place between Verona and Perugia. Then, there are tenth of possibilities regarding position 6 to 8th. And in 9th place, Monza has not said its last word, Padova has to watch out.
The league leaders and already regular season champion, Civitanova, will play host to Trentino in a big game which however will have no influence on the table. Civitanova is coming off its Champions League qualification at the expense of Izmir, while Trento lost the derby against Verona before bouncing back in the Champions League against Asse-Lennik to make it in the playoffs 6 too. They cannot go up to second and nobody can threaten their third place. This will be some sort of playoffs appetizer.
Milan, who’s coming off a road upset of Padova, will end this regular season last from bottom but they want to keep going ahead of the Challenge Cup playoffs. They will take on Romagna, third from bottom after its home loss against Modena but just one point behind Monza.
Disappointing of coming so close from turning a difficult situation around in Ankara in the Champions League, Modena will face Padova with the certainty of finishing second. Padova plays for its place in the playoffs, they’re eighth and need a point to make sure they keep Monza behind. In the last round, they lost an opportunity to do it by losing home against Milan.
Verona can’t afford to lower its guards, not even after three straight victories and nine points taken. Indeed, they have to watch out for Perugia who’s chasing their fourth place. In mid-week, Verona also got rid of the French league leaders in the Challenge Cup and qualified for the semi-finals. Monza will try to stop this winning streak as it needs all three points at all cost to have a chance of finishing eighth and make it into the playoffs. At the same time, they will need Padova to lose without a point in Modena. Oreste Vacondio will not be on the bench due to medical reasons. He will be substituted in the next few weeks by Francesco Cattaneo and Massimo Dagioni.
Knocked out of the CEV Cup at the Golden Set in Moscow, Perugia needs all three-points against Latina to have a chance to move above Verona in fourth place and have the court advantage in the Playoffs quarter-finals. But Latina is in the hunt for big points as well to defend its sixth place.
Indeed, Molfetta is lurking right behind hoping for Latina to fail. Di Pinto’s men will take on Piacenza, condemned to finish bottom of the league. It was defeated by Perugia in the last round in a tight encounter that went to the tie-break. This will be Samuele Papi’s 600th appearance.
SuperLega UnipolSai round 22
Sunday 6 March at 6pm
Cucine Lube Banca Marche Civitanova – Diatec Trentino Live on RAI Sport 2
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
Revivre Milano – CMC Romagna Live on Lega Volley Channel
DHL Modena – Tonazzo Padova Live on Lega Volley Channel
Calzedonia Verona – Gi Group Monza Live on Lega Volley Channel
Sir Safety Conad Perugia – Ninfa Latina Live on Lega Volley Channel
Exprivia Molfetta – LPR Piacenza Live on Lega Volley Channel
League table
Cucine Lube Banca Marche Civitanova 56, DHL Modena 52, Diatec Trentino 47, Calzedonia Verona 41, Sir Safety Conad Perugia 39, Ninfa Latina 27, Exprivia Molfetta 26, Tonazzo Padova 25, Gi Group Monza 22, CMC Romagna 21, Revivre Milano 14, LPR Piacenza 8
Cucine Lube Banca Marche Civitanova – Diatec Trentino
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 47 (28-19 Trento)
Marko Podrascanin (Cucine Lube Banca Marche Civitanova): “Even if the result will not influence the table of neither teams, we really want to remain unbeaten in this second half of season. Besides, a win over a strong team like Trento would give us a boost for the playoffs. So maximum focus and will to win”.
Tine Urnaut (Diatec Trentino): “A special game for both sides, who already know their final position in the table. It’s strange because usually, games between Civitanova and Trento have a lot at stakes. There won’t be anything this time, but we will take this opportunity to play a game at the highest level and get in a positive groove before the start of the playoffs. These are the games that everybody would like to play”.
