The UnipolSai MVP in October is Uros Kovacevic. Verona’s Serbian spiker had three games at 17, 16 and 22 points. He will receive his award on Wednesday 9 November before the home game against Trento.
The giants of the SuperLega are right back on court this Wednesday night. Lone leader after its 3-0 win against Verona, Modena will try to keep its point advantage on Civitanova when they take on Monza on Ngapeth’s hundredth appearance in regular season. Seventh, Monza is coming off a come-back win at the tie-break against Ravenna.
Fifth with 14 points, Perugia knows it went close from the breakthrough in Civitanova when it had a 2-0 lead on the scoreboard. But the hosts fought back and won it at the tie-break, which meant Perugia lost for the third time running. As Atanasijevic is working his way back to full fitness to the joy of the fans, Perugia will take on Molfetta, who got back on track last weekend with a three-set win over Sora on Flavio Gulinelli’s come-back on the bench.
After four consecutive wins, Verona stumbled against the leaders and stand in fourth place, five points from the top. Giani’s men will face a big test against another unbeaten team : Trento. The latter kept its perfect run going with a 3-0 win over Milan. They stand three points from the top but with a game in hand to play in Piacenza on November 17.
Last from bottom, Latina did not manage to win on Daniele Bagnoli’s debut on the bench but gave a real hard time to Piacenza. They will take on Sora, bottom of the table following its defeat against Molfetta. They know this derby is a big opportunity to get on track.
Trouble maker Ravenna lost a big opportunity last Sunday as it led 2-1 in Monza before surrendering at the tie-break. But Soli’s men had various good games against the big guns so far and they want to do it again when they entertain Civitanova, who lost a point in the last round against Perugia though we can easily speak of two points gained at the tie-break given how it went.
Milan lasted just one set in the PalaTrento arena this weekend. They lost it by the minimum margin before being easily swept aside. That was a seventh straight loss for Monti’s men who will play host to Padova, who’s coming off a disappointing home defeat against Vibo Valentia in four sets.
Vibo Valentia now has six points thanks to its breakthrough in Padova last weekend. They have now left Milan, Latina and Sora behind them in the standings. They will take on Piacenza, a team that never gives up and won five in a row, the latest on a 3-1 score in Latina. Sixth in the league, Giuliani’s men also have a game in hand to play against Trento.
SuperLega UnipolSai Round 9 preview
Wednesday 9 November at 8.30pm
Azimut Modena – Gi Group Monza Live on Lega Volley Channel
Sir Safety Conad Perugia – Exprivia Molfetta Live on Lega Volley Channel
Calzedonia Verona – Diatec Trentino Live on Lega Volley Channel
Top Volley Latina – Biosì Indexa Sora Live on Lega Volley Channel
Bunge Ravenna – Cucine Lube Civitanova Live on Lega Volley Channel
Revivre Milano – Kioene Padova Live on Lega Volley Channel
Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia – LPR Piacenza Live on Lega Volley Channel
League table
Azimut Modena 23, Cucine Lube Civitanova 22, Diatec Trentino 20, Calzedonia Verona 18, Sir Safety Conad Perugia 14, LPR Piacenza 12, Gi Group Monza 12, Kioene Padova 11, Bunge Ravenna 8, Exprivia Molfetta 7, Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia 6, Revivre Milano 5, Top Volley Latina 4, Biosì Indexa Sora 3
1 game in hand: Diatec Trentino e LPR Piacenza
Azimut Modena – Gi Group Monza
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 6 (All Modena)
Andrea Sartoretti (GM Azimut Modena): “Monza made a lot of changes and strengthened its squad this summer, they also changed the coach. This will be a real battle. This team cannot be underestimated, we’ll need to maintain a good level of play. We’ve been doing well and like I said, our goal is to keep playing like that. Our team has changed a lot too, but as time goes by the boys are getting to know each other better on court. They’re improving day after day ».
Simon Hirsch (Gi Group Monza): “We’ll face a difficult encounter against one of the best rosters in the league. Modena is a tough team but we’ll need to stay composed, these games can help you get better. I feel good. It was hard to watch the guys without playing, but now I’m back and I happy to be on court to help the team win. The victory against Ravenna gave us some confidence but also the awareness that we have to work hard to reach our full potential. I really believe this group has what it takes to obtain great results this season ».
Sir Safety Conad Perugia – Exprivia Molfetta
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 8 (6-2 Perugia)
Alessandro Franceschini (Sir Safety Conad Perugia): “We’ve had to endure a lot of late. And I understand because expectations have gone up. But it has to be said that we have been doing a great job in training, and the group is really united. We are obviously not happy with the way the last three games went, but we have to look at the big picture and we should not forget, as we’ve seen last year, that the journey of a season is long. On Wednesday, we’ll start a new run of games that should help us end the first half of season on a positive note. The coming games will be important to gain confidence in our game and as individuals. And we need a better relation between players and what’s around. It will definitely not be easy against Molfetta. They’re coming off a win against Sora, and they have a quality roster with top players like Sabbi and Rafael. But it’s clear we have to get back to winning from Wednesday ».
