Serie A1
Round 8
The weekend of volleyball starts at 4.30pm on Saturday with Vibo Valentia versus Forli. Vibo will use the help of their fans to stop Forli from getting its first points of the season. The rest of the game will be on Sunday at 6pm with the big match between Modena and Macerata, meeting for the 55th time in history. Modena wants to add a second win in a row following the one obtained against Forli on Wednesday, while Macerata tries to stay close to the leaders. Trentino plays host to a spirited Latina team that has had a good performance in the last round against Macerata. Behind Trentino, Cuneo, which has only lost once against Treviso, takes on Roma, fourth in the league thanks to 5 wins and 2 defeats (Vibo and Trento). Defeated in the last four, Treviso is ready to fight at home against San Giustino, on its way up and now tied in the table with Treviso. Piacenza will meet again with its former players Rak, Cozzi, Rodriguez and Gallotta, all in Castellana Grotte now. Finally, Monza entertains Verona, as the two teams are level on points in the league table with 10.
Round 8
Saturday 4 december at 4.30pm
Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia – Yoga Forlì Live on Rai Sport 1
Live streaming on http://www.raisport.rai.it/dl/raisport/multimedia/diretta.html
(Pessolano-Cappello)
Sunday 5 December at 6pm
Casa Modena – Lube Banca Marche Macerata Live on Rai Sport 1
Live streaming on http://www.raisport.rai.it/dl/raisport/multimedia/diretta.html
(La Micela-Satanassi)
Itas Diatec Trentino – Andreoli Latina
(Cipolla-Puecher)
Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo – M. Roma Volley
(Boris-Gnani)
Sisley Treviso – RPA-LuigiBacchi.it San Giustino
(Sobrero-Gini)
Copra Morpho Piacenza – BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte
(Piersanti-Rapisarda)
Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza – Marmi Lanza Verona
(Saltalippi-Santi)
League table
Itas Diatec Trentino 23*, Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo 19, Lube Banca Marche Macerata 18, M. Roma Volley 13, Copra Morpho Piacenza 11*, Andreoli Latina 11, Marmi Lanza Verona 10, Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza 10, Casa Modena 9, RPA-LuigiBacchi.it San Giustino 8, Sisley Treviso 8, Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia 6, BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte 4, Yoga Forlì 0
1 game more: Itas Diatec Trentino, Copra Morpho Piacenza
Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia – Yoga Forlì
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 13 (10-3 Vibo)
Giuseppe Defina (Team Manager Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia): “Against Cuneo, the boys played with great fighting spirit. Unfortunately, they were not rewarded, but we have to forget about it, forget about the tough times we’re going through with the many injuries we suffered. We have also played two top teams like Trento and Cuneo in just a few days. Anyway, I think that against Forli, a tricky game for our season, the group will find a way to bounce back and get back to the standard it had reached until the Modena game”.
Andrii Diachkov (Yoga Forlì): “It’s a real shame to be bottom of the league. The team is finding it hard but in Vibo we’ll have to try to win at all cost. We need to play well and limit our mistakes as much as we can. We have to get off the mark and get the first win under our belt”.
Casa Modena – Lube Banca Marche Macerata
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 54 (29-25 Macerata)
Silvano Prandi (Casa Modena): “Macerata is a great team, definitely one of the best of this league and surely one of the favourites for the final prizes. We’ll need a top class performance in every area of the game to win it. We are ready for a good game, both mentally and emotionally. We can’t wait to play and show what we can do. As for the line-up, I don’t know yet: we’ll see how the players feel at the last training session, then I’ll take a decision”.
Gert Van Walle (Lube Banca Marche Macerata): “Modena is one of the best teams of the league. It did have some difficulty in this beginning of season but its past and potential is undeniable. I have already played in Modena with Maaseik, there is a great atmosphere in the gym and playing there will be a great emotion given that this is a classic of the Italian league. We obtained a great victory in Latina, where, however, we struggled when we were ahead in the scoreboard. This allowed our opponents to get back in a set a win it. We have to be more decisive against Modena and maintain a high level of play, with the serve and the block. We should not think of our opponent but exclusively focus on ourselves”.
Itas Diatec Trentino – Andreoli Latina
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 16 (10-6 Trentino)
Nicola Leonardi (Itas Diatec Trentino): “After Vibo and Roma, the week ends with this game against Latina, probably the most difficult of the three, even if we went to the tie-break against Macerata on Wednesday. Latina is an excellent team, which can make it difficult for us, they are lively and they know they have nothing to lose. We are the ones that have to make the play in front of our fans. Still, so far in our PalaTrento, we have always won 3-0 and played good volleyball. So I’m pretty confident”.
Goran Vujevic (Andreoli Latina): “We know this will be a very tough away game against an undefeated team. Trento proved it was above the rest. We’ll go there and try to get a point, we know it’s difficult, but we’ll give it our best shot. We’ll need to play our best volleyball to make it hard for them: They have been winning it all for the last few years, but we have nothing to lose”.
Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo – M. Roma Volley
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 4 (1 successo Cuneo, 3 successi Roma)
Vladimir Nikolov (Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo): “Roma is a balanced team, they have good players, especially strong in attack. I’m expecting a tricky game, we’ll have to be focused and play with maximum determination. I am convinced we are the best of the two teams, but the problem is that we’ll have to prove it with facts. Physically, after the road game in Vibo Valentia, we’re OK, I think we’re on the right track”.
