Angel Dennis February MVP
Before the start of the Modena home game against Castellana Grotte on Saturday 19 March at 4pm, spiker Angel Dennis will receive his MVP award for the month of February.
Serie A1 Sustenium
Round 26
Three games to go in the A1 and a lot to play for. Interesting game on Saturday between two in-form teams: Modena, now in fourth place, and Castellana Grotte still in with a chance to stay up following brilliant recent results. However, the big game of the weekend will be Treviso, recently winner of the Cev Cup, and Trentino.
Round 26
Saturday 19 March at 5pm
Casa Modena – BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte Live on Rai Sport 1
Live streaming on http://www.raisport.rai.it/dl/raisport/multimedia/diretta.html
(Cesare-Gnani)
Sunday 20 March at 6pm
Sisley Treviso – Itas Diatec Trentino Diretta Rai Sport 1
Live streaming on http://www.raisport.rai.it/dl/raisport/multimedia/diretta.html
(Padoan-Rapisarda)
M. Roma Volley – Lube Banca Marche Macerata
(Pol-Caltabiano)
Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo – Marmi Lanza Verona Live WebTV su www.legavolley.it
(Tanasi-Sampaolo)
Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia – Copra Morpho Piacenza
(Sobrero-Braico)
Yoga Forlì – Andreoli Latina
(Saltalippi-Pozzato)
RPA-LuigiBacchi.it San Giustino – Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza Live WebTV su www.legavolley.it
(Castagna-Satanassi)
League table
Itas Diatec Trentino 64, Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo 56, Lube Banca Marche Macerata 46, Casa Modena 40, Sisley Treviso 40, Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza 38, Marmi Lanza Verona 34, RPA-LuigiBacchi.it San Giustino 29, Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia 29, M. Roma Volley 27, Copra Morpho Piacenza 26, Andreoli Latina 23, BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte 21, Yoga Forlì 10.
Casa Modena – BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 1 (Modena)
Daniele Bagnoli (coach Casa Modena): “We’re now fourth after Treviso’s defeat, and our destiny is in our hand. We made a good comeback, now we need to make the last push. A very complicated last effort because we have three very tough games left. Our position wavers between 4th and 6th and it will depend on how we play. Castellana won 7 of its last 10 games and it did it playing excellent volleyball. Saturday’s is the decisive one for them to stay up, so we can imagine how motivated they will arrive here in Modena. I expect a very difficult game. Shame we’ll be missing Diaz, he was in good form, we really didn’t need this problem. Still, we have other quality players, although with different characteristics. It’s obvious that we’ll need to play very well to win it, we’ll have to be focused from first to last action”.
Danail Milushev (BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte): “This game is as tough as it is important for us, just like the other two games that will follow. We know how strong is Modena, a great club, but we also know our worth. We need to gain as many points as possible from those last three games, starting Sunday in Modena”.
Sisley Treviso – Itas Diatec Trentino
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 30 (21 successi Treviso, 9 successi Trento)
Roberto Piazza (coach Sisley Treviso): “We’ll have to bounce back after the defeat against Roma. We can’t afford to have the same attitude as the one we had in the capital. We have to change just about everything, be that mentally and physically. But it’s the first aspect on which we’ll need to work the most because in the Italian league you can’t afford to make things harder than they already are for yourself”.
Osmany Juantorena (Itas Diatec Trentino): “It can seem like a paradox but I am glad that the last A1 game before going to Bolzano is in Treviso’s Pala Verde, a court where we have never won in the last four seasons. We will see where we stand, and at which point we are in our preparation, because we are away against a strong team, which is coming off a triumph in Europe. This will be their first home game after the Cev Cup victory and they will play it as if they were top of the league. Emotions will not go amiss, but I repeat myself: this is the type of challenge that we need to get ready for the atmosphere that there will be on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 in Bolzano”.
M. Roma Volley – Lube Banca Marche Macerata
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 8 (6-2 Roma)
Martin Lebl (M. Roma Volley): “I think we unlocked ourselves with the victory over Treviso. Now we have to maintain that level of volleyball and play against Macerata with the same intensity. It was just a problem of results, not of quality. Hopefully, the most difficult period of our campaign is behind us and we can end this season with a couple of nice victories”.
Facundo Conte (Lube Banca Marche Macerata): “The game against Roma has become crucial both for our spirit and league position. After the poor performance against Cuneo, we really need to bounce back, only a win will do it, and with a convincing performance. We have to forget about Thursday’s result and the problems linked to the injuries, focus on ourselves and give everything we’ve got”.
Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo – Marmi Lanza Verona
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 14 (9-5 Cuneo)
Simone Parodi (Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo): “The win in Macerata was a really important result, we have played with authority too. We have now secured the second place, and we can work without pressure to prepare the playoffs, but that doesn’t mean we’ll relax against Verona. We will give our best to win it, like we have always done, we’ll play hard right until the end”.
Bruno Bagnoli (coach Marmi Lanza Verona): “We will need the same attitude we had in Trento, playing one set at a time with confidence and respect for our opponent which, despite the fact they’re preparing the playoffs, will surely not want to offer a poor performance to their fans. It will be a hard-fought game between two extremely well-organised teams, it will be very hard to smash the ball down and that’s why we’ll have to play very fast and try to be unpredictable in accordance with the best characteristics of Meoni”.
Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia – Copra Morpho Piacenza
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 14 (11-3 Piacenza)
Ventceslav Simeonov (Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia): “After the defeat in Castellana, our intention is to get right back on track and face this game against Piacenza with a different attitude. We know that our qualification for the playoffs will depend a lot on Sunday’s result, which is why, like always, we will give maximum effort and hopefully we’ll get a good result. We’ll be facing a team that is starving for points like us. We’ll have the court advantage as well as the determination and fighting spirit of a team that wants to redeem itself after a bad performance”.
Massimiliano Giaccardi (ass coach Copra Morpho Piacenza): “Sunday’s game will be extremely difficult. The first time we met was a turning point: from that moment on, in which they were below us, they started to get excellent results. They have been aggressive. As for us, we’re training well, we worked hard this week to create situations in our favour against Vibo Valentia”.
Yoga Forlì – Andreoli Latina
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 9 (6-3 Forlì)
Giacomo Sintini (Yoga Forlì): “The point gathered in Verona proves we’re still here. I am happy with what the team achieved since I arrived. Everybody is always training hard, we have improved in reception, and in the block-dig correlation. The Latina game is an opportunity to get other points, we really want to, especially for our fans, who never stopped to support us”.
Gianrio Falivene (President Andreoli Latina): “As difficult as it will be, these are the games to win at all cost now that we’ve put ourselves in this situation. At this point of the season, there are the ones that play for the title, but that’s our own final. It’s a good thing that Roma won because, for the ones who had not realise it, they will now understand that if you want something, you have to get it yourself and not hope for favourable results on other courts”.
RPA-LuigiBacchi.it San Giustino – Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 3 (2-1 San Giustino)
Andrea Giovi (RPA-LuigiBacchi.it San Giustino): “We’re playing for the win on Sunday. We’ll do everything possible in these last three games to be in the playoffs. We know it won’t be easy against Monza, it’s an excellent team with very few weaknesses. They are well-organised. We’ll try to do as well as the first time we met them this season”.
Luca Monti (coach Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza): “I think this will be quite a battle on Sunday. We’re well up for it, especially after our recent results and our position in the table. I guess that is the same thing for San Giustino, they’ll want the playoffs and we’ll be ready for the fight. We’ve been preparing ourselves well and the last game in Latina is a testimony. And we want to prove we are a different team compared to when they beat us earlier this season”.
Serie A2 Sustenium
Round 28
We’re reaching the end of the A2 season and Padova and Ravenna are only separated by a point as they are fighting to go straight up without going through the playoffs. The race for the playoffs and the fight at the bottom remains very exciting too. This round starts on Saturday with Reggio Emilia versus Santa Croce, 8th versus 4th, but with only 6 points dividing the two teams. On Sunday, Città di Castello (3rd), tries to make it two home wins in a row after the battle against Padova when they face Sora, which just snapped a five-game losing skid against Gela. The defeat of the latter cost Dalù his job, he was substituted on the bench by Giampietro Rigano. The new coach will make his debut at home against Milan, who slipped to 10th place with only one point in the last four games. Padova and Ravenna will meet in seven days but before that, Padova will host Perugia, while Ravenna will have to overcome Isernia, which is in great form having won its last six encounters. Important points at stake between Segrate and Loreto, two teams that have come to fight for the top playoff spots since their respective change of coach (Ricci and Fracascia). Genova aims for all three points against Club Italia, while Pineto takes on Mantova.
Round 28
Saturday 19 March at 8.30pm
Edilesse Conad Reggio Emilia – NGM Mobile Santa Croce
(Bellini-Pignataro)
Sunday 20 March at 11.30am
Gherardi SVI Città Di Castello – Globo Banca Popolare del Frusinate Sora Live on Sportitalia 2
(Montanari-Carrara)
Sunday 20 March at 6pm
Phyto Performance Padova – Sir Safety Perugia
(Prati-Feriozzi)
Volley Segrate 1978 – Energy Resources Carilo Loreto
(Cardaci-Puletti)
Carige Genova – Club Italia Aeronautica Militare Roma
(Sessolo-Piubelli)
CheBanca! Milano – Eurogroup Gela
(Costantini-Orpianesi)
Pallavolo Pineto – Canadiens Mantova
(Canessa-Zingoni)
Marcegaglia CMC Ravenna – Geotec Isernia
(Andreoni-Zanussi)
League table
Phyto Performance Padova 68, Marcegaglia CMC Ravenna 67, Gherardi SVI Città Di Castello 49, NGM Mobile S.Croce 49, Carige Genova 47, Volley Segrate 1978 46, Energy Resources Carilo Loreto 44, Edilesse Conad Reggio Emilia 43, Globo Banca Pop. Frusinate Sora 42, CheBanca! Milano 39, Geotec Isernia 39, Eurogroup Gela 32, Canadiens Mantova 27, Sir Safety Perugia 27, Pallavolo Pineto 20, Club Italia A.M. Roma 9.
