Minute silence in memory of Italian victims in Afghanistan
A minute silence will be respected on all courts of the Serie A on Sunday September 25 to honour the memory of the Italian victims in Afghanistan.
Serie A1 Sustenium
Round1
The 67th championship of the Serie A1 is about to go under way this Sunday and the first big game to be live on Rai Sport will be the Italian Champions of Trentino against Monza, who will also take part in the Cev Cup this season. Other highlights will include the first ever game in Belluno as captain Fei and co take on Latina, and the clash between Verona and Cuneo, who signed prestigious players such as Gasparini, Patriarca.
Round 1
Sunday September 25 at 5.45pm
Itas Diatec Trentino – Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza Live on Rai Sport 1
(Pol-Puecher)
Sunday September 25 at 6pm
Sisley Belluno – Andreoli Latina
(Zucca-Rapisarda)
Fidia Padova – Copra Elior Piacenza
(Balboni-Cerquoni)
Lube Banca Marche Macerata – CMC Ravenna
(Ippoliti-Prandi)
Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo – Marmi Lanza Verona
(Boris-Braico)
Energy Resources San Giustino – Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia Diretta Web Sportube.tv
(Pasquali-Bartolini)
Casa Modena – M. Roma Volley
(Saltalippi-Pessolano)
Itas Diatec Trentino – Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 24 (17-7 Trento)
Mitar Djuric (Itas Diatec Trentino): “The game against Monza will be the first of my career in the Serie A1 and to be honest, even if it’s only a few hours away, I don’t realise that’s going to happen. Don’t ask me any prediction, there is a bit of emotion for me, this is a new challenge for me, very exciting and full of responsibility. The best way to break the ice is to get a win straight away and I want it at all cost. Besides, there is Roumeliotis on the other side of the net, with whom I spent many years at Olympiacos and in the Greek national team. A match up inside the match up”.
Milos Nikic (Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza): “I have been in Monza for just a few days but I can’t wait to start this new adventure together with my team. I am sure this will be a thrilling season. I have spent a fantastic season together with Emanuele Zanini and Marco Fenoglio at Monza. The opening game is always tough no matter the opponent. Trento is a great team, but what we have to do is face this game without fear, playing our cards on the table during the whole game. We’ll try our best to stay as close as possible during the whole game, going for it in the clutch moments. We’ll do anything possible to make it difficult for them”.
Sisley Belluno – Andreoli Latina
PAST ENCOUNTER: 24 (20-4 Belluno)
Emanuel Kohut (Sisley Belluno): “I am very happy to be back at the club. It’s always a honour for me to wear this shirt, hopefully this return will be a successful one for me and the team. I’ll try to do my best. I think I have improved a lot and that I can do my bit. I’d like to add up to the victories obtained with Slovakia in the European Championships. Athletically I feel in good shape, I have worked all summer and I am training with maximum focus to be ready for my teammates and the schemes of the coach”.
Gianrio Falivene (President Andreoli Latina): “The tension is growing, we’re ready to start a new season, the fifth for me as President. Each year we ask ourselves what can the team achieve and in Belluno we’ll see what we’re capable of”.
Fidia Padova – Copra Elior Piacenza
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 18 (14-4 Piacenza)
Paolo Montagnani (Coach Fidia Padova): “The season begins with a very tough first week for us. We’ll face V-Day teams: Piacenza, Trento and Modena, three teams which I believe have everything it takes to fight for the league title. We know they are stronger teams, but we will get on court humble and with the necessary fighting spirit to try to take advantage of playing home, given that we’ll have the support of our fans in two of those three games”.
Angelo Lorenzetti (Coach Copra Elior Piacenza): “The six victories in the friendly games do not count for much, but it can serve as indication for the league. The first tests are used to get to know each other, the last one against Monza was useful to Nikolov and Zhekov, who were hardly back from the European Championships, to know their new teammates. Tactics will not matter much in the first game, the most important thing is to handle the emotions. This is a tricky start for us, we have tough fixtures, but we deserved that with the way we ended last season. We have to stay humble and work consistently”.
Lube Banca Marche Macerata – CMC Ravenna
PAST ENCOUNTERS: None
Marko Podrascanin (Lube Banca Marche Macerata): “There can always be surprises in the first rounds of the new season, but our target is exclusively the victory, so we’ll only focus on ourselves in the game against Ravenna. It’s true that we haven’t had much training with the full squad but we’re not going to make excuses. Focus and determination will be the factors that, together with the enthusiasm of everyone around us, will be key for us”.
Antonio Babini (Coach CMC Ravenna): “We are obviously very happy to be back in the A1 and happy to be playing in a prestigious volleyball city like Macerata. Unfortunately, though, we’ll be missing three of our four wing spikers to face one of the three main title contenders. Still, we’ll give it our best shot and we’ll try to make it hard for them, but it’s obvious that they are clear favourite”.
Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo – Marmi Lanza Verona
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 18 (13-5 Cuneo)
Flavio Gulinelli (Coach Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo): “Verona’s game will be a tough one, like all debut games. We have the court advantage, but they’ll come motivated and up for it, mentally composed and ready to make it difficult for us. We’ll have to deal well with the pressure and start off with maximum determination and focus from the word go in order to immediately begin well”.
Popp Marcus (Marmi Lanza Verona): “Very often it happens that the strong teams do not have the best of starts, it’s often happened in Verona, but each game has its story. We’ll obviously do everything possible to make it happen again this Sunday against Cuneo. There is a good understanding in the group, they all want to play together, this will be important for the future. I am extremely happy to be back in Verona, and I am ready for this new challenge”.
Energy Resources San Giustino – Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 14 (9-5 San Giustino)
Andrea Giovi (Energy Resources San Giustino): “Vibo Valentia is a team with fighting spirit and there is a great atmosphere in their arena. Hopefully, we’ll find an understanding from the start between us given that we have only work all together for a few days. We need to gain points right away: our beginning of season is a lot different to last year’s when we immediately met the top teams. We have to take advantage of this opportunity”.
Guillermo Falasca (Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia): “I expect a tough encounter against San Giustino, this is a good team and we’ll be away from home. We’ll leave it out on the floor, and that’s we’ll do all season long, game after game. We have good margin for improvement and great will to do well, which will allow us to have a good season. We surely have to keep working to get better and better, no matter whether the results are negative. One game does not make a season”.
Casa Modena – M. Roma Volley
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 6 (3 wins each)
Daniele Bagnoli (Casa Modena): “The first few games are alias even trickier than the others. We are a brand new team and we’ve been training all together basically for three days. The overall situation is quite good, we have potential and now we just need to work hard, each day week in week out. As I said, the team is new, a lot different to last season: useless to make comparisons or talk about targets now. It’s obvious that we’d love to get into the top four, but there is a lot of work ahead, it won’t be easy. We need points from the start but Roma is a dangerous squad with a technically high level of play”.
Gabriele Maruotti (M. Roma Volley): “Our new season has basically started just three days ago, because we have begun to work all together from Wednesday’s friendly against Latina. The beginning will be difficult, but that’s what’s exciting about it. Modena is one of the strongest teams of the league and they’ll want the victory. We’ll try to impose our game, using our main strengths. This game will tell us how to plan out the work to come. If the players that have experienced the European Championships with Italy could convey only in part the strength of the group here too, then we’d be guaranteed to have some good results. Roma’s potential seems big, now is the time we’ll find out about it”.
Serie A2
Off we go with the first round
The Serie A2 Sustenium is in the starting blocks. We first give the welcome in the division to Molfetta, Atripalda, Corigliano and Cantù. It all starts with Perugia against Loreto at 4pm while all the other games will be at 6pm. Led by new coach, Hugo Conte, Reggio Emilia take on Ricci’s Segrate team. Newly promoted Molfetta, coached by Lorizio, makes its debut at home against Città di Castello, which strengthened its squad with Visentin, Romiti, Noda Blanco and Giombini. Following the abandon of Forlì, relegated, and newly promoted Cortona, Corigliano and Club Italia have been inserted in the A2 and will meet. The first derby of the season puts face to face Cantù and Milan, which sealed its first season in the A2 with an excellent 10th position last year. Castellana Grotte, who lost coach Gulinelli gone to Cuneo, will be guided by Luca Monti, who will lead the team at home against Sora. The latter brought in seven new players this off season. The winner of the Italian Cup A2, Santa Croce, plays host to Genova, which finished the highest amongst the newly promoted sides last season with a fifth place. Besides, they fought until game 4 in the playoff semi-finals against Padova. Finally, home debut in the A2 for Atripalda which will entertain Isernia in the PaladelMauro arena in Avellino. Isernia will be without last year’s top scorer Giulio Sabbi, who signed for Roma.
Round 1
Sunday September 25 at 4pm
Sir Safety Perugia – Energy Resources Carilo Loreto Live on Sportitalia
(Gentile-Longo)
Sunday September 25 at 6pm
Edilesse Conad Reggio Emilia – Volley Segrate 1978
(Genna-Venturi)
Pallavolo Molfetta – Gherardi SVI Città Di Castello
(Bertoletti-Pignataro)
Caffè Aiello Corigliano – Club Italia Roma
(Guarneri-Marchello)
Cassa Rurale Cantù – CheBanca! Milano
(Andreoni-Gelati)
BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte – Globo Banca Popolare del Frusinate Sora
(Piersanti-Oranelli)
NGM Mobile Santa Croce – Carige Genova
(Frapiccini-Puletti)
Sidigas Atripalda – Fenice Volley Isernia
(Piluso-Perri)