Mirko Corsano (M. Roma Volley): “We have to learn from the mistakes made against Trento. We surrendered far too easily on Wednesday, we should have kept believing in it. We should always believe in our chances because a lot can happen in a game. The stronger opponent can get tired because of the many games, some players can have a bad night. Anyway, we have to play right until the end, Cuneo is a team of the same level as Trento. Physically in great shape and with a very strong serve. It is balanced, it has an excellent coach and there is Grbic as setter. Still, we want to do well and we’ll try to bounce back following the last defeat. If it doesn’t go our way, I hope at least that we’ll have learnt from our mistakes and understand on which aspects we have to work to improve. So far, our season has been more than positive. We have won in tough places such as Monza and Castellana and we beat a dangerous opponent like Verona. However, that is not enough. We still have a lot of work on, but the will to get better and better is certainly there”.
Sisley Treviso – RPA-LuigiBacchi.it San Giustino
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 23 (19-4 Treviso)
Samuele Papi (Sisley Treviso): “We’re going through a bad period, this is why we’ll need the support of our fans even more than usual to come out on top this Sunday. No matter the opponent, from now on, every single game will be crucial and difficult at the same time. We know we can’t afford to go wrong. We are united and we know we’ll come out of this as a group, with hard work and determination”.
Emanuele Zanini (coach RPA-LuigiBacchi.it San Giustino): “The great comeback win over Piacenza gave us confidence ahead of our away game in Treviso. We have to focus on our game and play at our best. We know Treviso is a good team, composed of many stars. We certainly can’t underestimate them”.
Copra Morpho Piacenza – BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte
PAST ENCOUNTERS: None
Alessandra Fantoni (Team Manager Copra Morpho Piacenza): “This is a particularly important game, especially after the little step back in San Giustino, which left us a bitter taste. We have to forget about it and get back on track at home, by working hard and taking maximum points ahead of the complicated game in Macerata in two weeks, where it will be very difficult to get a result. The aim of this game is to bounce back after the last defeat, get back in shape and gain confidence”.
Marco Falaschi (BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte): “We’ll have to battle hard in Piacenza on Sunday. Like in every game, we’ll have to go there to get some points: it will be very tough. We’ll need to get going otherwise we’ll stay stuck at our position, last from bottom. It’s very dangerous. We have worked hard in the last couple of days after the game against Monza. We’ll go there and leave it out on the floor, we can’t do it any other way”.
Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza – Marmi Lanza Verona
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 2 (Monza won both)
Luca Monti (Coach Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza): “Hopefully this game against Verona will be our first home win. We’ve only won away so far and we want to show our fans some good volleyball. It will obviously not be easy because they are playing extremely well and they have a great weapon in Cala. We’ll have to use our serve to make it difficult for them, making Meoni run, otherwise, with the ball in their hand, they become very dangerous”.
Michal Lasko (Marmi Lanza Verona): “On Sunday, we hope to see all the good things done on Wednesday night, like the spikes on the wing and at the centre that paid off. This will surely be a stronger team than Treviso, which really seems to struggle. Monza has a group with players knowing each other well because they were already together last season. We’ll have to play better than on Wednesday if we want to keep gathering points”.
Serie A2
Roudn 1
The 10th round of the A2 will begin on Saturday night at 8.30pm with Perugia versus Sora. The latter, currently fourth, wants to bounce back following its home defeat on Wednesday against Ravenna, while Perugia will hope to make the court advantage count after three rounds without a point. On Sunday morning, Mantova takes on Santa Croce. Beaten in its last game by Padova, the team from Tuscany wants to stay close to the top spot, while Mantova are hungry for points after 6 rounds without a win. Club Italia travels to Pineto with the hope to catch up the only point separating them following their second victory of the season against Gela. Città di Castello entertains Isernia, which stands just one point above its opponent in the table. Standing two points behind the leaders Padova, Ravenna hosts Reggio Emilia, which took maximum points in the last three games. In its PalaFabris, the leaders play host to Volley Segrate as they will try to stay top against Ricci’s team, which nicely won against Mantova in midweek. Loreto flies to Sicily looking for its fifth successive win over Gela, which always gives a game to anyone on home soil. Finally, clash between the two new comers of the division: Milan versus Genova, the latter being three points above the hosts.
Round 10
Saturday 4 December at 8.30pm
Sir Safety Perugia – Globo Banca Popolare del Frusinate Sora
(Prati-Cardaci)
Sunday 5 December at 11.30am
Canadiens Mantova – NGM Mobile Santa Croce Live on Sportitalia 2
(Guarneri-Andreoni)
Sunday 5 December at 6pm
Pallavolo Pineto – Club Italia A.M. Roma
(Turtù-Zingoni)
Gherardi SVI Città Di Castello – Geotec Isernia
(Zanussi-Montanari)
Marcegaglia CMC Ravenna – Edilesse Conad Reggio Emilia
(Genna-Vagni)
Pallavolo Padova – Volley Segrate 1978
(Costantini-Frapiccini)
Eurogroup Gela – Energy Resources Carilo Loreto
(Venturi-Chimento)
CheBanca! Milano – Carige Genova
(Marchello-Bellini)
League table
Pallavolo Padova 24, Marcegaglia CMC Ravenna 22, NGM Mobile S.Croce 21, Edilesse Conad Reggio Emilia 18, Globo Banca Pop. Frusinate Sora 18, Carige Genova 17, CheBanca! Milano 14, Energy Resources Carilo Loreto 13, Geotec Isernia 13, Gherardi SVI Città Di Castello 12, Eurogroup Gela 11, Volley Segrate 1978 10, Canadiens Mantova 7, Sir Safety Perugia 7, Pallavolo Pineto 5, Club Italia A.M. Roma 4
