Serie A1 Sustenium
Round 25
We have reached the one before last in the A1 regular season. Huge game between San Giustino and Padova at the bottom of the table, while there is an appetizing Belluno versus Macerata, which will try to defend its second place from Cuneo’s assault.
Serie A1 Sustenium Round 25
Sunday March 25 at 5.30pm
Energy Resources San Giustino – Fidia Padova Live on Rai Sport 1
(La Micela-Boris)
Sunday March 25 at 6pm
Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia – Casa Modena
(Caltabiano-Rapisarda)
Marmi Lanza Verona – Itas Diatec Trentino Live on Sportube.tv
(Balboni-Vagni)
Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo – Copra Elior Piacenza
(Ippoliti-Cerquoni)
Sisley Belluno – Lube Banca Marche Macerata
(Bartolini-Pessolano)
Andreoli Latina – CMC Ravenna
(Piersanti-Ravallese)
M. Roma Volley – Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza
(Pol-Santi)
League tabòe
Itas Diatec Trentino 64, Lube Banca Marche Macerata 54, Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo 52, Sisley Belluno 44, Casa Modena 40, Copra Elior Piacenza 38, Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza 36, Andreoli Latina 31, Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia 30, Marmi Lanza Verona 28, M. Roma Volley 27, Energy Resources San Giustino 27, Fidia Padova 23, CMC Ravenna 10.
Energy Resources San Giustino – Fidia Padova
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 18 (13-5 San Giustino)
Claudio Sciurpa (President Energy Resources San Giustino): “This game is like a final for us, the game of all games. I am worried but confident. We’ll have to get the result, the future of the people following us depend on it”.
Paolo Montagnani (coach Fidia Padova): “This will be the first of two finals. We know how important are those games, but it will be as important for our opponents. Our sole target is to win and all the boys are ready and focused because they want to make it, even if a good performance might not be enough. In the meantime, we’ll do our job, we’ll play two battles”.
Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia – Casa Modena
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 13 (10-3 Modena)
Michal Rak (Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia): “Modena is a great team against which it’s never easy. Even if they went through a difficult period of late, I am sure they’ll want to prove they are worth the league position they’re currently in or even try to improve on it. Hopefully, this will be a tense and long game, hard-fought until the end. I am sure there will be a big crowd for this last home game”.
Daniele Bagnoli (coach Casa Modena): “There are two games left and the situation in the table is very complicated. Unfortunately, training has been difficult this week because of various physical problems, we have not had much luck in that sense in recent weeks. Having said that, I expect the team to confirm its recent progress. Vibo is a tough place to go to, they have experienced players all over the court, starting with the two spikers and the outside hitter Klapwijk, who is among the top scorers of the league. Their league position has been influenced by they fact they were a month and a half without their starting setter, otherwise they’d be higher up. This will be a tough one, we’ll need to be extremely focused, careful and aggressive”.
Marmi Lanza Verona – Itas Diatec Trentino
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 18 (14-4 Trento)
Marco Meoni (Marmi Lanza Verona): “The game against Trento will probably be sold out, there is a good spirit in the team, we’re going on court trying to get as many points as possible. Trento is undoubtedly the strongest team in the world but we only have two games left to take the point missing to make sure we’re safe”.
Lukasz Zygadlo (Itas Diatec Trentino): “We’ll go to Verona to win one more game, even if it will not change in terms of league table. Still, it remains important to prove on every occasion that we deserve this top spot. We might line up players that have played less but the team is competitive in every area of the court, no matter who starts off. We’ll go for the three points as usual”.
Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo – Copra Elior Piacenza
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 36 (24-12 Cuneo)
Hubert Henno (Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo): “We need points to try to leapfrog Macerata in the league and earn second place now that we are sure to stay at least third. We’ll have to put in practice all the hard work done in the gym in recent days. Piacenza is definitely a good team, which could also be our opponent in the playoffs. This makes this encounter even more interesting and strategic for us”.
Vladimir Nikolov (Copra Elior Piacenza): “We’ll play against Cuneo with the same spirit as against the others. We’ll give it a good fight to get some points. This will be a special feeling to be on what used to be my home court. This will be a special game for me, I was not a crowd favourite in Cuneo but I am sure they’ll organise something that will give me great emotions. I am physically in great shape, we’re all working to reach the top for the Easter period. We’ll give it our best, we want the end of season to be different from the start”.
Sisley Belluno – Lube Banca Marche Macerata
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 60 (31-29 Belluno)
Ludovico Dolfo (Sisley Belluno): “I want to thank the fans for coming in numbers against Trento. Unfortunately, we did not manage to give them the performance we’d have deserved. I am sure we’ll play better this Sunday. Macerata has a great team, but we want to prove we’re worth much better than what we’ve shown against Trento. There are only two games left before the playoffs, which is why we have to find ourselves again and play like we did for eight games”.
Igor Omrcen (Lube Banca Marche Macerata): “This is a crucial game for us, we want to defend our second place which is why we cannot afford to lose. Except for the Trento game, Belluno proved to be in great form putting together a great run of victories, so it’s definitely a tough road game. There is everything needed for it to be a superb game, there could be the kind of atmosphere we’ll see in the playoffs. We’re hoping not only to get a result but also to play a good game”.
