League playoffs semi-finals Game 2:
SIR SAFETY CONAD PERUGIA – CUCINE LUBE BANCA MARCHE CIVITANOVA 3-0 (30-28, 25-20, 25-14)
DIATEC TRENTINO – DHL MODENA 2-3 (25-21, 17-25, 25-21, 22-25, 12-15)
SIR SAFETY CONAD PERUGIA – CUCINE LUBE BANCA MARCHE CIVITANOVA 3-0 (30-28, 25-20, 25-14) – SIR SAFETY CONAD PERUGIA: Buti 10, Fromm, De Cecco 4, Kaliberda 11, Giovi (L), Russell 10, Tzioumakas, Elia, Atanasijevic 12, Birarelli 9. DNP Holt, Dimitrov, Fanuli. Coach. Kovac.
CUCINE LUBE BANCA MARCHE CIVITANOVA: Fei 7, Juantorena 9, Vitelli 4, Stankovic 2, Priddy, Kovar, Christenson 3, Cester 2, Grebennikov (L), Miljkovic 6, Corvetta, Cebulj 11, Podrascanin 6. DNP Parodi. Coach. Blengini.
Volleyball at its greatest in the PalaEvangelisti arena! The sold out crowd really made itself heard from start to finish as Perugia dominated Civitanova 3-0. Standing ovation for De Cecco, deservedly named MVP of the game. He just had it all under control. Then, there was some sharp serves (3 aces) and the excellent work in the block-dig area. Giovi was particularly inspired in dig, while the team gathered ten blocks at the net. Civitanova was there in the first set, which was lost on a Miljkovic mistake, then it was all Perugia.
Emanuele Birarelli (Sir Safety Conad Perugia): “We’re extremely satisfied, it’s been a great game, the greatest of the season. We played just like we wanted, but we have to keep our feet on the ground because there’s still a long way to go. Past mistakes are still well alive in our minds, we have to make sure that doesn’t happen again”.
Alessandro Fei (Cucine Lube Banca Marche Civitanova): “Congratulations to Perugia who had a great game in a beautiful arena with the fans who gave them a lot of energy. As far as we’re concerned, we lost our way after the first set, we stumbled at the first difficulty, and that’s the result”.
DIATEC TRENTINO – DHL MODENA 2-3 (25-21, 17-25, 25-21, 22-25, 12-15) – DIATEC TRENTINO: Kaziyski 20, Bratoev, Giannelli 6, Lanza 1, Solé 9, Djuric 19, Colaci (L), Van De Voorde, Urnaut 12, Mazzone 8. DNP Antonov, Mazzone. Coach. Stoytchev.
DHL MODENA: Mossa De Rezende 3, Petric, Casadei, Rossini (L), Sartoretti, Ngapeth 30, Nikic 8, Bossi 7, Sens, Saatkamp 16, Vettori 16. DNP Donadio, Soli, Sighinolfi. Coach. Lorenzetti.
It had not happened for over two years but Modena managed to win in Trento to take a 2-0 lead in the semi-finals. A victory that could be key for the reminder of the series. The visitors had to come back from 2-1 down to find the breakthrough at the tie-break. While they had comfortably won at home, tonight’s encounter proved much harder for Modena, who had Ngapeth as its star man (30 points at 57%). The trio of spikers Kaziyski-Djuric-Urnaut of the home side started off brightly but slowed down as the game wore on as Modena’s block-dig proved efficient. Match point on Thursday for Modena.
Massimo Colaci (Diatec Trentino): “We gave absolutely everything we had but Modena proved they were one step ahead of us in the clutch time. Shame we failed to convert a couple of opportunities that came our way to get back in the game. Still, we won’t surrender. When we come back from Krakow, we will try our best again, even in this difficult situation in which we can’t lose”.
Earvin Ngapeth (DHL Modena): “It was extremely hard to win in the PalaTrento arena but we did it coming back from behind. We’re thrilled. It might have been my best game with the Modena shirt on. We have to remember how strong is the opposition and the fact we were away from home. In Trento, you can only win if you play top quality volleyball. Now we have to be careful not to start thinking it’s over”.
Fixtures
League playoffs Game 3 (series on the best of 5)
Thursday 21 April at 8.30pm (one game live on RAI Sport, the other one live on Lega Volley Channel)
Cucine Lube Banca Marche Civitanova – Sir Safety Conad Perugia
DHL Modena – Diatec Trentino
Game 4 (If needed)
Sunday 24 April at 5.30pm
Sir Safety Conad Perugia – Cucine Lube Banca Marche Civitanova Live on RAI Sport 1
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
Monday 25 April at 7.15
Diatec Trentino – DHL Modena Live on RAI Sport 1
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
Game 5 (if needed)
Wednesday 27 April at 8.30pm
Cucine Lube Banca Marche Civitanova – Sir Safety Conad Perugia Live on RAI Sport 1
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
Thursday 28 April at 8.30pm
DHL Modena – Diatec Trentino Live on Lega Volley Channel
