Serie A1
Round 9
It’s December and there’s only 3 games to play to the halfway point of the season. That means 9 points at stake to conquer a place in the Italian Cup quarter-finals. Only Macerata and Trentino are the only two squads certain to be there. Vibo and Verona will get things started on Saturday as the hosts lost two places following their defeat against Latina. As for Verona, they’ll hope to repeat the superb performance seen against Macerata as they are still in the race for the cup. Sunday’s big game will be Trento versus Piacenza. The world champion are back within one point of Macerata at the top as they played and won against Modena on Wednesday a postponed game from round 3.
Serie A1 round 9
Saturday December 1 at 5.30pm
Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia – Marmi Lanza Verona Live on RAI Sport 2
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
(Longo-Braico)
Sunday December 2 at 5.30pm
Itas Diatec Trentino – Copra Elior Piacenza Live on RAI Sport 2
(Tanasi-Padoan)
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
Sunday December 2 at 6pm
BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte – Andreoli Latina
(Bartolini-Pasquali)
Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata – Casa Modena Diretta Sportube.tv
(Cesare-La Micela)
Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo – Altotevere San Giustino
(Prandi-Puecher)
Sir Safety Perugia – CMC Ravenna
(Sampaolo-Frapiccini)
League table
Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata 21, Itas Diatec Trentino 20, Andreoli Latina 16, Copra Elior Piacenza 16, Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo 15, Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia 14, Sir Safety Perugia 10, Casa Modena 9, Altotevere San Giustino 8, Marmi Lanza Verona 8, BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte 4, CMC Ravenna 3
Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia – Marmi Lanza Verona
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 23 (12-11 Vibo Valentia)
Alessandro Farina (Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia): “Verona is in good shape, and they have Meoni back. We’ll have to be ready, this is a very important game for the Italian Cup. We’ll try to do more of the good things done against Latina and maybe do a better job in the difficult moments that might occur”.
Marco Meoni (Marmi Lanza Verona): “Vibo is having a great season and they’ll want to bounce back from their loss against Latina. We know Vibo is a tough place to go to. But we’re up for it too after our performance against Macerata. We want to find consistency now that we know we can play at that level”.
Itas Diatec Trentino – Copra Elior Piacenza
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 33 (20-13 Trento)
Osmany Juantorena (Itas Diatec Trentino): “This will be a great game: both teams are on a good run, and Piacenza has Simon. I am happy for him, he’s a good friend, he really deserved to play again after two years in the stands. But there’s no time for feelings in the game so I’ll just tell him I’ll see him at the end of the game, and I’ll do my best during the match not to be blocked by him, which won’t be easy. I am convinced it will be a spectacular dual, I’m glad he’ll be on the other side of the net. Piacenza is much stronger with him, we’ll have to be very careful. We’ll need composure again because our opponents are all extremely motivated to be the one that will stop us, especially them”.
Samuele Papi (Copra Elior Piacenza): “Sunday’s game will be extremely difficult: we’ll be up against one of the most in-form teams with Macerata. We’ll need to be at our best to win it. We can’t afford to make any mistakes and we’ll need our best volleyball. If we make mistakes we’ll have no chance”.
BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte – Andreoli Latina
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 6 (4-2 Latina)
Flavio Gulinelli (BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte): “We proved against Trento we could give a game to anyone. We are confident and convinced we can do well against Latina, who is a good team that deserves to be where they are in the table. We have to start being nasty and take the points we want. This is the first of three games that could help us make steps forward and give us a boost ahead of the return games”.
Massimiliano Prandi (Andreoli Latina): “Castellana Grotte is a tough place to go to, there’s always a heated atmosphere there. This is a young team with big margin for improvement, so we’ll need to impose our game. We want to keep the positive streak going and we’ll do everything possible to take more valuable points”.
Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata – Casa Modena
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 59 (31-28 Modena)
Hubert Henno (Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata): “Our first goal against Modena will be to be more consistent during the whole game, we did not do that against Verona, although it’s true we’d played five games in quick succession. Now, we’re using this full week of training to be ready for this game and the next ones. In the coming fixtures, there will not only be the first place in the league at stake but also the top spot in the Champions League. Modena is a young but tough team, we’ll need an excellent performance to beat them. There are important points at stake, we can’t get it wrong”.
Sam Deroo (Casa Modena): “We have to play without pressure, like we’ve done in the first set against Trento. Then, they have stepped up, especially on the serve. Macerata is very strong from the 9-neter line too. We’ll have to hang on through the tough time, hang in there in reception and try not to miss easy things. If you want to have a chance against the top teams, you can’t afford to waste any opportunity or give points away. Despite last Sunday’s defeat, there’s a good atmosphere in the group. In Macerata, we’ll need to play with a positive aggressiveness, be loose and courageous”.
Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo – Altotevere San Giustino
PAST ENCOUNTERS: None
Wout Wijsmans (Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo): “Very important game for us after the defeat in Modena: we need to prove we’re much better than what we’ve shown last Sunday. We prepared ourselves physically and tactically during the week so that everybody is ready to bounce back”.
Marco Fenoglio (coach Altotevere San Giustino): “I started my coaching career in Cuneo, once I got my degree at the ISEF, then my career led me to work away from my city. I have a lot of great memories from there, but there won’t be no time for memory lane on Sunday. Cuneo is really strong, but we’ll have to take the chances that will come our way. Cuneo is one of the strongest teams of this league, they have the players to win the championship and do well in Europe. These teams usually don’t lose their way because of physical or mental problems. However, they’re coming off a defeat against Modena. They will be angry, eager to redeem themselves. We’ll have to be ready for the fight”.
Sir Safety Perugia – CMC Ravenna
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 2 (Ravenna won both)
Mauro Fresa (coach CMC Ravenna): “Another road game and another tough one. A key will be to forget about our game against San Giustino and get some points. It won’t be easy because Perugia has been playing to the full of its potential, but if we play at our best we can make it hard for them”.
Daniele Tomassetti (Sir Safety Perugia): “This is a crucial game for us, our only thought are the three points. We definitely left something on the way in Piacenza last week. This defeat still hurts, but now we’re just really keen to bounce back. We’re home, with our fans, we’ll have to play with determination, fighting spirit and with the right mindset to bring the three points home”.
Serie A2
Round 10
Conad Reggio Emilia – Pallavolo Molfetta. Inspired by its recent win in Monza, Cantagalli’s team will try to get more points as it plays host to Molfetta, beaten last Sunday by Corigliano.
Elettrosud Brolo – Sieco Service Ortona. Stuck just one point above Loreto, who’s bottom, Tofoli’s boys will play their second consecutive home game. They need to go for it against Ortona, who will try to stay focused to defend its second place following their defeat against the leaders of Città di Castello.
Tonazzo Padova – Globo Banca Popolare del Frusinate Sora. Tight race to the cup semi-final with just 4 rounds to go. Padova and Sora are both aiming for one of the coveted places. Big game.
Coserplast Matera – Caffè Aiello Corigliano. Both relieved having won in the last round, respectively away against Brolo and home against Molfetta.
Sidigas Atripalda – Vero Volley Monza. Rested last week, Atripalda takes on Monza, defeated by Reggio Emilia in the last round. The hosts could have their new Spiker, Serbian Milija Mrdak, in the line-up.
Gherardi SVI Città di Castello – Pallavolo Loreto. 8 consecutive wins, 23 total points out of 24 possible, the last big game won 3-0 against Ortona, and leadership consolidated. Nice curriculum for Città di Castello who will host Loreto, bottom of the table and on a five-game losing slide.
Serie A2 round 10
Saturday December 1 at 8.30pm
Conad Reggio Emilia – Pallavolo Molfetta
(Gelati-Sessolo)
Sunday December 2 at 6pm
Elettrosud Brolo – Sieco Service Ortona
(Morgillo-Gasparro)
Tonazzo Padova – Globo Banca Popolare del Frusinate Sora
(Genna-Pozzi)
Coserplast Matera – Caffè Aiello Corigliano
(Cappelletti-Turtù)
Sidigas Atripalda – Vero Volley Monza Differed RAI Sport 1 (Tuesday December 4 at 8.30pm)
(Venturi-Puletti)
Gherardi SVI Città di Castello – Pallavolo Loreto
(Cassarino-Bertoletti)
Rested: B-Chem Golden Plast Potenza Picena
League table
Gherardi SVI Città di Castello 23, Sieco Service Ortona 20, Sidigas Atripalda 19, Pallavolo Molfetta 15, Globo Banca Pop. Frusinate Sora 15, Vero Volley Monza 14, Tonazzo Padova 14, Conad Reggio Emilia 10, Caffè Aiello Corigliano 10, Coserplast Matera 7, B-Chem Golden Plast Potenza Picena 6, Elettrosud Brolo 5, Pallavolo Loreto 4
1 game more: Sieco Service Ortona, Tonazzo Padova, Coserplast Matera, B-Chem Golden Plast Potenza Picena