Thiago Pontes Veloso (Exprivia Molfetta): “Perugia is coming off three consecutive defeats, they’ll definitely be desperate to win, especially at home. We had a good game against Sora, and even if this match looks impossible for us, I feel very confident. I feel much better physically than in the past, my shoulder injury is way behind me, I am now hundred percent, even If in sport you always have to try to get better ».
Calzedonia Verona – Diatec Trentino
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 27 (20-7 Trento)
Andrea Giovi (Calzedonia Verona): “Even if Trento has made a lot of changes, they remain an extremely strong team. We have to play without fear and forget about the defeat against Modena. We need points to qualify for the italian cup and stay in the top places ».
Filippo Lanza (Diatec Trentino): “We have been training very well in the past few days, testimony our straight set victory on Sunday against Milan. This was the best result we could get before taking on Verona. This will be a difficult game for many reasons, first of all because it is against one of our main rivals. Verona always plays excellent volleyball, it will be up to us to contain them and respond ».
Top Volley Latina – Biosì Indexa Sora
PAST ENCOUNTERS: none
Daniele Bagnoli (coach Top Volley Latina): “We should not make the mistakes of thinking too much about our opponent, be that Modena or Sora. I told the players to focus on ourselves, our game and our characteristics. We should not worry about the others or be too influenced psychologically by the difficulties of the game. It will be interesting to see how this group reacts, having the necessity to win it. This will be a tight game. The response we’ll get will help me realise if we can have a decent season. In the past, I’ve experienced incredible playoffs here in Latina, and I remember some great battles, some lost even if we were favourites. I remember great fair play from the fans, a lot of excitement, and I hope to get this enthusiasm back in the gym. This is an ambition this team must have. We need to have the mentality of winners ».
Francesco De Marchi (Biosì Indexa Sora): “Latina is a well-balanced team with players who have been in the Serie A for years. And now they have a winning coach with good mentality. In this derby, both sides will want to get the points, and we all know anything can happen in those games. We work as a unit, the fact there is a difficult situation did not divide us. We work hard with the time we have at our disposal. It won’t be an easy game, away from home again, but we’re ready for the fight ».
Bunge Ravenna – Cucine Lube Civitanova
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 21 (14-7 Civitanova)
Fabio Soli (coach Bunge Ravenna): “Civitanova is looking like a very difficult task at the limit of our possibilities, but fortunately in volleyball nothing can be taken for granted. I am confident we can have our say in the matter if we work hard to do well. We’ll see how much space to manœuvre they will let us and how much we’ll be able to build ourselves, and most importantly if we’ll make the most of our opportunities. This intense period did not get us tired, on the contrary, it got us even more motivated to try to get an important result. We often went close from an upset. We proved we were always in it, we can’t wait to make a breakthrough ».
Osmany Juantorena (Cucine Lube Civitanova): “Like I said at the end of the game against Perugia, we have to take one match at a time. Ravenna is a team that never gives up, they’ll try to get a result, like they do every time they play a bigger name team. I repeat, our goal is to think one game at a time, without thinking about Sunday’s match in Trento. Maximum focus on Ravenna ».
Revivre Milano – Kioene Padova
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 6 (4-2 Padova)
Giorgio De Togni (Revivre Milano): “Padova showed all its quality in this beginning of season, especially on the serve and their understanding in spite of making a few changes this summer. They lost against Vibo last Sunday because of many mistakes on the serve. They have great competitive spirit and they will be keen to bounce back. Maar and Giannotti are their main players, but there is also the excellent setter Shaw, while they have quality in the blocking area and on the serve. We have to play like in the first set against Trento, where we played well in spite of the loss. I liked the character. We’ll have to play without pressure on the serve, make it difficult for them and do as well as we can on the break, which is something we have improved on of late ».
Stephen Maar (Kioene Padova): “We’re coming off a home loss against Vibo Valentia. We did not play to our full potential. We know we can play better than that and we’ll try to bounce back in Milan. We’ll need to be more accurate on the serve and in reception, even if we know our opponents need points too. They’ll surely try to make it as hard as they can for us from the get-go ».
Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia – LPR Piacenza
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 23 (18-5 Piacenza)
Rocco Barone (Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia): “Piacenza is a top team with big ambitions. They are in great shape, they proved it with five consecutive wins. We’ll have to play without fear, we have nothing to lose. If we play at our best like against Perugia, we have our chances. We are keen to have to good performance and keep this positive run going after our latest win over Padova ».
Aimone Alletti (LPR Piacenza): “There are no easy games in this league. Each game has its difficulties, all the teams have quality and can win games. Vibo won in Padova in the 8th round, so they will be eager to give a victory to their fans. We will face this game with maximum focus and will try to win as many points as possible to add to our recent good results ».
