Serie A1
Final Rush for Italian cup qualification
The last round to the halfway point of the regular season will take place on Sunday and it will define the Italian cup quarter finals, to be played on Wednesday 19 January. The top four will host their respective encounters. The winners will take part in the Final Four to take place in Verona on January 22-23. Trentino and Cuneo are already certain to finish first and second. They will face each other, ten days after the Super Cup. The big fight is for fourth place between Modena, Treviso and Monza.
Round 13
Sunday 9 January at 6pm
Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza – Casa Modena Live on Rai Sport 1
Live streaming on http://www.raisport.rai.it/dl/raisport/multimedia/diretta.html
(Castagna-Cipolla)
Itas Diatec Trentino – Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo
(Pasquali-Sampaolo)
Copra Morpho Piacenza – M. Roma Volley
(Caltabiano-Pol)
BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte – Sisley Treviso
(Saltalippi-Vagni)
Lube Banca Marche Macerata – Yoga Forlì
(Braico-Genna)
Andreoli Latina – RPA-LuigiBacchi.it San Giustino
(Rapisarda-Zucca)
Marmi Lanza Verona – Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia
(Gnani-Pessolano)
League table
Itas Diatec Trentino 35, Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo 30, Lube Banca Marche Macerata 27, Casa Modena 21, Sisley Treviso 20, Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza 19, M. Roma Volley 18, Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia 18, RPA-LuigiBacchi.it San Giustino 17, Copra Morpho Piacenza 15, Marmi Lanza Verona 14, Andreoli Latina 11, BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte 4, Yoga Forlì 3
Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza – Casa Modena
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 2 (1 each)
Luca Monti (allenatore Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza): “Hungry and determined. We’ll have to get on court with this spirit, aware of our strengths, our worth and especially our ability. This games comes at a difficult time for us, but I have seen the guys very keen during the week. There is a little bit of tension but that’s normal. We have to get it going once and for all”.
Loris Manià (Casa Modena): “On Sunday in Monza, it will be like an in-or-out game, almost like a final: We are playing for fourth place and that is very important for us. It’s important because that would mean we stay high up in the table and because we would play the Italian cup quarter final at home in front of our fans. Monza is a very strong team, it was already so last season and they strengthened the squad. It will be a very difficult game, they play home and will want to win. We’ll have to do well on the serve and in dig-block. Our ups and downs? On the one hand, we have to give credit to the opponents and the fact that the league is tight, but on the other hand it’s also true we have lost a few points on the way, I’d say 4 or 5. Still, we have also won many games with character, without giving up and that is very important. We are now trying to find consistency”.
Itas Diatec Trentino – Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 34 (19-15 Cuneo)
Garcia Pires Ribeiro Riad (Itas Diatec Trentino): “Compared to Belchatow, that we have just played in the Champions League, Cuneo is of the same quality but surely more experienced of a certain level. Their season so far proves this point. When things are important, they never get it wrong because they know how to use their energy and strength. This is why I believe that, just like it happened in Turin last 29th of December, we’ll face a very difficult game. They aren’t any trophy at stake but at this level, nobody wants to lose. We’ll have to play very well and make the court advantage count to stay unbeaten”.
Marco Pistolesi (General Manager Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo): “Sunday’s game in Trento could be seen as a revenge of the Super Cup, but it’s not the case, each game has its own story. The position of both teams is already secured for the Cup, which allow us to face this game keeping in mind the next commitments. I am convinced that all the players that will be on court will give its maximum, even if the physical fitness of some is not ideal and that the preparation was not aimed at this game”.
Copra Morpho Piacenza – M. Roma Volley
PAST ENCOUNTER: 5 (3-2 Roma)
Andrea Semenzato (Copra Morpho Piacenza): “It’s a real shame not to be able to take part in this game, because of my injury on my right hand. I played at Roma, it was a good experience, I kept great memories. As for the game, my teammates are preparing it well, it is said to be the most important of all for us. Roma had a very positive performance in its last encounter but Piacenza has to find its best form and take all three points”.
Nicolas Uriarte (M. Roma Volley): “The three points against Latina were very important, because we were able to work without pressure this week. Sunday’s game in Piacenza will be crucial, because we want to make it into the Italian Cup, our first target of the season. We have been playing good volleyball for a while now, the kind we were showing at the beginning of season. Then, we faded, had ups and downs, although we also met the strongest teams of the league. Now we are back in form”.
BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte – Sisley Treviso
PAST ENCOUNTERS: None
Stefano Patriarca (BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte): “We are aware of the difficult situation that we are going through, we are working an awful lot to get out of it. Treviso is definitely a top class team, with important names, and despite the ups and downs, it remains one of the strongest teams of the league. As for us, it could be the right game to turn things around. Beating Treviso could give us the necessary strength to stay up. This is what we all want”.
