Champions League on Fox Sports
Fox Networks Group secured the TV right for the CEV Volleyball Champions League for the fourth consecutive season. It will therefore be possible to watch Modena, Civitanova and Perugia on Fox Sports HD, in exclusive on Sky (Channel 204).
Molfetta is back home following the important point snatched in Perugia. This is four points in two games since Flavio Gulinelli came back on the bench to substitute Di Pinto. The team seems to have stepped up a gear. After the comfortable win over Sora, it had an important result against one of the top guns. Modena stumbled in four sets at home against Monza, which cost them the first place in the table.
Trentino is going full speed. Three-set winners at the expense of Verona and now tied in second place, Lorenzetti’s men have won eight in a row. A three-point win over the leader Civitanova would take them top. Civitanova obtained a convincing three-point win in Ravenna, coming back from 1-0 down. They were extraordinary in the third but had to go the distance in exhausting first and fourth sets.
Second consecutive home game for Verona, who wants to redeem itself following the 3-0 loss against Trento. It has to be said that October’s MVP, Uros Kovacevic, was not hundred percent. Giani’s men will take on Vibo who has found the winning recepee in the top division in the last two rounds. After the victory in Padova in four sets, they stopped Piacenza’s brilliant run at home on a 3-1 score.
Latina shook things up on the bench and Daniele Bagnoli’s men found the determination needed in the tie-break win in the derby against Sora, team coached by the brother Bruno Bagnoli. Last from bottom, Latina now has a two-point advantage on Sora. In Sottile’s 500th appearance, the hosts will take on Padova, who had a good start to the season before losing its touch a bit. They indeed conceded back to back defeat against Vibo Valentia and away against Milan.
Monza is full of confidence following the breakthrough in Modena behind a terrific performance from Fromm. No time to celebrate though, the players immediately filled the TV room to study another big team : Perugia. The latter just sacked coach Kovac, and signed Lorenzo Bernardi, who spent his last two years in Halkbank Ankara, Turkey. His task will be to bring Perugia back towards the top as they stand nine points from the leaders. Atanasijevic is back as starter and he immediately scored 24 points to beat the regenerated Molfetta side at the tie-break.
Piacenza’s five game winning streak ended in Vibo’s PalaValentia arena but their fighting spirit remained intact. Giuliani’s men were indeed close to force another tie-break. Ravenna had another generous performane but were unlucky against Civitanova. They had won the first set and were in the game until the last ball of the fourth set dropped.
Sora is learning in the SuperLega and they had the confirmation that entertaining volleyball, fighting spirit and enthusiasm does not always bring the wanted points. Bottom with four points, they know they missed an important opportunity against Latina on Wednesday. Rosso and co deserve credit for forcing the tie-break but the win went to the hosts. Now the newly promoted side will try to bounce back against Milan, who regained confidence following a 3-1 home win over Padova. Skrimov back and the golden distribution of Sbertoli made the difference.
SuperLega UnipolSai round 10
Sunday 13 November at 6pm
Exprivia Molfetta – Azimut Modena Live on RAI Sport 1
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
Diatec Trentino – Cucine Lube Civitanova Diretta Lega Volley Channel
Calzedonia Verona – Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia Diretta Lega Volley Channel
Top Volley Latina – Kioene Padova Diretta Lega Volley Channel
Gi Group Monza – Sir Safety Conad Perugia Diretta Lega Volley Channel
LPR Piacenza – Bunge Ravenna Diretta Lega Volley Channel
Biosì Indexa Sora – Revivre Milano Diretta Lega Volley Channel
League table
Cucine Lube Civitanova 25, Diatec Trentino 23, Azimut Modena 23, Calzedonia Verona 18, Sir Safety Conad Perugia 16, Gi Group Monza 15, LPR Piacenza 12, Kioene Padova 11, Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia 9, Bunge Ravenna 8, Exprivia Molfetta 8, Revivre Milano 8, Top Volley Latina 6, Biosì Indexa Sora 4
1 game in hand: Diatec Trentino, LPR Piacenza
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 6 (5-1 Modena)
Francesco del Vecchio (Exprivia Molfetta): “This is the second game against a top team but this one will be in our PalaPoli arena. With the help of our fans, we’ll make it hard for them to take points. Besides, they lost their last one against Monza. On the other hand, our points taken against Perugia gave us a lot of confidence and that is very important ahead of games like this one. We have been preparing this game well and I think we’re ready for a great Sunday of sport ».
Luca Vettori (Azimut Modena): “We did not expect to lose against Monza. We might have felt too good with ourelves after the wins over Perugia and Verona. We’ll need to stay focused in Molfetta and remember than this league is tough against anyone. We have to get right back on track, even if playing every three days is not easy. The loss did not leave any scare like some might think. This was useful to learn from certain mmistakes. We have to put our feet back on the ground and roll up our sleeves. At home, Molfetta forces almost everyone to the fifth set. We’ll need maximum concentration from the get-go, and to contain them, they play very fast ».
