In the penultimate round in the A1, two playoffs match ups have been revealed: Trentino versus Verona and Cuneo versus Piacenza. Macerata and Monza are currently tied in the table, but Macerata has an advantage of one win. At the bottom of the table, Loreto is level with Forli, as both are fighting to stay up. Loreto will be safe if both lose without getting points. And if both have the same result, Loreto will also stay up.
ITAS DIATEC TRENTINO – SISLEY TREVISO 3-0 (25-21, 29-27, 35-33) –
ITAS DIATEC TRENTINO: Kaziyski 19, Birarelli 7, Portuondo Juantorena 9, Zygadlo, Vieira De Oliveira 2, Vissotto Neves 16, Sala 5, Sokolov, Herpe, Bari (L). DNP Gallosti, Fedrizzi, Corsini. Coach. Stoytchev.
SISLEY TREVISO: Carletti, Fei 16, Horstink 2, Papi 5, Farina (L), Kohut 2, Sabbi, De Togni 14, Bontje 5, Maruotti 13, Garcia 1. DNP Vanin, Cuda. Coach. Piazza.
Trentino couldn’t have hoped for a better last home game as it swept Treviso and secured top spot in the regular season. Thanks to this win, Trentino remained unbeaten at home in the league and became champions of the regular season for the third time.
Osmany Juantorena (Itas Diatec Trentino): “We did better than them in the crucial moments of the game, which were all in the second and third set. We won thanks to our character, and this is a lot more important than the three points we get out of it”.
Roberto Piazza (Sisley Treviso): “We played face to face with the World Champions for two sets, this has to be the positive thing about this game. I feel a bit disappointed with the second set because there has been some doubtful referee decisions. Anyway, we haven’t lost three-nil because of this. Trento deserved to win”.
MARMI LANZA VERONA – LUBE BANCA MARCHE MACERATA 0-3 (23-25, 23-25, 18-25) –
MARMI LANZA VERONA: Groppi, Latelli, Sottile 2, Della Lunga 10, Lasko 16, Kovar 4, Curti 4, Holt, Galabinov, Colaci (L), Kromm 5, Howard 3. DNP Peslac. Coach. Bagnoli.
LUBE BANCA MARCHE MACERATA: Raymaekers, Cisolla, Paparoni, Vermiglio, Bartoletti, Smerilli (L), Stankovic 7, Martino 16, Corsano (L), Omrcen 19, Swiderski 7, Podrascanin 9. DNP Monopoli. Coach. De Giorgi.
It was all easy for Macerata in Verona. The home side had already clearly set its mind on the playoffs. Martino MVP: he tallied 18 points (3 aces, 1 block and 57% in attack).
Dore Della Lunga (Marmi Lanza Verona): “It’s not been a great game, but this doesn’t take anything away from the value of our league. We are extremely satisfied to have made it to the playoffs with two games in hand because this allows us to prepare them well”.
Ferdinando De Giorgi (Lube Banca Marche Macerata): “Our approach to this difficult game was the right one. The first two sets were hard-fought but overall we had a good game. We came here to win, we want to get to the playoffs in form to do as well as we possibly can”.
TRENKWALDER MODENA – YOGA FORLì 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-18) –
TRENKWALDER MODENA: Ciabattini (L), Kooistra 5, Cuturic 12, Dennis 26, Kooy, Biribanti, Esko 3, Casoli 4, Diaz Mayorca, Piscopo 6. DNP Manià, Soli, Pagni. Coach. Prandi.
YOGA FORLì: Coscione 3, Carrol 1, Popp 12, Stancu 2, De Pandis (L), Casadei 18, Loglisci 3, Maric 8, Bacci, Gotch 1. DNP Mengozzi, Ainsworth, Bianchi. Coach. Molducci.
Modena obtained its sixth consecutive win at the expense of Forli in an intense and good-level game. Slovenian spiker Jasmin Cuturic was named MVP.
