Serie A1
Ready for third act
Round three will kick off with Saturday’s game: Roma versus Forli. Andrea Giani’s team wants to bounce back after the defeat in Vibo Valentia, while Molducci’s boys want their first points of the season at all cost. On Sunday, the big clash puts Treviso and Cuneo face to face. Winners in their last game, a confident Latina team takes on Vibo eager to add up to its victory over Roma last weekend. Newly promoted Castellana Grotte, which is still without a point, plays its second consecutive home game against Verona, full of confidence after their home win. The leaders Trentino, who won in midweek a forwarded game of the tenth round over Piacenza, plays host to Monza, willing to redeem itself following a disappointing loss. Macerata is aiming for a third straight victory as it hosts San Giustino, who made a good impression against Trento in the second round and will try to gather its first points. Piacenza and Modena is the derby of the weekend, the first has shown improvements but is still without a win, while the second looks in great shape as it clinched two tie-break wins”.
Round 3
Saturday 6 November at 4pm
M. Roma Volley – Yoga Forlì Live on Rai Sport 1
Live streaming on http://www.raisport.rai.it/dl/raisport/multimedia/diretta.html
(Braico-Rapisarda)
Sunday 7 November at 6pm
Andreoli Latina – Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia
(Satanassi-Padoan)
BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte – Marmi Lanza Verona
(La Micela-Caltabiano)
Itas Diatec Trentino – Acqua Paradiso Monza e Brianza
(Pol-Gnani)
Lube Banca Marche Macerata – RPA-LuigiBacchi.it San Giustino
(Castagna-Cipolla)
Copra Morpho Piacenza – Casa Modena
(Sampaolo-Pasquali)
Sunday 7 November at 6.15pm
Sisley Treviso – Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo Live on Rai Sport 1
Live streaming on http://www.raisport.rai.it/dl/raisport/multimedia/diretta.html
(Saltalippi-Santi)
League table
Itas Diatec Trentino 9*, Lube Banca Marche Macerata 6, Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo 6, Casa Modena 4, Andreoli Latina 4, Marmi Lanza Verona 4, Sisley Treviso 4, Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza 3, Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia 3, M. Roma Volley 2, Yoga Forlì 0, RPA-LuigiBacchi.it San Giustino 0, Copra Morpho Piacenza 0*, BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte 0.
* played one more game
M. Roma Volley – Yoga Forlì
PAST ENCOUNTERS: None
Martin Lebl (M. Roma Volley): “Our team has a huge potential, and you’ll see that sooner or later the results will prove this point. We obviously find it hard to face teams that are meant to be of our level, because having to get points at all cost is never easy. The pressure to beat teams that have our characteristics is not helping us. Roma is looking to jell game after game. It has changed it starting six and needs to adapt. Our setter arrived two days before the start of the season, he needs time to be ready to set the rhythm. There are a few mistakes, tactical misunderstandings, lapses especially, like against Vibo Valentia, we have some players who lack experience in the top division. When all this will be rectified, the victories will come. For now, we’ll try to limit the damage”.
Giovanni Gavelli (President Yoga Forlì): “In spite of minor injuries we managed to prepare well, and after having congratulated Treviso and Cuneo we are looking for points. It will be tough in Roma. We want to serve well and build our game on the work done in the last few weeks. It is tight in the second half of the league table as well now, so fighting on every point and getting even a point here and there becomes crucial”.
Sisley Treviso – Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 77 (48-29 Treviso)
Roberto Piazza (Coach Sisley Treviso): “Last year we lost six in seven against Cuneo, so the game presentation is easily done. I don’t know what we’ll be able to do this season, I have some ideas, but we’re only at the start and even if we aim very high, we still have a lot to work on. Ambitions set out in words are one thing, the facts are another. Our attitude was wrong at the start in Modena last Sunday, I tried to understand why. We have to be ready against Cuneo: they have a powerful serve and an excellent ability to counter attack. We have to make it as difficult for them as possible with our serving tactics. I don’t think the absentees in Cuneo can influence the game. They have not become champions by chance, they have a deep roster and many strong players. Last year we’ve seen in the playoffs that it did not matter who started the game but who played. We’ll decide which middle blockers to line up at the last moment, according to the characteristics of our opponents, but our strengths are not individual players but the group, and we have to prove it if we want to win against teams such as Cuneo”.