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 50 (29-21 Trento)
Massimo Colaci (Diatec Trentino): “This game against Civitanova is the first of an important series. In the seven following days we’ll have Piacenza and Modena on the road. We had a nice win in Verona in the last round and are now second. We can play face to face with anyone. This will be a very difficult game, but these are the games everybody would love to play, this is why we train every day in the gym. We want to give it all ».
Dragan Stankovic (Cucine Lube Civitanova): “Another big one. We’re focused for this match between the only two unbeaten teams left in the SuperLega. It’s not a decisive game given that this is still the first half of season, but it’s crucial to measure up against a direct rival who’s been excellent of late. This is a great test in which we have to give it our best shot and show we’re on the up ».
Calzedonia Verona – Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 27 (15-12 Vibo Valentia)
Adriano Paolucci (Calzedonia Verona): “This will be a complicated encounter to handle mentally. We have to forget about our last two defeats. Luckily we’ll be home and will have the support of everyone ».
Manuel Coscione (Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia): “The two victories against Padova and Piacenza gave us a lot of confidence. Now we have to keep going like that, work with even more energy because we’re facing a difficult challenge in Verona. We’ll play in a heated atmosphere, and we’ll be up against a team eager to put behind two straight losses. We’ll have to be ready to respond to their serve and keep doing well in the block-dig area ».
Top Volley Latina – Kioene Padova
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 20 (12-8 Latina)
Gabriele Maruotti (Top Volley Latina): “It’s an important game because this could be a key moment to the season. It’s very tight in the standings, you can quickly get up the ranks if you manage to put together a couple of victories. They have an excellent team, they’re doing well even if they lost the last two. We have to focus on our game, we have yet to express our full potential, but we’re on the up ».
Valerio Baldovin (Coach Kioene Padova): “At the start of the season, we knew we could face moments like this one, in which we have good spells and others in which we struggle. The Latina game will be another difficult one, like all the games in the SuperLega. We have to keep working hard and focus on our volleyball. We need to be as effective as possible on the serve and reception ».
Gi Group Monza – Sir Safety Conad Perugia
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 8 (6-2 Perugia)
Miguel Àngel Falasca (coach Gi Group Monza): “Usually, when there is a change on the bench, teams react with character. But I don’t think we have to focus on that, on the contrary, we have to play our volleyball, and focus on serving well and be effective in the block-dig area. Perugia is a top team, they have great players. We have nothing to lose, but this does not mean we’ll give up easily, this just means we should not have any pressure. Our goal is to step up a level and try to do as well as against Modena. If we were not to manage to do that, that would be a little step back for us ».
Emanuele Birarelli (Sir Safety Conad Perugia): “This is a tricky moment. We’re really sorry Boban was fired. In these cases, it’s always the coach who pay the price, but it’s everybody’s fault, we all could have done better. This is a new challenge now. We have a tough game in Monza, who’s in tip top shape right now We have to find motivations, play with determination, play well and bring home the win we need. Hopefully, we’ll finally have everybody fit because that had never happened so far. It would be nice to see what we can do with the team put together this summer ».
LPR Piacenza – Bunge Ravenna
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 11 (6-5 Piacenza)
Hristo Zlatanov (LPR Piacenza): “Sunday’s game will be crucial for us. We will do everything to take needed points at home to remain competitive in the standings. We got right back in work after the trip to Vibo Valentia. We’ll need everybody to stick together and the great determination we had shown in the five wins collected ».
Fabio Soli (coach Bunge Ravenna): “We’re going to Piacenza ready to give it a fight and get a positive result. We’re still a little short to be able to win against such a good level team but we’ll try our best to contain them as much as we can. Piacenza put a team together with different ambitions than ours, they have a lot of alternatives in their roster. Their pair of setter and outside hitter is one of the best in the league. But everything is possible in volleyball, we will do as we’ve done before, like in Perugia, Molfetta or Monza, where we took some points. We’ll need our best volleyball to make it. We know we’ll need patience, we’ll need to resist in the tough times, and try to make the most of any opportunity that might come our way ».
Biosì Indexa Sora – Revivre Milano
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 2 (2 successi Sora)
Adi Lami (General Manager Biosì Indexa Sora): “The result against Latina is difficult to take in, even if we could see that improvement we had noticed before the Molfetta loss. Hopefully we’ll keep going up now. Milan has a very competitive roster with great players that will come to win, but we’ll be ready. Milan has the serve as its main weapon, so tough job for our reception. We have to put in practice all the things we have learn in our past games. First of all, we’ll need patience, but we will get on court with the determination we have shown in this beginning of season. Then, we’ll just see what happens on court ».
Luca Monti (Coach Revivre Milano): “There are teams against which we have more of a chance to take points and it will be important to do that, just like in the excellent performance against Padova. We’ll have Todor Skrimov back. He came on against Padova on Wednesday but he’s not 100% yet. He underwent surgery in a delicate operation just a month ago, so it’s up to us to handle his court time in the coming games. Todor is really eager to play and help the team, which is important for us. We’ll be up against a team that plays very well on Sora. They’re not getting as many points as they’d deserve. I have great admiration for Mattia Rosso, who I personally know as I coached him in Crema. They have picked a super player in Miskevich, the main man of their attack ».