Silvano Prandi (Trenkwalder Modena): “Forli was tough to overcome. Overall we had a good game, I’m satisfied with the performances of Ciabattini and Cuturic, who proved once more to be key. Hopefully, we’ll also get Diaz back to his best form”.
Raffaele Casadei (Yoga Forlì): “We played good volleyball in the first two sets. Unfortunately we made a couple of mistakes too many and Modena was able to show its worth. Everything will be down to the last game, we will give our best from the first to the last point”.
PRISMA TARANTO – RPA-LUIGIBACCHI.IT PERUGIA 3-1 (25-22, 25-27, 25-21, 25-19) –
PRISMA TARANTO: De Oliveira 25, Ricciardello (L), Montagna, Cozzi 7, Moretti 18, Suxho 3, Westphal 6, Elia 7, Rodrigo Pinto 4, Quartarone. DNP Candellaro, Bartman. Coach. Serniotti.
RPA-LUIGIBACCHI.IT PERUGIA: Bregliozzi Dario, Bucaioni 5, Bartolini Lorenzo, Nemec 27, Botti 14, Ogurcak 15, Lo Bianco 4, Iaccarino Gianluca, Fanuli (L), Petruzzo 2. Coach. Di Pinto.
Taranto did the job against a reshuffled team of Perugia. It improved its total tally of points compared to last season (30-28). The rhythm was the one of a friendly game, in which Cleber (25 points) and Moretti (18) made the decision.
Antonio Bongiovanni (Prisma Taranto): “This is a terrible victory. In a way, I didn’t want it. Considering all the effort I put in it, I don’t think I deserve such poor performance. I am appalled and I applaud Perugia: a group of young players that gave a lesson of humbleness to some athletes on holiday. Sport is about making the effort, not just taking money”.
Massimo Botti (RPA-Luigibacchi.it): “I am happy with my team’s performance. With all due respect to Taranto, we went down there to give an opportunity to our young talented players. We were satisfied with the fact we took the second set. Obviously we couldn’t do more, because we lacked the understanding. Let’s focus now on the last day of the championship and the Cup”.
TONNO CALLIPO VIBO VALENTIA – ACQUA PARADISO MONZA 1-3 (25-21, 21-25, 27-29, 21-25) –
TONNO CALLIPO VIBO VALENTIA: Gonzalez 1, Corvetta 1, Marquez 1, Andrae 10, Simeonov 18, Quiroga 13, Tencati 7, Barone 12, Cicola (L). DNP Cannistrà, Ferraro, Moltò. Coach. Uriarte.
ACQUA PARADISO MONZA: Sivula 6, Rauwerdink 5, Krumins, Semenzato 3, Forni 7, Molteni 15, Buti 12, Travica 6, Gavotto 17, Exiga (L). DNP Tuominen, Haldane, De Luca. Coach. Berruto.
Vibo’s home season ended with a 3-1 loss against Monza. The home side had a good game, but Monza was ready to respond physically and mentally.
Jon Uriarte (Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia): “We wanted to say goodbye to our fans in a different way but it was not possible. Let’s focus on the Forli game now for the last game of the league. Shame it ended up like this”.
Mauro Berruto (Acqua Paradiso Monza): “We gathered some more valuable points on a tough court. I am satisfied with the performance of the boys and the way they fought on every ball. This is a good sign for the remaining of the season”.
ESSE-TI CARILO LORETO – ARAN CUCINE ABRUZZO PINETO 3-1 (25-14, 20-25, 25-23, 25-18) –
ESSE-TI CARILO LORETO: De Angelo Freitas 3, Marra (L), Marzola, Diachkov 17, Dolfo 6, Van Dijk 19, Visentin 4, Belcecchi, Paoli 4, Cester 4, Shumov 17. DNP Tereshin. Coach. Moretti.
ARAN CUCINE ABRUZZO PINETO: Ravellino 8, Perez Moreno 13, Modica 3, Lampariello, Sborgia 5, Di Franco 11, Perazzolo 15, Armeti (L). DNP Centorame. Coach. Fant.
