Serie A1
Round 7. World day of remembrance of road traffic victims”.
There’s only one team left undefeated but the fight at the top and in mid-table is extremely exciting. This will also be a weekend dedicated to charity in the World Day of remembrance of road traffic victims. As for the volley, huge game between Trentino and Macerata, a repeat of last year’s league final. Verona versus Cuneo will be another interesting encounter which will get things started on Saturday.
Round 7
Saturday November 17 at 5.30pm
Marmi Lanza Verona – Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo Live on RAI Sport 1
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
(Saltalippi-Simbari)
Sunday November 18 at 5.30pm
Itas Diatec Trentino – Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata Live on RAI Sport 1
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
(Puecher-Rapisarda)
Sunday November 18 at 6pm
Copra Elior Piacenza – BCC–NEP Castellana Grotte
(Zucca-Cesare)
Sir Safety Perugia – Casa Modena
(Pasquali-Prandi)
CMC Ravenna – Andreoli Latina (In Forlì)
(Pozzato-Boris)
Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia – Altotevere San Giustino Live on Sportube.tv
(Tanasi-Cappello)
League table
Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata 18, Itas Diatec Trentino 12, Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo 12, Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia 11, Andreoli Latina 10, Copra Elior Piacenza 10, Sir Safety Perugia 7, Marmi Lanza Verona 7, Casa Modena 6, Altotevere San Giustino 5, BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte 4, CMC Ravenna 3
1 game in hand: Itas Diatec Trentino, Casa Modena
Marmi Lanza Verona – Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 20 (14-6 Cuneo)
Michal Rak (Marmi Lanza Verona): “Definitely a tough game for us but maybe the kind of game the team needs to make a leap forward. We lost a good opportunity to take three point against San Giustino, we know it, but this will give us more motivation for tomorrow’s game. The Verona fans can do a lot for us, but we have to step up ourselves and try to overcome our weaknesses and get some points”.
Marco Pistolesi (General Manager Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo): “We played a very positive game on Wednesday in Poland, which came after another good performance against Piacenza. This encounter in Verona is extremely important, we’ll try to keep this positive run going”.
Itas Diatec Trentino – Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 37 (21-16 Trento)
Matey Kaziyski (Itas Diatec Trentino): “The game against Macerata is always one of the big ones of the regular season. It’s always a thrilling match, it’s a great game to play and a significant one because right now Macerata is the strongest team, so we’ll have to come up with something special to try to inflict them their first defeat. It’s not a revenge of the V-Day or Super Cup. There’s ‘only’ three points this time. But both teams will surely give their best to get a positive result. We’ve had quite a few wins of late and hopefully we’ll add another good result. We might not be playing our best volley but we’re working positively as a group, we always find good solutions for the situations that we face. That’s the only way you can explain the many 3-0 victories we have put together, there are no secrets”.
Ivan Zaytsev (Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata): “It’s always a special game against Trento. These are the two teams that contested the league title last season. It’s also a clash at the top of the league table, a win would extend our lead and take some pressure off for the coming weeks. That’s three crucial games in ten days, between the league and the Champions League, and we have started fine. We won in Germany on Wednesday, we are therefore confident ahead of this coming road game, which will obviously be a lot more difficult. Trento is as strong as ever but we’re good too. Despite the injuries to Kovar and Savani, we found a good balance with Starovic, who’s playing very well. We’ll go for it”.
Copra Elior Piacenza – BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 2 (1 each)
Luca Monti (coach Copra Elior Piacenza): “We don’t have much choice, we have to win this one at all cost. We set ourselves a precise target this week: we have to get it absolutely right in the four coming encounters. Our second goal is this game against Castellana Grotte”.
Pino Lorizio (Ass.coach BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte): “The group is excited following the win against Vibo, you could feel it in the gym during the week. Piacenza will obviously be a tough challenge for us, all the more so now they’re coming off a severe defeat in Cuneo. They’ll be ready to fight for it. But we’ll be up for it too, we want to take the points we should have taken until now but lost”.
Sir Safety Perugia – Casa Modena
PAST ENCOUNTERS: None
Vincenzo Tamburo (Sir Safety Perugia): “Modena is definitely a good team, with many interesting youngsters who want to show their worth in this league. We’re coming off back to back losses, even if we knew it was going to be tough against Trento and Macerata. But we want to bounce back in front of our fans. It will be a difficult game, but we’ll do everything we can to get back to winning”.