In the White group, Potenza Picena will be the first on stage on Saturday night. It will try to remain unbeaten in the Eurosuole Forum. In the last round, they became the only team to clinch a set against Siena. Di Pinto’s men will take on Lagonegro in an unprecedented match-up. Beaten home 3-0 by Santa Croce, Lagonegro is last from bottom with only a point to show for.
A 3-0 win in the Salento area gave Tuscania a big boost as it moved to third before its match against the leaders of Siena, who got five on five so far.
Fourth in the group, Aversa had it easy on the road against Club Italia behind a good performance from Libraro (13 points, 59%). Its opponent of the day, Ortona, lost its last one in four sets but really made it hard for BBC Castellana Grotte with Buchegger and Peda doing well.
Joint leader with 15 points, BBC Castellana Grotte is looking like hot favourites against the young guns of Club Italia. The Italian prospects are finding it harder than last season to perform in this Serie A2, having lost 3-0 their last home game against Aversa.
Santa Croce bounced back from its poor outing in the derby against Siena with a road win over Lagonegro. Bertini’s men is fourth as it takes on Alessano, a team desperate to take points to move in the top half of the table following its 3-0 home loss against Tuscania. Cernic had been everywhere, in attack and reception but that was not enough for Alessano to avoid defeat.
Current joint leader of the Blue group, VBC Mondovì registered a 3-1 win over Grottazzolina away from home last weekend. On Sunday, they will play host to Mater Castellana Grotte, currently bottom but with a game in hand to be played on Wednesday 16 November at 7pm.
At lucnch time too on Sunday, Bergamo has reached a crossroad. A win against a top team like Cantù would change things at the top. Cantù stumbled home against Reggio Emilia in the last round and will try to bounce back in this Lombardy derby.
Reggio Emilia is enjoying its fifth place just two points from the leaders after back to back wins over Brescia and Cantù. They will entertain Civita Castellana, which they beat twice in playoffs but lost twice in regular season. Civita is currently third following its thrilling come-back from 2-0 down to win it 3-2 against Spoleto.
After a superb start to the season with two three-point wins, Montecchio Maggiore’s run was suddenly stopped with three consecutive defeats. The latest came in Brescia on a 3-0 score. Grottazzolina is the opponent of the day, last from bottom with four points, two behind Montecchio. A three-point win would therefore allow them to move above Montecchio in the standings.
Spoleto is looking to the future with optimism as they stand three points from the leaders and have a game in hand to play on Wednesday. In the last round, they were defeated at the tie-break away against Civita Castellana in spite of a perfect start that had taken them 2-0 up. They will play host to Brescia, who wants to keep Spoleto behind and prevent Mondovì from escaping. Cisolla and co comfortably beat Montecchio in the last round.
Serie A2 UnipolSai Round 6 – WHITE GROUP
Saturday 12 November at 8.30pm
GoldenPlast Potenza Picena – Basi Grafiche Geosat Lagonegro Live on Lega Volley Channel
Sunday 13 November at 4pm
Maury’s Italiana Assicurazioni Tuscania – Emma Villas Siena Live on Lega Volley Channel
6pm
Sigma Aversa – Sieco Service Ortona Live on Lega Volley Channel
7.30pm
BCC Castellana Grotte – Club Italia Crai Roma Live on Lega Volley
Kemas Lamipel Santa Croce – Aurispa Alessano Live on Lega Volley Channel
Standings White group
Emma Villas Siena 15, BCC Castellana Grotte 15, Maury’s Italiana Assicurazioni Tuscania 10, Sigma Aversa 9, Kemas Lamipel Santa Croce 9, GoldenPlast Potenza Picena 6, Sieco Service Ortona 5, Aurispa Alessano 5, Basi Grafiche Geosat Lagonegro 1, Club Italia Crai Roma 0
Serie A2 UnipolSai Round 6 – BLUE GROUP
Sunday 13 November at 12am
VBC Mondovì – Materdominivolley.it Castellana Grotte Live on Lega Volley Channel
Caloni Agnelli Bergamo – Pool Libertas Cantù Live on Lega Volley Channel
Sunday 13 November at 6pm
Conad Reggio Emilia – Ceramica Globo Civita Castellana Live on Lega Volley Channel
Sol Lucernari Montecchio Maggiore – Videx Grottazzolina Live on Lega Volley Channel
Monini Spoleto – Centrale del Latte McDonald’s Brescia Live on Lega Volley Channel
Standings Blu Group
VBC Mondovì 10, Centrale del Latte McDonald’s Brescia 10, Ceramica Globo Civita Castellana 9, Pool Libertas Cantù 9, Conad Reggio Emilia 8, Monini Spoleto 7, Caloni Agnelli Bergamo 7, Sol Lucernari Montecchio Maggiore 6, Videx Grottazzolina 4, Materdominivolley.it Castellana Grotte 2
1 game in hand: Monini Spoleto, Materdominivolley.it Castellana Grotte