Alessandro Farina (Sisley Treviso): “We are right in the middle of a tour de force, which is not over yet. There are long and tough away games, but we were prepared, we are all experienced players and we don’t forget what our targets are. Now, our target is to win in Castellana, try to move above the ones that are in front of us and finish in the top four at the halfway point of the regular season. That would allow us to play the Italian Cup quarter final at home and this should not be underestimated. That is one more reason to get maximum points in this road game. Our level has improved of late, we feel good and are facing this encounter with confidence”.
Lube Banca Marche Macerata – Yoga Forlì
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 14 (13-1 Macerata)
Alessandro Paparoni (Lube Banca Marche Macerata): “We have lost badly twice in a row and we really want to bounce back, first of all in terms of level of play. In Treviso and also in the previous Sunday against Roma, we had ups and downs which cost us important points. We have to play a good game against Forli, we must show some positive signs, especially in terms of consistency”.
Daniele De Pandis (Yoga Forlì): “It was important not to finish this first half of championships without a point and we manage that with the victory in Latina. The game against Macerata is very complicated but we’ll use it to work on our schemes and prepare ourselves as well as possible for the game against Treviso. Then, after Cuneo, our second championship will begin. And given how we are training and playing we will try to stay up at all cost”.
Andreoli Latina – RPA-LuigiBacchi.it San Giustino
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 14 (10-4 San Giustino)
Candido Grande (Sport director Andreoli Latina): “This is a very important game for us. We have had a difficult time of late, it has to be stopped as quickly as possible. We have to get points and find the level of play we had at the beginning of the season. Our opponents are in good shape, they are fighting to get into the Italian cup. We will face three of our former players which had played well for us last season. I am sure the boys will give their best and that we’ll come out of this negative streak soon”.
Andrea Giovi (RPA-LuigiBacchi.it San Giustino): “I don’t know what kind of atmosphere there will be on Sunday given the negative period the team is going through. Latina has excellent players, they have what it takes to get back on track after six consecutive losses. Hopefully, that won’t be against us. We’ll go there to get points and then, who knows, if we win it, we could even have a nice surprise”.
Marmi Lanza Verona – Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 19 (11-8 Verona)
Lasko Michal (Marmi Lanza Verona): “There is almost a historic rivalry between us and Vibo Valentia, with ten years of important encounters. It’s a little bit of a ‘classic’. It will surely be a thrilling game because they will try to make it into the Cup while we want to keep our positive streak going. We had a good game again in Modena. And all this will be in the occasion of Verona Sunday Volley, a day with A2 women’s volleyball before us, with a special crowd that will surely help us”.
Francesco Prestinenzi (Sport director Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia): “We’re facing an excellent team on Sunday. They have great players like Lasko, Meoni and Herpe, which are surely amongst the most important ones in today’s volleyball. The Vibo-Verona game has become a classic of Italian Volleyball. We have been facing each other for years now. It will be a hard-fought game, in which both teams will try anything. In the end, details will make the difference”.
Serie A2
Round 17
Only three days have past and the A2 is already back. First on court will be Pineto versus Gela at 11.30am, while the rest of the games will be at 6pm. Ravenna will want to continue its victorious run in Loreto, one of the only two teams that managed to beat the league leaders so far. Padova tries to keep up as it travels to Isernia, a tough place to win. Winners in Mantova, Milan takes on Città di Castello, which beat the other team of Milan three days ago, Segrate. Ricci’s team wants to bounce back as it plays host to Santa Croce, recent tie-break winner against Loreto. Reggio Emilia made it very difficult for Padova, going very close to the victory, and now they will try to have another great performance at home against Sora, which has won its last two 3-0. Finally, important points at stake for two teams aiming to stay up: Genova vs Perugia.
Round 17
Sunday 9 January at 11.30am
Pallavolo Pineto – Eurogroup Gela Live on Sportitalia 2
(Puletti-Pignataro)
Sunday 9 January at 6pm
CheBanca! Milano – Gherardi SVI Città Di Castello
(Florian-Falivene)
Edilesse Conad Reggio Emilia – Globo Banca Popolare del Frusinate Sora
(Simbari-Venturi)
Volley Segrate 1978 – NGM Mobile Santa Croce
(Gasparro-Andreoni)
Geotec Isernia – Phyto Performance Padova
(Bertoletti-Bellini)
Energy Resources Carilo Loreto – Marcegaglia CMC Ravenna
(Astengo-Gentile)
Club Italia Aeronautica Militare Roma – Canadiens Mantova
(Valeriani-Chimento)
Carige Genova – Sir Safety Perugia
(Contini-Goitre)
League table
Marcegaglia CMC Ravenna 43, Phyto Performance Padova 41, NGM Mobile S.Croce 32, Globo Banca Popolare del Frusinate Sora 31, Edilesse Conad Reggio Emilia 28, CheBanca! Milano 27, Gherardi SVI Città Di Castello 27, Carige Genova 27, Volley Segrate 1978 25, Eurogroup Gela 24, Energy Resources Carilo Loreto 19, Geotec Isernia 19, Sir Safety Perugia 15, Canadiens Mantova 14, Pallavolo Pineto 8, Club Italia Aeronautica Militare Roma 4.
