SERIE A1 TIM PLAYOFF SEMIFINALS
TREVISO BEATS AGAIN ROME AND REACHES THE TITLE FINALS.
PIACENZA WINS IN CNEO AND GOES AHEAD 2-1 IN THE SERIES

Sisley Treviso occupies the first of the two final places for the 2007 Championship title. In Game3 of the semifinals, team coached by Daniele Bagnoli wins for the second time in Rome (3-1) and closes the series in its favour. For Papi and teammates is the seventh consecutive final, the 13th of its history.
Waiting for Game4, the news arriving from the other semifinals, the one between Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo and Copra Berni Piacenza, are that the biancorossi win 3-1 in Piemonte, even without Bovolenta & Sergio. Success that allows Piacenza to lead the series 2-1 and Friday at 8.30PM (live on SKY Sport 2) they will have the matchball that is worth the scond final of their history after the one played in 2004.
Cuneo can only be happy thinking that they got the news that next year they will play the Champions League 2007/08, right achieved as winner of the Regular Season. The news arrived after that Treviso conquered the Final and, because already winner of the Italy Cup, they already have the access to the European Competition.

Friday 4 May at 8.30PM – Game4 Semifinals
Copra Berni PIACENZA – Bre Banca Lannutti CUNEO (live on SKY Sport 2)

Here after scores and comments about Semfinal Game 3.

M. ROMA VOLLEY – SISLEY TREVISO 1-3 (26-28, 20-25, 25-22, 16-25)
M. ROMA VOLLEY: Mastrangelo 11, Henno (L), Savani 13, Tofoli, Gatin 3, Zaytsev, Molteni 14, Rosalba, Hernandez 8, Kooistra 13, Semenzato 3. NE: Romero. Coach: Serniotti Roberto.
SISLEY TREVISO: Horstink 6, Novotny 11, Fei 20, Vermiglio 3, Papi 13, Farina (L), Ahmed, Endres 12, Tencati 13, Cisolla. NE: Kral, Winters. Coach: Bagnoli Daniele.
REFEREES: Massimo Cinti, Luciano Gaspari.
NOTES – Crowd 3200, income 19000. Sets lenght: 30′, 26′, 25′, 23′; tot: 104′

ROMA. Sisley Treviso is the first finalist of the 2006/2007 championship, after beating M. Roma Volley three matches zero in the series. Also Game3 does not have history, with Treviso able to win in Rome with the score of 3-1 (26-28, 20-25, 25-22, 26-25).
Sisley starts strong from the beginning. 5-8 at the first time out, thanks also to Rome errors, to Gustavo blocks and Fei attacks. Rome recovers (10-11), thanks especially to the performance of Savani, willing of play much better than in Game 1 and in Game2. 13-16 at the second time out. Roma tries the reaction again and eventually tie the score up and goes ahead 18-17 with a Molteni spike. Treviso goes once again ahead 19-21 but Rome keeps fighting and reach Treviso at 24-24. But at the end a Gustavo ace deliver the set to Treviso with the score of 26-28.
Great start of Treviso also in the second set. At the first time out the score is 5-8 for Sisley. Rome recovers 10-11 but at the second time out Sisley is again ahead 13-16. When the score is 14-19 Serniotti replaces Hernandez with Gatin hoping to change something. Gatin serves very well and his two aces get Rome closer to Treviso (20-23). But the points to recover are too much and Treviso closes also the second set in its favour with the score of 20-25.
Serniotti is not ready to surrender and on the third set tries new solutions: Kooistra plays opposite and Semenzato replaces hime in the role of middleblocker. Treviso seemed to not like the choice and goes down 8-6 at the first time out. The score keeps staying very tight, 15-1 at the second time out. Then Roma is able to score a crucial breack and goes ahead 21-19. Kooistra eventually closes the set for Rome with the score of 25-22.
The victory of the third set pushes Rome also in the 4th set. At the first time out the score is very close (7-8). Still tight the score at the second time out (14-16). But a Tofoli error and a Mastrangelo yellow cards puts Rome in confusion and Treviso flies to 14-20. It is too late to recover for Rome. Sisley closes 16-25 and waits to know if the other finalist will be Cuneo or Piacenza.

