Serie A1 TIM
Round 23
The Cup Final Four is behind us and the league is back with three games on Saturday: at 4pm, Monza and Taranto will fight it out, then at 8.30pm the cup winners Trentino hosts Loreto, while Perugia entertains Pineto.
The other games will be played at 6pm on Sunday, with the 71st encounter between Cuneo and Modena. Modena will line up new signing Cuturic. Macerata will have its newcomer too with Dragan Stankovic substituting injured Lebl, and Swiderski is also back (Dentinho went back home) as it plays host to Forli. The Italian champs face Latina, while Verona heads south to Vibo Valentia.
Round 23
Saturday 6 February at 4pm
Acqua Paradiso Monza – Prisma Taranto – differed Rai Sport Più dalle 17.30 circa
Live streaming on http://www.raisport.rai.it/dl/raisport/multimedia/diretta.html
(Zucca-Boris)
Saturday 6 February at 8.30pm
Itas Diatec Trentino – Esse-ti Carilo Loreto
(Barbero-Pozzato)
RPA-LuigiBacchi.it Perugia – Aran Cucine Abruzzo Pineto
(Gini-Longo)
Sunday 7 February at 6pm
Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo – Trenkwalder Modena – Live on Rai Sport Più
Live streaming on http://www.raisport.rai.it/dl/raisport/multimedia/diretta.html
(La Micela-Cesare)
Lube Banca Marche Macerata – Yoga Forlì
(Pessolano-Perri)
CoprAtlantide Piacenza – Andreoli Latina
(Cinti-Tanasi)
Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia – Marmi Lanza Verona
(Ippoliti-Sampaolo)
Sisley Treviso – RESTED
League table
Itas Diatec Trentino 53, Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo 48, CoprAtlantide Piacenza 45, Sisley Treviso 43, Trenkwalder Modena 40, Lube Banca Marche Macerata 39, Acqua Paradiso Monza 34, Marmi Lanza Verona 32, Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia 26, RPA-LuigiBacchi.it Perugia, Prisma Taranto 23, Andreoli Latina 19, Yoga Forlì 17, Esse-ti Carilo Loreto 14, Aran Cucine Abruzzo Pineto 6.
1 game in hand: Trenkwalder Modena, Lube Banca Marche Macerata, Acqua Paradiso Monza, RPA-LuigiBacchi.it Perugia, Prisma Taranto, Yoga Forlì, Aran Cucine Abruzzo Pineto
Acqua Paradiso Monza – Prisma Taranto
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 1 (Monza won it)
Cleber de Oliveira (Prisma Taranto): “We’ve been preparing this game for two weeks. We trained well to obtain a good result. Monza is in good form and is definitely having a good season. We should not be thinking that this one and the next against Vibo are the games of the season because otherwise we’ll be too much under pressure and we’d run the risk of overdoing it. We have to stay composed”.
Mauro Berruto (Acqua Paradiso Monza): “We have both had a long break, in terms of competitive games obviously. We have worked very hard in those two weeks and the fact that Andrea Semenzato is back allows us to add quality to our training. His presence is really important, we are glad to finally have him back. The Latina game was the first one in our fight to obtain a playoff spot but the Taranto game is crucial. Besides, this will be the only home game of the three coming up. We’ll then travel to Forli and Pineto, so Taranto is an opportunity not to be missed. Our run started very well, let’s build on that”.
Itas Diatec Trentino – Esse-ti Carilo Loreto
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 1 (Trento)
Andrea Bari (Itas Diatec Trentino): “It won’t be easy at all to get our minds set straight back on the league. It’s normal to see the level drop a bit after Cup victory and I’m sure Loreto will come to Trento ready to take advantage. Our opponent need points to stay up but we want to keep our advantage on Cuneo. Hopefully the game will go well without too much problems, but whatever happens we’ll try to be ready to react”.
Davide Marra (Esse-ti Carilo Loreto): “Trento proved it was one step above all the others by winning the cup and we are honoured to face them. Still, we’ll go there with usual determination and will to get points in order to stay up in the elite. We’ve been training with intensity in recent weeks, be that technically or physically, we are ready to face this tough but exciting game”.
RPA-LuigiBacchi.it Perugia – Aran Cucine Abruzzo Pineto
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 3 (3-0 Perugia)
Vincenzo Di Pinto (RPA-LuigiBacchi.it Perugia): “We’ve worked really hard of late, but I’ve noticed great progress in the team. We are improving. As far as Loreto is concerned, I can say they have created more than one ‘upset’, even if it has now lost some important players. Perugia is stronger. We have to focus on our game, and play with our qualities to win it”.
Henrique Ronaldo (Aran Cucine Abruzzo Pineto): “Given the tricky situation in which we are right now, we can’t mature that much hopes for the trip to Perugia. The team trained hard during the week despite the fact that the group was reduced. In Perugia, just like for any other game, we have to play one point at a time, without thinking of the final result of the league table”.
Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo – Trenkwalder Modena
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 60 (33-27 Modena)
Luigi Mastrangelo (Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo): “It will be a great battle, especially if we consider the 3-0 score line when we first met this season: on Sunday it will be a different team. The serve will be very important for us, if we serve well, they could have difficulty to build their play”.
