Serie A1 TIM
First return games
The first return round starts tonight at 8.30 with Verona versus Cuneo, given that the PalaOlimpia will not be available in the next few days. Tomorrow at 4pm, Latina hosts Trentino and it’s live on Rai Tre. At 6, Vibo and Pineto fights it out, while the rest of the game will be played on Sunday at 6pm. On Rai Sport Più, Monza entertains Perugia, while Taranto travels to Piacenza. Treviso hosts Loreto. Macerata versus Modena will be a first taste of the Cup clash between the two teams scheduled on the 30th of December. Forli rested.
Next round
First round return games
Friday 18 December at 8.30
Marmi Lanza Verona – Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo
(Sampaolo-Pol)
Saturday 19 December at 4pm
Andreoli Latina – Itas Diatec Trentino – Live on Rai Tre
(Padoan-Giani)
Saturday 19 December at 6pm
Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia – Aran Cucine Abruzzo Pineto
(Ravallese-Tanasi)
Sunday 20 December at 6pm
Acqua Paradiso Monza – RPA-LuigiBacchi.it Perugia – Live on Rai Sport Più – live streaming on
www.rai.tv/dl/RaiTV/diretta.html
(Puecher-Barbero)
CoprAtlantide Piacenza – Prisma Taranto
(Ippoliti-Satanassi)
Lube Banca Marche Macerata – Trenkwalder Modena
(Bartolini-Perri)
Sisley Treviso – Esse-ti Carilo Loreto
(La Micela-Zucca)
Yoga Forlì – RESTED
League table
Itas Diatec Trentino 36, Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo 33, Sisley Treviso, Trenkwalder Modena 29, Lube Banca Marche Macerata, CoprAtlantide Piacenza 28, Acqua Paradiso Monza, RPA-LuigiBacchi.it Perugia 22, Marmi Lanza Verona 20, Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia 17, Prisma Taranto 16, Esse-ti Carilo Loreto 11, Yoga Forlì 10, Andreoli Latina 8, Aran Cucine Abruzzo Pineto 6.
Andreoli Latina – Itas Diatec Trentino
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 15 (9-6 Trento)
Marco Fabroni (Andreoli Latina): “Yet another tough game, this time against the league leaders. We’ll have to fight. Hopefully, we’ll manage to force a tie-break and get something out of it”.
Giuseppe Cormio (General Manager Itas Diatec Trentino): “No time to rest, at least until the end of January. The difficulty is to play all those games with maximum focus, without ever relaxing. The game in Latina will be particularly tricky, because, despite the difference in the league table, this is a good team. They already made it seriously difficult for us earlier this season at the PalaTrento. We also have to deal with another change of ball, without much time to train for this game. That’s why we’ll have to keep the spirit we showed in the Champions League to win. We can’t afford to lose point on the way right now”.
Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia – Aran Cucine Abruzzo Pineto
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 5 (3-2 Vibo Valentia)
Jon Uriarte (Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia): “The group trained intensely again this week, with maximum effort and energy. The team knows it can’t afford to lose against Pineto, we need a result not only for our league position but especially to gain confidence. The next few games will be very hard, Trento, then Treviso, so a victory tomorrow will give us a lift. I’m sure the crowd will see the team with a smile but ready to fight”.
Manuele Ravellino (Aran Cucine Abruzzo Pineto): “I played in Vibo in 2006-07: in a way, it was an unlucky experience given that we went down, but I have good memories from this experience, from the club. Given their recent results and what their chairman said, they will surely be under pressure and will do everything possible to get a result. On the contrary, we are in good form, testimony the wins over Loreto and Modena: this away game is another test, where we’ll try to get more points to stay up. If it could come with an entertaining style of play, that would be even better, but on Saturday what matters most, if not exclusively, is the consistency in getting results”.
Acqua Paradiso Monza – RPA-LuigiBacchi.it Perugia
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 1 (Perugia)
Mauro Berruto (Acqua Paradiso Monza): “We’re starting the return games, a sprint of 14 stages to reach the targets of a whole season. We begin in Perugia, which is tied with us in the table. We kept a bad taste in the mouth from the first encounter this season, so we’ll try to make the progress made in recent months count, showing our technique and this competitive spirit, which lacked on Sunday against Piacenza. Perugia is a team which has what it takes to be a lot more ambitious than us. To be tied with them after 14 game makes us proud and this motivates us even more for Sunday’s game”.
Bino Rizzuto (Direttore Sportivo RPA-LuigiBacchi.it Perugia): “We’ll try to keep playing as we are, with excellent performances, in this beginning of second half of championship. Even the game against Trento was well-played. Martin Nemec, who substituted Cernic, really had an excellent game. Ogurcak trains with continuity again and he’s fine, just like Vigor Bovolenta: he only had a bit of a flu”.