Andreoli Latina – CMC Ravenna
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 1 (1 Ravenna)
Murphy Troy (Andreoli Latina): “We know Ravenna does not have many points, but they keep playing well and they proved it against Vibo last Sunday, they’ll come here with the same spirit. This is an important game because we want to put an end to a three-game losing slide before the playoffs. We have to take revenge on the first meeting too. We don’t want to end this regular season negatively”.
Antonio Babini (coach CMC Ravenna): “This is against Latina that we won one of our two games this season, we had played an excellent match. We’ll try to do it again, although we know perfectly it will be tough given Latina’s excellent home form, the never seem to lose in their gym”.
M. Roma Volley – Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 8 (5-3 Roma)
Andrea Giani (coach M. Roma Volley): “Monza is a tough opponent, we cannot underestimate them. Besides, this will be our last home game and we have to make sure we qualify for the playoffs. And we want to play a good game for our fans and show the team is alive and kicking. There is a lot at stake and there might be a bit of emotions. We’ll need the eye of the tiger, which we especially had against the top teams and in Piacenza, except for the first set we lost. This is a clutch game, there is no way back after that. We have to play with our souls and hearts. This is what makes the difference for a player who wants to be key for his own team. When we played with quality we proved we could make it difficult even for Trento”.
Giulia Gabana (President Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza): “This club will not be able to continue this journey that led us until here. I unfortunately have to give up on my Gabeca Monza Volley. We have two more games and the playoffs ahead, I am sure everybody will give his best to end this season on a high and put the end word on a sport history by playing with pride, although there will obviously be an hint of sadness”.
Serie A2 Sustenium
Round 28
There are nine points left at stake for the 16 teams of the A2 league. Last chances to stay up for Cantù, Atripalda and Reggio Emilia, while Perugia is still top followed by Castellana Grotte and Molfetta.
Sir Safety Perugia – Sidigas Atripalda. The league leaders take on Atripalda, which stands at the other side of the table. Despite a defeat in the last game against Molfetta, Perugia kept its five-point lead on Castellana Grotte. Tough one for Lorenzoni’s team, which need points to get out of the relegation zone.
CheBanca! Milano – Edilesse Conad Reggio Emilia. First home game for coach Marco Fumagalli, who made a winning debut on the road against Atripalda. Reggio needs points not to be overcome by Atripalda and stay in the playouts.
Carige Genova – Pallavolo Molfetta. Three-point winners in Corigliano, Genova is on the chase of sixth place. Molfetta is still mathematically in with a chance to go straight up following their sweep of Perugia. They are six points behind the leaders.
BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte – Caffè Aiello Corigliano. The chase for top spot and direct promotion goes on for Castellana Grotte, while Corigliano is between playoffs and playouts.
Cassa Rurale Cantù – NGM Mobile Santa Croce. Cantù’s hopes to stay up are getting slim as they need to cut a six-point deficit in the three remaining games. Santa Croce is coming off a tie-break home loss against Loreto in the last round.
Energy Resources Carilo Loreto – Gherardi SVI Città di Castello. Loreto is back home after two consecutive road games, out of which Fracascia’s team gathered 5 points. Marco Visentin is back in Loreto, where he played five years. Currently fourth, Città di Castello can still have a shot at third and second place.
Globo Banca Popolare del Frusinate Sora – Crazy Diamond Segrate. One behind the other in the table, it’s fifth versus sixth. Since Eccheli took over, Segrate has won it all in the league.
Cicchetti Isernia – Club Italia Roma. Key encounter for both teams for their hopes to make it into the playoffs. Both will want to catch up Corigliano in 11th place. They respectively have to cut a deficit of 4 and 7 points.
Serie A2 Sustenium: Round 28
Saturday March 24 at 8.30pm
Sir Safety Perugia – Sidigas Atripalda
(Pignataro-Cassarino)
Sunday March 25 at 6pm
Carige Genova – Pallavolo Molfetta
(Florian-Carrara)
BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte – Caffè Aiello Corigliano
(Montanari-Andreoni)
Cassa Rurale Cantù – NGM Mobile S.Croce
(Zanussi-Sessolo)
Energy Resources Carilo Loreto – Gherardi SVI Città Di Castello
(Prati-Gelati)
Globo Banca Pop. Frusinate Sora – Crazy Diamond Segrate
(Bartoloni-Piluso)
Cicchetti Isernia – Club Italia Roma
(Turtù-Bellini)
Sunday March 25 at 7pm
CheBanca! Milano – Edilesse Conad Reggio Emilia Live on Sportitalia 2
(Marchello-Pozzi)
League table
Sir Safety Perugia 61, BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte 56, Pallavolo Molfetta 55, Gherardi SVI Città Di Castello 53, Crazy Diamond Segrate 53, Globo Banca Pop. Frusinate Sora 47, CheBanca! Milano 47, Carige Genova 46, Energy Resources Carilo Loreto 45, NGM Mobile S.Croce 42, Caffè Aiello Corigliano 35, Cicchetti Isernia 31, Club Italia Roma 28, Edilesse Conad Reggio Emilia 19, Sidigas Atripalda 17, Cassa Rurale Cantù 13