Angelo Lorenzetti (coach Casa Modena): “More than a reaction I expect my team to be “proactive”, they have to manage to do whatever they try to do. We have to be aggressive and composed at the same time. The mental side of things is very important in volleyball, we have to learn to understand each other and read the game. Perugia has a well-defined style of play, they are accurate, they make very few mistakes and they have a quality leader in Vujevic”.
CMC Ravenna – Andreoli Latina
PRECEDENTI: 2 (2 successi Ravenna)
Mauro Fresa (coach CMC Ravenna): “We’ll be hosting an excellent team on Sunday, Latina. They have lost the last two games after an excellent start to the season, but it was against Macerata and Trento, so you can’t really argue with that. They have top quality players even on the bench, they can therefore change the course of the game at any time. Having said that, we’re coming off a good win, we’re ready and determined to play a good game”.
Candido Grande (sport director Andreoli Latina): “We’re coming off three defeats in a row, it will be an important game for us. They will be up for it after their win over Modena. But we want to forget about Wednesday’s poor performance in Finland and win this game to get back in good position in the table. We want to prove we can give a game to anyone”.
Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia – Altotevere San Giustino
PAST ENCOUNTERS: None
Gianlorenzo Blengini (coach Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia): “We’ve been working well this week, I am very satisfied, it was important to get back in the gym with a good spirit after the defeat against Castellana. That really hurt but we worked with intensity and focus to find the reaction we were looking for last time but which didn’t come. We should expect a very tough game, they are all difficult, but especially this one, for two reasons: the first is that we’re coming off a defeat and we have to overcome that, the second, even more important, is that San Giustino has just registered its first win of the season against Verona and will be eager to get this positive run going”.
Marco Fenoglio (coach Altotevere San Giustino): “This will be very difficult in Vibo, useless to deny it. They will be angry after their loss against Castellana Grotte, they’ll try to redeem themselves at home. They have a competitive roster, with top quality players, it won’t be easy to stop them. This is another important step for us as we try to get better. Playing well against such a quality squad help you understand where you stand and where you can get. We never make long term plans, it’s important for me to work and improve one game at a time. If we look at the coming fixtures, we have crucial games against direct opponents in the table. Winning them could get us in the Italian cup, which would represent a huge achievement for us”.
Serie A2
Round 8
Sidigas Atripalda – Elettrosud Brolo. Just one point away from the leaders, Atripalda does not want to lose ground. In the last round, Brolo made it hard for the league leaders of Città di Castello. Tofoli will have to make do without Benito Ruiz, while Paoli should be fit to play. The Sicilians will hand the keys of the team to young setter Alessandro Blasi following Axel Jacobsen’s departure.
Gherardi SVI Città di Castello – B-Chem Golden Plast Potenza Picena. Città di Castello lost its first point this season on a tie-break win in Brolo last weekend. They will try to stay unbeaten against a Potenza team that will be without the injured Zampetti.
Tonazzo Padova – Caffè Aiello Corigliano. Only one win in three home games for Padova so far. Mattia and co are hoping to improve on that against Corigliano, who was back to winning ways last Sunday against Reggio, which put an end to a four-game losing streak.
Pallavolo Loreto – Sieco Service Ortona. Second consecutive home game for Loreto after their first win of the season against Matera (3-1). Peda and Belcecchi will be back against Ortona, who has become very consistent as they are tied with Città di Castello at the top.
Coserplast Matera – Globo Banca Popolare del Frusinate Sora. Both clubs are going through tough times and will want to get back on the right track. Their last victory goes back to October 21, Matera had beaten Potenza and Sora had had the better of Corigliano. Then, Matera and Sora have lost 4 and 3 respectively.
Pallavolo Molfetta – Vero Volley Monza. Rested last week, Molfetta plays host to Monza as every game is starting to be important for the Italian Cup qualification. The top four will qualify and both clubs are close. Kay Van Dijk should be back from injury for Molfetta.
Round 8
Saturday November 17
Sidigas Atripalda – Elettrosud Brolo
(Turtù-Bartoloni)
Sunday November 18 at 6pm
Gh