Comments:
HUBERT HENNO (libero M. Roma Volley): “I am sorry to go out in this way from the semifinals. I am sorry most of all because in the three matches we did not improve at all. Treviso is a very strong team that plays strong in each single set, we don’t. Next year we have to restart from the errors made and learn from them”.
LUCA TENCATI (middleblocker Sisley Treviso): “It has been important to close the series in three matches because now we have time to recover energy and injured players, and I am not only talking about Cisolla. The errors made during the three matches became cruciali”.

BRE BANCA LANNUTTI CUNEO – COPRA BERNI PIACENZA 1-3 (30-32, 22-25, 25-20, 23-25)

BRE BANCA LANNUTTI CUNEO: Wijsmans 25, Coscione 2, Lasko 5, Omrcen 10, Vergnaghi (L), Godoy Filho 10, Rabezzana 1, Curti 1, Abbadi 10, Garcia Pires Ribeiro 6, Oro 2. NE: Rigoni. Coach: Prandi Silvano.
COPRA BERNI PIACENZA: Fernandes Da Silva, Marshall 14, Botti 4, Grbic 2, Zlatanov 15, Simeonov 20, Cozzi 7, Cruz Goncalves 1, Manià (L). NE: Dunnes, Santos Dutra, Bovolenta. Coach: Dall’Olio Francesco.
REFEREES: Massimo Menghini, Simone Santi.
NOTES – Crowd 4600, income 30000. Sets lenght: 32′, 25′, 23′, 27′; tot: 107′.

CUNEO. Bad situation now for Bre Banca Lannutti that in front of more than 4.600 people did not win Game3 pf the semifinals series, victory that goes instead to Copra Berni Piacenza, that now leads 2-1 in the series. Mvp of the match Piacenza setter Nikola Grbic.
Very tight match since the beginning. Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo does not start very well and for the whole set has to follow Piacenza (7-8, 12-16); but when the score is 17-17 the fight point to point is on. Cuneo goes ahead 20-19 thankd to a Coscione point. Then still fitght point to point with Wijsmans battling Zlatanov (86% of positivity) and Giba that does not play well. At the end a Bre Banca Lannutti error will give the set to Piacenza with the score of 30-32.
In the 2nd set Prandi replaces Giba with Abbadi, Oro replaces Lasko but the choices did not improve the situation. Cuneo does not react while Zlatanov & Simeonov lead the game without finding too much resistence in the Cuneo blocke. Piacenza closes also the second set with the score of 22-25.
The situation is really delicate for Cuneo. Prandi does a lot of changes in the team. Wijsmans plays as opposite, Curti replaces Riad, while Lasko stays on the bench. Giba is back in the court. Cuneo starts eventually to play well, Giba plays better together with capitian Wijsmans. Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo wins the third set and reopens the match.
In the 4th set Cuneo recovers after a bad start but waste too much. Piacenza plays with more calm and confidence and goes ahead 19-24. But then something happens. Wijsmans (best scorer with 25 points) tries to lead an impossible recovery. When the recovery was almost done, Giba has the ball of the 24-24 but he got blocked by Simeonov.
Copra Berni Piacenza wins 3-1 and now leads the series 2-1.

SILVANO PRANDI (Coach Bre Banca Lannutti): “We had great chances to win the first set but we made too many errors on very simple points. Then we had proble to manage some situations like Piacneza blocks and serves; in the second set we really play bad. The whole team was not able to react. In the third set the six players n the court give us back some hope but then, in the 4th, we did not play us we can. We forgot our calm and our confidence in the crucial moments. Now we have to think about Game4 in order to arrive at that moment in the best possible shape.”

FRANCESCO DALL’OLIO (Coach Copra Berni Piacenza): “Tonight our game did work out very well. The boys played as a team and the team game came out. We were actually ready in the case that Cuneo would have move Wijsmans to the opposite role. Also for Game4 we will not make exceptional things but we will try to play with constance”.

NIKOLA GRBIC (setter Copra Berni Piacenza): “We did play and win a great match, but we don’t have to think now that we are already in the final, I cant think that Cuneo will play again as bad as they did tonight. On Friday it is going to be a very different match in Piacenza”