Revivre Milano – CMC Romagna
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 3 (2-1 Romagna)
Giorgio De Togni (Revivre Milano): “Our goal in this game is to build on the good things done in this second half of season. Romagna was our first (and last) victory in the first half of season and on Sunday it will be an important game again. We want to win it not so much for the league table because we can’t go up but to stay in good spirit before the Challenge Cup playoffs, in which we’ll probably meet Romagna again”.
Waldo Kantor (coach CMC Romagna): “We will go to Milan to do our best. It’s true we failed to get in the playoffs but we’re already preparing for the coming games. We also want to finish as high as possible with this last regular season match. Milan has been doing brilliantly of late, they won the derby against Monza, they beat Latina and Padova, that’s surely a tough game. Skrimov and Milushev and two very dangerous players but they also got better as a team lately. They play good volleyball, thanks as well to young setter Sbertoli, who’s excellent. We’ll need to be effective in attack from the get-go”.
DHL Modena – Tonazzo Padova
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 83 (69-14 Modena)
Andrea Sartoretti (GM DHL Modena): “The boys gave everything they had yesterday against Ankara, testimony the applause from the fans. In the first set, some referee decisions have influenced the game but we went out heads high against a top level opponent. We played 34 games since October 24 in 134 days, that’s one game every four days. In agreement with the club, coach Angelo Lorenzetti will not line-up the players that have made the most appearances. Those will begin from tomorrow a physical work aimed at the playoffs”.
Santiago Orduna (Tonazzo Padova): “We have to put Tuesday’s game behind us and get back to playing our game. Modena is one of the strongest teams of this league, it will be tough to win there. But the playoffs are still possible so we’ll fight until the very last point”.
Calzedonia Verona – Gi Group Monza
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 3 (Verona won all 3)
Andrea Giani (coach Calzedonia Verona): “This is an important game for us and for them. We have to win at all cost to lock up fourth place, an important goal we had set ourselves at the start of the season. We have a great opportunity, we have to make the most of this home game. Monza can still make it in the playoffs, which is why we’ll need to put maximum effort in it”.
Iacopo Botto (Gi Group Monza): “We know how important is this game, but we cannot put too much pressure on ourselves. Every time we did it, we failed to play our best volleyball. Verona is a top team, they have a quality roster. But we have to focus on our own game and our attitude. It’s true that a lot will also depend on Padova’s game, but we will try to do our best to reach a goal we had set ourselves at the start of the season”.
Sir Safety Conad Perugia – Ninfa Latina
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 7 (6-1 Perugia)
Slobodan Kovac (coach Sir Safety Conad Perugia): “Important game for us. Unfortunately, we have wasted a few opportunities too many in recent games, and now the fourth place do not depend exclusively on ourselves. But whatever our league position, we have to keep playing strong and get used to winning with consistency, which we’re not able to do yet. We had a good game in Modena but then we had a poor outing in Piacenza. We’ve just played a top level game in Moscow, I expect another quality performance on Sunday, and I expect to win”.
Daniele Sottile (Ninfa Latina): “We’ve had an excellent season considering the number of injuries we had. But now we have everybody back and we just won two ‘finals’ against Piacenza and Molfetta, but we’re not 100% yet. The game against Perugia is important because victories gives you confidence and make you play well. Our goal is to defend our sixth place before the playoffs, but we have to think one game at a time”.
Exprivia Molfetta – LPR Piacenza
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 5 (3-2 Piacenza)
Vincenzo di Pinto (coach Exprivia Molfetta): “All the games played in such a short period of time is starting to take its toll. But we have to take points against Piacenza and end the regular season on a high before focusing on the playoffs quarter-finals. We need a positive spirit, as for the rest it’s a difficult moment for every team. Everybody wants to finish well and avoid injuries before the playoffs”.
Thijs Ter Horst (LPR Piacenza): “It’s important to keep playing with the same spirit as last Sunday against Perugia. We gathered with the guys and told ourselves to leave all that difficult season behind us and start from scratch with new will and energy. We want to give it all to end this regular season with a good game to prepare for the Challenge Cup playoffs”.
