Serie A1 Sustenium
Round 8: League resumes after the World Cup break. Serie A1 supports the AIL association.
The A1 is back on Thursday after the long break due to the Word Cup in Japan, where the Italian national team went very close from qualification for the Olympic Games 2012.
In Round 8, the Serie A1 will support the AIL Association, which gathers funds for the research against diseases such as Leukaemia, Lymphoma and Myeloma.
Highlights of the round of games will be the 80th encounter in history between Cuneo, second in the table, and Belluno, who is sixth thanks to two consecutive three-point victories. At the other end of the table, there is an interesting game between Ravenna, which is looking for its first win, and Padova.
Round 8 Serie A1 Sustenium
Thursday December 8 at 6pm
Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo – Sisley Belluno
(Caltabiano-Gnani)
CMC Ravenna – Fidia Padova Live on Sportube.tv
(Pessolano–Pasquali)
Casa Modena – Energy Resources San Giustino
(Cesare-Braico)
Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia – Itas Diatec Trentino
(Cerquoni-Cipolla)
Marmi Lanza Verona – M. Roma Volley
(Tanasi–Zucca)
Thursday 8 December at 6.30pm
Andreoli Latina – Lube Banca Marche Macerata Live on Rai Sport 2
Live streaming on http://www.raisport.rai.it/dl/raisport/multimedia/diretta.html
(Padoan–Bartolini)
Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza – Copra Elior Piacenza
(Saltalippi-Castagna)
League table
Itas Diatec Trentino 18, Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo 17, Lube Banca Marche Macerata 16, Casa Modena 14, Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia 12, Sisley Belluno 12, Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza 11, Andreoli Latina 11, M. Roma Volley 10, Marmi Lanza Verona 8, Copra Elior Piacenza 7, Energy Resources San Giustino 5, Fidia Padova 5, CMC Ravenna 1
Andreoli Latina – Lube Banca Marche Macerata
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 22 (19-3 Macerata)
Silvano Prandi (coach Andreoli Latina): “There will obviously be all the question marks of the post World Cup break. I’m curious to see how the team will do after a month break. We know how strong is the opponent, a very tough game and therefore fascinating. Hopefully, we’ll win it, we’ll do everything possible to make it difficult for them”.
Igor Omrcen (Lube Banca Marche Macerata): “Latina has had excellent results so far this season: they will do their best against us to obtain another important result. We’ve said it many times, we’ll be playing after a whole month without having the possibility to train together, which makes it a very difficult encounter. We have to do what we had done at the start of the season, when we won the opening game despite having trained very little all together”.
Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo – Sisley Belluno
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 79 (50-29 Belluno)
Wout Wijsmans (Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo): “We’re back on court after a long break during which we have worked a lot, between the weight room, friendlies and joint training sessions with other teams. This allowed us to regain confidence and our rhythm, which is what we lacked the most. Obviously, it’s not easy to find balance and understanding when you’re missing important players. A tough period starts for us from Thursday, we’ll have a quick succession of games, and all very difficult ones, We have to get off to a good start on Thursday against Belluno, an important game at home. We’ll need motivation and determination”.
Roberto Piazza (coach Sisley Belluno): “An intense period begins on Thursday for us. We’ll have to think one game at a time. I am sure Belluno can give a game to anyone this season, but only if it plays at a good level. We have been improving since the start of the season. However, the break did not allow us to work properly as some players were away. Now we’ll have to find a way to speed up our progress for the future”.
CMC Ravenna – Fidia Padova
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 4 (3-1 Ravenna)
Antonio Babini (coach CMC Ravenna): “It would be useless to make any claims before a game that will have a lot to do with our chance to stay up. This is the kind of game you have to fight until the last point and that’s what Ravenna will do, hoping to register its first win of the season”.
Paolo Montagnani (coach Fidia Padova): “Undoubtedly an important game. We have to stay composed, though. Ravenna will try to win it at all cost to get its first three points of the season, but that is none of our concern. We’ll get on court to play our game, and to do the best we can. Our target is this, to play at the best of our potential”.
Casa Modena – Energy Resources San Giustino
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 18 (13-5 Modena)
Bruno Da Re (GM Pallavolo Modena): “I agree with what coach Bagnoli said: it’s like a new start. We’ve been through some complicated weeks, with injuries and players away, getting back in action will not be easy. We’ll have to be very careful against San Giustino, we’ll need to be extremely focused and play quality volleyball, this is the only way to win. We’re facing a series of fundamental games before the halfway point of the season, the last one will be in Cuneo, and I’d like to get there with as many points as possible”.
Andrea Sartoretti (Sport director Energy Resources San Giustino): “On Thursday, we’ll be playing where it is very difficult to win, Modena is a strong team in every area of the game. As usual, though, we’ll play our game and try to do our best”.
Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia – Itas Diatec Trentino
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 16 (14-2 Trento)
Michal Rak (Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia): “Trento is undeniably the team to beat in this league. An incredibly strong team that is coming off many successes and that will play to win in Vibo, as it always does. But we have also been showing our quality, especially at home thanks to our fans. We have been working hard in the last month, I am certain that this will be a great night of volleyball”.
Osmany Juantorena (Itas Diatec Trentino): “The game against Vibo will only be the first of two very difficult games this weekend, because we’ll already be back on court Sunday against Roma. We should not be thinking that the only fact we’re top of the league means we’ll win those games. We’ll have to sweat and fight for it to start off positively again. Besides, Vibo has been doing very well at home, taking four point out of six possible against Cuneo and Macerata, two great results that we have to keep in mind as we face them”.
Marmi Lanza Verona – M. Roma Volley
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 4 (3-1 Roma)
Bruno Bagnoli (coach Marmi Lanza Verona): “The Roma game will be another chance to move forward in the table as we play home. We hope to see many supporters. Roma counts great champions in its roster who will want to make the difference as a group and show their continuous improvement”.
Andrea Giani (coach M. Roma Volley): “The Verona game becomes a crucial one for us. They did not have any players on International duty and could be more ready than us, but we have an excellent group, ready to fight not to leave any points as there is the Italian Cup qualification at stake. I am happy to have Bjelica too, a starter that guarantees top quality, especially when it turns into a battle”.
Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza – Copra Elior Piacenza
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 19 (10-9 Piacenza)
Emanuele Zanini (coach Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza): “With the players that stayed here during the World Cup, we have done a work of analysis and we have worked on the technique, but given the players that were missing, the main problem will be to get back in the rhythm, which can happen only after a few official games. This won’t be easy on Thursday, but hopefully motivation will be our main strength. We need points for our first target of the season: the Italian Cup”.
Jacopo Massari (Copra Elior Piacenza): “The month break has been very useful to work on certain aspect and maintain the once we had learned. We are finally back in the league tomorrow, we’re facing a very difficult game against a feisty team, with quality, excellent float and jump serve”.
Serie A2 Sustenium
Very tight league table at round 13
There are three games left to the halfway point of the A2 season. Nine points at stake which will define who will take part in the Italian Cup A2. Roma takes on Isernia as both are coming off three-point wins. Castellana Grotte, which beat the leaders Segrate and reduced the gap to one point last week, heads to Corigliano, which won away in Genova 3-1. The latter will try to bounce back at home against Molfetta, which slipped to fifth as it was beaten by Perugia. Atripalda is back home following the negative trip to Milan. Lorenzoni’s team needs points to recover from a delicate situation. This will be tricky though, as it faces an in-form Perugia team, which is now fourth after its victory over Molfetta. Both beaten 3-1, Santa Croce and Cantù face each other with different targets in mind: the team from Tuscany wants to defend the Italian Cup won last year and will therefore try to make it into the top 8 in those last three games, while Cantù wants to get away from the danger zone. Thrilling game expected between Città di castello and Loreto, who both moved up in the table (3rd and 6th) thanks to three-point victories in the last round. Both swept last week, Segrate and Sora face each other: Segrate will defend its top spot, while Gatto’s team wants to stay in the top 8. Without a win or point in the past five games, Reggio Emilia will try to turn things around as it takes on Milan, ninth in the table and still in the fight for the Italian Cup final eight.
Round 13 Serie A2 Sustenium
Thursday December 8 at 4pm
Club Italia Roma – Cicchetti Isernia Live on Sportitalia 2
(Ravallese–Spinnicchia G.)
Thursday December 8 at 6pm
Pallavolo Molfetta – Carige Genova
(Zavater-Pignataro)
Caffè Aiello Corigliano – BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte
(Gasparro–Bassan)
Sidigas Atripalda – Sir Safety Perugia
(Gelati–Somansino)
NGM Mobile S. Croce – Cassa Rurale Cantù
(Turtù-Cardaci)
Gherardi SVI Città Di Castello – Energy Resources Carilo Loreto
(Pozzato-Astengo)
Volley Segrate 1978 – Globo Banca Popolare del Frusinate Sora
(Cappello–Goitre)
Edilesse Conad Reggio Emilia – CheBanca! Milano
(Oranelli-Piana)
League table
Volley Segrate 1978 30, BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte 29, Gherardi SVI Città Di Castello 24, Sir Safety Perugia 24, Pallavolo Molfetta 23, Energy Resources Carilo Loreto 22, Carige Genova 22, Globo Banca Pop. Frusinate Sora 21, CheBanca! Milano 20, NGM Mobile S.Croce 19, Caffè Aiello Corigliano 17, Club Italia Roma 15, Cicchetti Isernia 9, Cassa Rurale Cantù 6, Edilesse Conad Reggio Emilia 5, Sidigas Atripalda 2