Loreto reached its target: it got the three points it needed and caught up Forli, third from bottom in the league. The blocks (20) made the difference for Moretti’s team, as Shumov was named MVP. Loreto and Forli will play for their lives in the A1 in the last game of the season, respectively in Macerata and at home against Vibo Valentia.
Marco Visentin (Esse-Ti Carilo Loreto): “We needed those three points, which were crucial to keep our hopes to stay up alive. We felt the pressure and had a few too many ups and downs, which cost us the second set. Fortunately we did well to stay focused and get the result we needed to play our season on the last game in Macerata”.
Robert Fant (Aran Cucine Abruzzo Pineto): “We have never managed to play with the technical and physical level that this division requires. As a consequence we had some poor results. Still, we kept working hard, focused and organized to get on court and give it our best shot like we did today”.
ANDREOLI LATINA – BRE BANCA LANNUTTI CUNEO 2-3 (25-20, 25-22, 14-25, 17-25, 7-15) –
ANDREOLI LATINA: Van Den Dries 17, Gitto 12, Cortina (L), Snippe 16, Nikic 12, Fabroni 1, Geric 2, Vujevic 1, Spairani, Giombini 4. DNP Giovi, Saitta, Labardi. Coach. Medei.
BRE BANCA LANNUTTI CUNEO: Wijsmans 12, Henno (L), Parodi 6, Fortunato 19, Nuti, Nikolov 13, Grbic 7, Peda, Mastrangelo 10, Patriarca 3. DNP Ariaudo, Jeroncic, Pieri. Coach. Giuliani.
In its last home game of the season, Latina forced Cuneo to the tie-break. Fortunato MVP.
Carmelo Gitto (Andreoli Latina): “I am happy with the court time I had and with the season done, this is my first experience in the A1.
Francesco Fortunato (Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo): “We are glad to finish second. Now we have to focus on the Cup because the game against Taranto will have no influence. In Europe, we’ll play with the Mikasa ball, we’ll have to train with this ball. As for the game, Latina played very well in the first two sets, but then we improved our game”.
Results:
Itas Diatec Trentino-Sisley Treviso 3-0 (25-21, 29-27, 35-33) Live on Rai Sport Più; Marmi Lanza Verona-Lube Banca Marche Macerata 0-3 (23-25, 23-25, 18-25); Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia-Acqua Paradiso Monza 1-3 (25-21, 21-25, 27-29, 21-25); Andreoli Latina-Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo 2-3 (25-20, 25-22, 14-25, 17-25, 7-15); Prisma Taranto-RPA-LuigiBacchi.it Perugia 3-1 (25-22, 25-27, 25-21, 25-19); Trenkwalder Modena-Yoga Forlì 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-18); Esse-ti Carilo Loreto-Aran Cucine Abruzzo Pineto 3-1 (25-14, 20-25, 25-23, 25-18). Rested: CoprAtlantide Piacenza
Fixtures:
Lube Banca Marche Macerata-Esse-ti Carilo Loreto; RPA-LuigiBacchi.it Perugia-Itas Diatec Trentino; Acqua Paradiso Monza-CoprAtlantide Piacenza; Yoga Forlì-Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia; Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo-Prisma Taranto; Sisley Treviso-Andreoli Latina; Aran Cucine Abruzzo Pineto-Trenkwalder Modena. Rested: Marmi Lanza Verona
League table:
Itas Diatec Trentino 69, Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo 62, Sisley Treviso 56, Trenkwalder Modena 56, Lube Banca Marche Macerata 54, Acqua Paradiso Monza 54, CoprAtlantide Piacenza 51, Marmi Lanza Verona 44, RPA-LuigiBacchi.it Perugia 36, Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia 31, Prisma Taranto 30, Andreoli Latina 24, Esse-ti Carilo Loreto 18, Yoga Forlì 18, Aran Cucine Abruzzo Pineto 6. Note: 1 game more: Marmi Lanza Verona.
