Serie A1
Round 4
The league is back following a successful European week for the Italian clubs in the Champions League and Cev Cup. On Saturday, it’s Perugia versus Verona, two teams that obtained their first victory in the last round. The big game of the weekend will be just half hour later with Latina taking on Cuneo. Both teams remained undefeated until now, and both added some European satisfactions as Latina won its Cev Cup 16th of final first leg and Cuneo came out on top in its Champions League opener. Meanwhile, Trento is back in the league following its triumph in Doha, Qatar, in the World Club Championships. It will play host to San Giustino.
Round 4
Saturday October 27 at 5.30pm
Sir Safety Perugia – Marmi Lanza Verona Live on RAI Sport 1
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
(Boris-La Micela)
Sunday October 28 at 5.30pm
Casa Modena – BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte Live on RAI Sport 1
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
(Balboni-Sobrero)
Sunday October 28 at 6pm
Andreoli Latina – Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo Live on Sportube.tv
(Gnani-Tanasi)
Altotevere San Giustino – Itas Diatec Trentino
(Pasquali-Sampaolo)
CMC Ravenna – Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata
(Caltabiano-Zucca)
Copra Elior Piacenza – Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia
(Rapisarda-Satanassi)
League table
Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata 9, Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo 9, Andreoli Latina 7, Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia 6, Copra Elior Piacenza 6, Marmi Lanza Verona 4, Casa Modena* 3, Sir Safety Perugia* 2, Altotevere San Giustino 1, BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte 1, Itas Diatec Trentino** 0, CMC Ravenna 0
*1 game in hand Casa Modena, Sir Safety Perugia
**2 games in hand Itas Diatec Trentino
Sir Safety Perugia – Marmi Lanza Verona
PAST ENCOUNTERS: None
Andrea Semenzato (Sir Safety Perugia): “We’re coming off a nice victory in Castellana, we have shown improvement in the team play and managed to come back from a tough situation in the fifth set. This is a very important win that will give us a boost and confidence to face this long and tight championship. Saturday’s game against Verona could be another opportunity for us to get some points. They have won an important game in Ravenna, they have experienced players, like Meoni, Gavotto and Rak as their main men, and they also have two excellent spikers. This should be a good game, because I feel the two teams are close. We’ll have to do well on the serve because when Meoni has the ball over his head he’s one of the best in the world. Hopefully, we’ll make it a good first one at home”.
Michal Rak (Marmi Lanza Verona): “An important game on Saturday, live on TV, against Perugia. We’ll try to get as many points as possible on this away game, maybe snatch another victory. We’ll try to limit their main guys, Petric, and the experienced Vujevic. We’ll have to keep the attitude seen against Raevnna, and we’ll try to put them under pressure with our blocking. I feel physically fit and I am keen to face this new challenge”.
Casa Modena – BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 2 (Modena won both)
Cristian Casoli (BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte): “Always an emotion to get into the PalaPanini arena: Modena will always be Modena, a prestigious city and team with a superb tradition. This will be a difficult game, we’ll have to stay focused and do our best to take home some important points. The team has trained well this week, the boys are ready. I think it will be important to limit our mistakes, but we’ll see what happens on court”.
Sam Deroo (Casa Modena): “After the defeat against Vibo, we needed time to work and in these last two weeks we have been training well. We are young and this is a brand new team, the spirit is very good and we’re getting better. Games are obviously different than training, we’ll have to be consistent and concentrated on Sunday. We have seen tapes of Castellana: they’re strong, Sabbi and Menzel are two extremely determined spikers. This will be a tough game, like every game to be honest, but we can’t wait to play and want to win it. I am personally feeling better training after training and even if I am not hundred percent yet, I feel fine. I am at the coach’s disposal, I’ll be ready if he needs me, we are 13 and everyone is important”.
Andreoli Latina – Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo
PRECEDENTI: 20 (15-5 Cuneo)
Massimiliano Prandi (Andreoli Latina): “We’re up against Cuneo after four consecutive wins, this is a positive moment for us. But they are in the same situation following their victory in the Champions League. Cuneo is a top quality team that plays for the top positions in every competitions it takes part in. We’ll need a superb performance. I expect it to be a good game because we both want to stay unbeaten”.