Five games to go before the playoffs. The final rush is here and promises to be packed with emotional moments.
On Saturday night, Alessano plays host to Castellana Grotte. Alessano is bottom of the table but managed to give a game to the leader Vibo Valentia in the last round. They will try to cut down on the five-point deficit they count on the team in front in the derby. Castellana is third from bottom following its 3-0 home loss against Brescia, which was the latest opportunity to get back on track for the playoffs that went wrong. The post season is 8 points away now, tough task but there are still 15 points to be taken.
Still on Saturday, the league leaders of Vibo Valentia will try to defend their four-point advantage on Sora when it takes on Reggio Emilia. The latter is the most in-form team of recent weeks, unbeaten in the second half of season. After a tough first part of season that had them among the bottom teams, they flew up the table like a rocket to move into fifth position.
The lunch game of Sunday is Cantù versus Potenza Picena. Cantù lost its fifth place in the last round when it was defeated home by Reggio Emilia. They will try to redeem themselves in their second consecutive home game against a Potenza Potenza looking to bounce back too after its four-set loss against Tuscania. Andrea Ippolito should be back from injury. Outside hitter Federico Moretti is working hard to come back to his best, while he’s enjoying his nomination in the provincial sport awards.
Tuscania is enjoying its third place conquered thanks to three consecutive wins, losing only one set in the latest 3-1 win in Potenza Picena. Next is the derby against Club Italia, an unpredictable team capable of winning against all odds. In the last game, they lost at home against Mondovì and are last from bottom, but they remain the trouble makers of this league.
Brescia will try to make it five wins in a row on Sunday when they take on Sora. Their last victory was in Castellana Grotte, while Sora lost ground on Vibo at the top as it needed the tie-break to get rid of Siena. They have however a comfortable 5-point advantage on third place Tuscania.
Beaten in the fifth set by Sora, the point taken was still useful to Siena to take a one-point advantage on Potenza in seventh place. But the Tuscans still need a big breakthrough this Sunday when they take on Civita Castellana, who has just lost its third place by losing in Ortona.
In the PalaManera arena, Mondovì will entertain Ortona with new hopes of reaching the playoffs thanks to a road win in the capital. They are now ninth, four points away from Potenza Potenza. As for Ortona, after six games without a win, they got back on track against Civita Castellana and now stand just one point behind Mondovì.
Serie A2 UnipolSai round 22
Saturday 5 March at 8.30pm
Aurispa Alessano – Materdominivolley.it Castellana Grotte Live on Lega Volley Channel
Conad Reggio Emilia – Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia Live on Lega Volley Channel
Sunday 6 March at 12am
Cassa Rurale Cantù – Potenza Picena Live on Lega Volley Channel
Sunday 6 March at 4pm
Maury’s Italiana Assicurazioni Tuscania – Club Italia Roma Live on Lega Volley Channel
Sunday 6 March at 6pm
Centrale del Latte McDonald’s Brescia – Globo Banca Pop. Frusinate Sora Live on Lega Volley Channel
Emma Villas Siena – Globo Scarabeo Civita Castellana Live on Lega Volley Channel
Sunday 6 March at 7pm
BAM Mondovì – Sieco Service Ortona Live on Lega Volley Channel
Live on Lega Volley Channel
League table
Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia 48, Globo Banca Pop. Frusinate Sora 44, Maury’s Italiana Assicurazioni Tuscania 39, Globo Scarabeo Civita Castellana 37, Conad Reggio Emilia 36, Cassa Rurale Cantù 34, Emma Villas Siena 32, Potenza Picena 31, BAM Mondovì 27, Sieco Service Ortona 26, Centrale del Latte McDonald’s Brescia 23, Club Italia Roma 23, Materdominivolley.it Castellana Grotte 23, Aurispa Alessano 18