Nikola Grbic (Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo): “It will be a very tough away game on Sunday in Treviso. First of all because we are still looking to find our best shape and are still missing important players like Wijmans and Mastrangelo. Then, after an up-and-down performance against Modena last Sunday, I expect Treviso to come back stronger. We know it will be very difficult but we are going there with that awareness: I think this is important. Fortunately, we have already jelled in some ways on court thanks to the fact the group is mostly the same as last year. Still, some understandings are still to be consolidated, like with Volkov for example. We are working hard on that”.
Andreoli Latina – Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 8 (5-3 Vibo Valentia)
Carmelo Gitto (Andreoli Latina): “We know Vibo is a good team. We have to prepare the game well and play with the fighting spirit we showed against Castellana Grotte. E also have to limit our mistakes, especially on the serve. They have a good outside hitter, Simeonov, we’ll have to block him as much as we can at the net. I’ll see again Rocco Barone, former teammate in the youth national team. A serious and humble guy, I respect him a lot for that and especially because he managed to get in the A1 with a team from his home region”.
Giuseppe Defina (Team Manager Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia): “Latina is a different team from last season. They have a good outside hitter, he’s young but has a great technique. They also have two excellent spikers, Vujevic and Kovacevic, who are doing well in this beginning of championship. Besides, Sottile guarantees as setter a certain assurance that was maybe lacking last season. I think this will be a tight game, but I’m sure the boys will be ready and will give continuity to the excellent job carried out with coach Di Pinto”.
BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte – Marmi Lanza Verona
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 4 (3-1 Verona)
Radames Lattari (coach BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte): “Verona’s main player is Lasko, but it is an excellent and extremely competitive team with Cuban Cala very strong in attack, Herpe who gives balance and Slovakian middle blocker Pajenik who is very effective, without mentioning Meoni, substituted very well by Latelli. We have to face this game with great determination and play our best volleyball without any fear”.
Gabriele Cottarelli (GM Marmi Lanza Verona): “Castellana Grotte are part of a group of teams, like us, which will fight to stay up. They started off in Trento, where it was very tough if not impossible to get points. The first at home, on their comeback in the top division, was not fortunate but that can happen during a season. I’m sure Lattari’s team will have forgotten about it and will be eager to prove to themselves and to the fans that it was just an accident. We took four points in two games, surely some important results but that cannot be taken into consideration to make early judgement on the rest of the season. We’ll go to Castellana aiming to play a good game and, a normal thing for whoever play sport, we will try to win”.
Itas Diatec Trentino – Acqua Paradiso Monza e Brianza
PRECEDENTI: 2 (Trentino won both)
Emanuele Birarelli (Itas Diatec Trentino): “It’s better not to look too much at the results and the table right now. The season is long and full of opportunities to stay at the top or make up for possible defeats. I think the quality of our game is more significant, we must try to make little steps forward in our game. Anyway, being top of the regular season does not matter much now. That’s what we’ll try to do, play well against Monza, a team that is probably even stronger than the one we’ve met so far because they have more of a united group. It’s easy to see from outside when a group is a real unit. The players get on court with a positive spirit and they play volleyball without being nervy. In such an atmosphere, it’s easier to resolve problems and get good results. Let’s be careful then”.
Luca Monti (Coach Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza): “The disappointment of the Macerata defeat is behind us. We have trained with the right intensity this week. I’ve told the boys to play without thinking too much. We have to be careful not to get in crisis against Trento if things don’t go perfectly. We have to take advantage of all the opportunities that we’ll create ourselves or that the opponent will hand us. The aim is therefore to get rid of the tension and play with the same spirit as against Piacenza, free of any pressure”.