CoprAtlantide Piacenza – Prisma Taranto
PAST ENCOUNTER: 9 (6-3 Piacenza)
Giovanni Rossi (CoprAtlantide Piacenza): “Physically, we are rather well (apart obviously from Durante), we are pulling together and if we keep doing so, we’ll improve. Taranto is different compared to when we faced them away. They changed a spiker and have Rivaldo back as its main attacking force. It is a good team, I am not aware of what stopped them from getting in the Italian Cup. We are where we expected to be even if we have been struggling a bit too much in the various competitions”.
Zibì Bartman (Prisma Taranto): “I’m sure we will play a good game in Piacenza. I say this with conviction because, even though I have not been here for a long time, I’ve seen that my teammates are working really hard in training and are doing everything to make me feel at ease in the group as soon as possible so that I can contribute very quickly. The true Bartman is not the one seen in Cuneo. I like to attack a lot and hit the serve hard”.
Lube Banca Marche Macerata – Trenkwalder Modena
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 48 (27-21 Modena)
Lorenzo Smerilli (Lube Banca Marche Macerata): “We should not be deceived by the fact that Modena surprisingly lost its last game. Prandi’s team had a great first half of championship and it remains one of the strongest teams of the league. It’s a prestigious game, we know we’ll face each other again a few days later in the cup so that will give us extra motivation. It would be nice to start well the return games: we have to build on the two good sets played in Maaseik”.
Angel Dennis (Trenkwalder Modena): “We’re facing a very difficult game, Macerata is one of the best teams of the league. We’ve lost our last game, we might have faded a bit, but it’s time to get back on track. We’ll need maximum concentration and hopefully by being focused we can have an excellent performance. We’ll need our best volleyball to clinch this one. I repeat, we are aware of the quality of our opponent but we are up for it, we know we’ll need intensity and determination. The Italian cup? It’s true we’ll face again in 10 days, an in-or-out game, but we obviously have to think one game at a time and the first one is in the league”.
Sisley Treviso – Esse-ti Carilo Loreto
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 1 (Treviso)
Samuele Papi (Sisley Treviso): “We are in great form right now and we have trained this week without any problems. Horstink is back, he seemed Ok in the last few training, so we have our full squad, but we must not underestimate our opponent. Focus and consistency will be key. Too many times in such games this season, we’ve lacked concentration and that led to a loss of energy and points. So let’s play to the maximum, we proved we could do it”.
Luca Moretti (Esse-ti Carilo Loreto): “The second half of championship is the most important one for us, to reach our target. Right now we are in a good position even if the other teams fighting to stay up have closed the gap recently. This is why we’ll have to fight in every game to try to get something out of them, even if we know it won’t be easy: our opponent have improved and the road that leads to safety is a long one. We’ll try our best against Treviso too and we’ll try to improve on certain aspects on which we have been training during the week”.
Serie A2 TIM
Round 14
There are only two games left before reaching the halfway point of the season in the A2. On Sunday all the games will be played at 6pm with Gioia del Colle versus Ravenna live on TV. On top of the league, there is Castellana Grotte, which travels to Bologna, which is on the chase 7 points behind. Roma and Sora are still tied in second place, they will respectively face Massa and Bassano. In fourth place, 19 points behind the pace-setters, Crema plays host to Padova, fifth. Cavriago is rested.
Round 14
Sunday 20 December at 6pm
Quasar Massa Versilia – M. Roma Volley
(Falzoni-Toso)
Canadiens Mantova – Codyeco S.Croce
(Piana-Finocchiaro)
Globo Banca Popolare del Frusinate Sora – Bassano Volley
(Puletti-Falivene)
Samgas Crema – Pallavolo Padova
(Gini-Prandi)
Città di Castello Pallavolo – Katay Geotec Isernia
(Balboni-Braico)
Zinella Bologna – BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte
(Gentile-Piersanti)
Nava Gioia del Colle – Marcegaglia Ravenna – Differed on SNAI Sat from 8.20
(Vagni-Longo)
Edilesse Cavriago – RESTED
League table
BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte 30, M. Roma Volley, Globo Banca Popolare del Frusinate Sora 28, Marcegaglia Ravenna, Zinella Bologna 23, Samgas Crema 19, Pallavolo Padova 17, Codyeco S.Croce, Bassano Volley 16, Città di Castello Pallavolo 15, Edilesse Cavriago 13, Katay Geotec Isernia, Quasar Massa Versilia 12, Canadiens Mantova 11, Nava Gioia del Colle 10
Note: 1 game more: Bassano Volley, Edilesse Cavriago