Daniele De Pandis (Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo): “Playing in Latina will be an unbelievable feeling for me. I have been very well there last year, I made loads of friends. There was a great atmosphere in the group and we achieved great things, with the playoff semi-finals and getting the team into the Cev Cup. I think the team is better than last season, and some players will play their second year in Italy, they have gained experience. This will definitely be a tough encounter, like the one played last week against Vibo Valentia. Hopefully, we’ll be able to keep our positive run going”.
Altotevere San Giustino – Itas Diatec Trentino
PAST ENCOUNTERS: None
Vincenzo Porro (ass.coach Altotevere San Giustino): “We have nothing to lose. Trento is the strongest team in the world, they don’t have any weaknesses, we’ll try to play without fear, without showing too much respect. We’re coming off a tough week, with injuries and the mourning concerning Paolo Torre, we haven’t been able to train as we’d have liked, but it doesn’t matter, we will give our best and then we’ll see what happens”.
Jan Stokr (Itas Diatec Trentino): “We’re entering a particularly intense period of the season: We will play every three days until Christmas, which is why we have to be extremely focused for every game, a bad surprise is always around the corner. The game against Red Star helped us to get back in the rhythm after a few days dedicated to resting and celebrating the fourth World Club Championships title we won in Doha. On Sunday in San Giustino, we’ll have to be mentally ready, this aspect will be more important that the technical side of things”.
CMC Ravenna – Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 2 (Macerata won both)
Mauro Fresa (coach CMC Ravenna): “I have guided the first training session today, we haven’t had time to study Macerata: we have mainly tried to work on ourselves. I have asked the boys a different attitude compared to the first three games. We have to play without fear, starting with this extremely difficult game against Macerata, we have to fight and get the club and the fans on our side”.
Marko Podrascanin (Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata): “We are favourite in this game, but to make sure we get the result we’ll need concentration. Our opponents will have new motivation now they have a new coach. So far we’ve been brilliant, we’ll try to stay unbeaten with this game in Ravenna”.
Copra Elior Piacenza – Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 18 (14-4 Piacenza)
Hristo Zlatanov (Copra Elior Piacenza): “This will be a very important game. Vibo Valentia is one of the most in-form teams in this league. Training is going well this week, we have been productive. The boys have not put their heads down after the loss against Macerata. It’s useless to be demoralized, especially in sport: the court and the league standing always tell the truth”.
Vincenzo Mastrangelo (ass.coach Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia): “We know for well that Piacenza is one of the main contenders for the league title. It’s a very tough team to play against, and we face them in the worst possible moment, after their defeat against Macerata, they will be keen to bounce back. We’ll have to be determined to redeem ourselves after the Cuneo game, I think we could have got more out of it”:
Serie A2
Round 4
Sidigas Atripalda – Sieco Service Ortona. Second consecutive home game for Atripalda, who’s up against Ortona, top of the table with Sora, still unbeaten. Totire’s boys were defeated by Molfetta in the last round.
Gherardi SVI Città di Castello – Globo Banca Popolare del Frusinate Sora. One of the big games of this league given the results obtained by both squads so far. Città di Castello has won both its encounters (it was already rested), they won 3-0 against Padova last week, while Sora won its third game at the tie-break against Corigliano.
Coserplast Matera – Tonazzo Padova. Matera celebrated its first win last week against Potenza Picena, while Padova is bitter following its defeat against Città di Castello.
Conad Reggio Emilia – Elettrosud Brolo. Beaten in Ortona, Reggio will host Brolo and will be able to line up Ukrainian spiker Diachkov, who had not played in the first three rounds because signed beyond the transfer deadline. Rested last week, Brolo had got one point out of the first two first rounds against Monza.
B-Chem Golden Plast Potenza Picena – Vero Volley Monza. Still without a point, Graziozi’s boys will look for a first joy against Monza, in its second trip to the Marche region following its victory over Loreto last week.
Pallavolo Molfetta – Pallavolo Loreto. Winners in Atripalda, Molfetta looks for its first triumph on home soil against Loreto, which got a point against Monza last week but is still without a victory. Kay Van Dijk, former Loreto player, will make his season debut as he was signed to substitute Caceres.
Serie A2 round 4
Saturday October 27 at 6