Lube Banca Marche Macerata – RPA-LuigiBacchi.it San Giustino
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 18 (16-2 Macerata)
Alessandro Paparoni (Lube Banca Marche Macerata): “Our good start must be considered something on which we have to build, it should give us the motivation to keep going this way in the next few games. We met San Giustino in a friendly a few weeks ago, it’s an excellent team, with everything needed to make it tough for us. It will be important to keep the same attitude as last Sunday against Monza, to remain focused and composed. These are crucial weapons to become a great team and that’s what we want”.
Fabricio Dias (RPA-LuigiBacchi.it San Giustino): “In the A1, all the games are tough. Now, we are meeting Macerata, another difficult one. Why not win in Macerata? Nobody is too strong. We are capable of having good performances, I think we did well against Trento and that we can do fine against Macerata too”.
Copra Morpho Piacenza – Casa Modena
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 20 (12-8 Piacenza)
Juan Carlos De Lellis (Athletic trainer Copra Morpho Piacenza): “It’s always difficult against Modena, even more so now because we are looking for our identity. We are working every day to get better and I have no doubt we will improve. I’m sure we will do anything possible to bounce back against Modena. This will be a new step in our evolution. I know our fans will create a great atmosphere and support us during the whole game. I take this opportunity to thank all the fans that were in Trento to encourage us”.
Marco Fabroni (Casa Modena): “A few players had minor physical worries but we are training well anyway. Piacenza had three consecutive defeats, it plays at home and will be ready to fight. This is a brand new team, but I think they are worth much more than what the league table might suggest. We have to be ‘nasty’ on every ball, we can’t afford to make silly mistakes like on the 24-23 of the third set against Treviso for example. If we want to be right up there, we need a winning mentality, giving everything we have on every single play. I am personally in good shape, I am available. We are a nice group of guys. We have seen in those first two games that we will need everyone”.
Serie A2
Playing fourth round
The Sunday morning TV game that will open the fourth round is Padova versus Genova. The rest of the games will be played in the evening with some interesting match-ups with uncertain outcomes. Città di Castello, second, hosts third place Ravenna (tied on points). The league leaders with maximum points so far, Santa Croce, travels to Isernia which gathered three points so far at home. Gela and Perugia will meet and look for their second win of the season. Same target for Pineto, which has just beaten Padova and will try to make it two in a row as it plays host to Sora, which won its first away game last week in Loreto. The latter will try to bounce back in Milan, which started its season with two wins and six points. Volley Segrate 1978 and Club Italia Roma are the only two teams left without a victory. That will not be the case anymore at the end of this round as they meet. Mantova versus Reggio Emilia was postponed to Wednesday 10 because the PalaBam gym is not available this Sunday.
Round 4
Sunday 7 November at 11.30am
Pallavolo Padova – Carige Genova Live on Sportitalia 2
(Piersanti-Zanussi)
Sunday 7 November at 6pm
Eurogroup Gela – Sir Safety Perugia
(Simbari-Gini)
Gherardi SVI Città di Castello – Marcegaglia CMC Ravenna
(Marchello-Gentile)
Volley Segrate 1978 – Club Italia Aeronautica Militare Roma
(Piluso-Montanari)
Geotec Isernia – NGM Mobile Santa Croce
(Trevisan-Balboni)
Pallavolo Pineto – Globo Banca Popolare del Frusinate Sora
(Piana-Puletti)
CheBanca! Milano – Energy Resources Carilo Loreto
(Cappello-Ravallese)
Wednesday 10 November at 8.30pm
Canadiens Mantova – Edilesse Conad Reggio Emilia
(Falzoni-Pozzato)
League table
NGM Mobile S.Croce 9, Gherardi SVI Città Di Castello 7, Marcegaglia CMC Ravenna 7, Pallavolo Padova 6, Canadiens Mantova 6, Globo Banca Pop. Frusinate Sora 6, CheBanca! Milano 6, Carige Genova 5, Eurogroup Gela 5, Sir Safety Perugia 4, Geotec Isernia 3, Pallavolo Pineto 3, Edilesse Conad Reggio Emilia 2, Energy Resources Carilo Loreto 2, Volley Segrate 1978 1, Club Italia A.M. Roma 0