Wytze Kooistra (Trenkwalder Modena): “With or without Wijsmans, Cuneo is a very strong team: I think the cup final put face to face the two strongest teams of all today. Compared to last Saturday, we’ll need to serve better and make less mistakes: on one hand, you have to take risks against the top teams and be courageous, but on the other hand you need to limit the mistakes, because they always punish you. We’ll need to get some points in our next few games because we want to stay up there and then see where we could finish the regular season”.
Lube Banca Marche Macerata – Yoga Forlì
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 13 (12-1 Macerata)
Dragan Stankovic (Lube Banca Marche Macerata): “My debut in the Italian league is definitely an important moment of my career. I’ll probably feel the excitement right from the warm up. In the two weeks of training, I’ve already found a decent understanding with my new teammates, and the games will be useful to further improve on that. I know a few names of the Forli team, starting with Goran Maric. They need points to stay up, so we need to face them with the right determination, staying focused. We need the three points to move up the table as much as possible, and celebrate my debut with a victory would be nice”.
Alberto Casadei (Yoga Forlì): “We’ll have a go at it. We played well in Piacenza for a set, and we know we could have done more. So we’ll go to Macerata with the will to do better. In the second half of championship, in the games against the other teams aiming to stay up, we played well, but we still need a good result against one of the top teams. It’s been a good week of training, let’s give it our best shot”.
CoprAtlantide Piacenza – Andreoli Latina
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 17 (10-7 Piacenza)
Giovanni Rossi (CoprAtlantide Piacenza): “We tried to take advantage of the break as much as we could. We went over previous phases, and tried to modify a few things. The team is fine, the boys physically worked very hard but it’s aimed at getting them in shape for Sunday. Thanks to the players back, Latina is reaching its targets and it will come in Piacenza without anything to lose. We will have to be careful, put them under pressure and use all our technical potential”.
Carmelo Gitto (Andreoli Latina): “Piacenza is an excellent team, to play in their gym will be tough. We just have to play our game, we have absolutely nothing to lose. It would be great to get something in the house of the Italian champions”.
Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia – Marmi Lanza Verona
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 18 (10-8 Verona)
Francesco Prestinenzi (Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia): “Sunday’s game will be a sane battle of sport between two teams that have met many times through the years. A win would keep our hopes of a playoff spot alive. Then there will be other games all as important. We definitely can make it to the playoffs, it’s up to us, we have what it takes to make it. In the last few games, we have started to serve well again, and that is one thing that can limit Verona. If we can improve our reception too, given that they are strong on the serve, they could have more problems that expected”.
Massimo Colaci (Marmi Lanza Verona): “This will be a fundamental game: Vibo still has a good chance to make it to the playoffs and the remembrance of their long winning streak of last season increases their hope. We prepared well, we know it won’t be easy because Vibo is a good team that is obtaining good results. Their will be an electric atmosphere but we are confident, we know we can get points there. We really want to go to the playoffs, we haven’t taken part in the cup this season so our will and motivation is even bigger. We want to do better than last season too”.
Serie A2 TIM
Round 21
Mantova and Cavriago opened the 21st round on Tuesday with Cavriago coming away with a tie-break win. Back from Montecatini with its medal around the neck, Roma will play host to Gioia del Colle, last from bottom. The disappointed finalist will face Città di Castello at 8.30pm. League leaders Castellana Grotte have a 26-point advantage on its opponent of the day Bassano. Crema entertains Sora, firmly standing in third place. Led by new coach Giuseppe Lorizio, Isernia hosts Santa Croce, while the other team from Tuscany meets Ravenna. After the weekend dedicated to the Italian cup, Padova will benefit from further rest.
Round 21
Sunday 7 February at 6pm
BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte – Bassano Volley
(Piana-Cerquoni)
Samgas Crema – Globo Banca Popolare del Frusinate Sora
(Montanari-Bartoloni)
Katay Geotec Isernia – Codyeco Santa Croce
(Trevisan-Marchello)
M. Roma Volley – Nava Gioia del Colle
(Sessolo-Guerzoni)
Quasar Massa Versilia – Marcegaglia Ravenna
(Fiore-Guerra)
Sunday 7 February at 8.30pm
Zinella Bologna – Città di Castello Pallavolo – Live on SNAI Sat from 8.20pm
(Prati-Balboni)
Pallavolo Padova – RESTED
Played Tuesday 2 February
Canadiens Mantova-Edilesse Cavriago 2-3 (25-20, 12-25, 23-25, 25-20, 11-15)
League table
BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte 47, M. Roma Volley 43, Globo Banca Popolare del Frusinate Sora 38, Zinella Bologna 35, Marcegaglia Ravenna 33, Codyeco S.Croce 30, Samgas Crema 29, Città di Castello Pallavolo 25, Pallavolo Padova, Edilesse Cavriago 24, Quasar Massa Versilia 22, Bassano Volley 21, Katay Geotec Isernia 20, Nava Gioia del Colle 17, Canadiens Mantova 15.
1 game in hand: Globo Banca Popolare del Frusinate Sora, Zinella Bologna, Marcegaglia Ravenna, Samgas Crema; 1 more game: Edilesse Cavriago
