Serie A1
Round 12
The first half of season is gone and the 8 qualified teams for the Italian Cup quarter-finals are known. Now the new target with the coming league fixtures moves onto the playoffs. This year, the first ten will be in it. The big game puts face to face Vibo Valentia and Trentino. Coscione and co are the only one this season to have beaten Trento, World Club Championships and Champions League included.
Round 12 (first return games)
Saturday December 22 at 5.30pm
Sir Safety Perugia – Andreoli Latina Live on RAI Sport 2
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
(Braico-Rapisarda)
Saturday December 22 at 8.30pm
Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo – BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte Live on Sportube.tv
(Gini-Cerquoni)
Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata – Altotevere San Giustino
(Pol-Padoan)
Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia – Itas Diatec Trentino
(Caltabiano-Cesare)
Copra Elior Piacenza – CMC Ravenna
(Santi-Piersanti)
Marmi Lanza Verona – Casa Modena
(Tanasi-Boris)
League table
Itas Diatec Trentino 29, Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata 25, Copra Elior Piacenza 22, Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia 20, Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo 20, Casa Modena 18, Andreoli Latina 17, Sir Safety Perugia 16, Altotevere San Giustino 11, BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte 8, Marmi Lanza Verona 8, CMC Ravenna 4
Sir Safety Perugia – Andreoli Latina
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 1 (Latina)
Slobodan Kovac (coach Sir Safety Perugia): “We still remember our first meeting. We had played poorly, we definitely could have done better. We’re preparing the game with our usual target: play good volleyball. Then we’ll see what happens. Latina has a lot of top level players, and good substitutes for every position, they can therefore vary. We’ll have to be organized and aggressive, play like warriors on every ball. That’s the only way to play at our best”.
Sergio Noda Blanco (Andreoli Latina): “We really have to win this one after the negative results we’ve had. It would be crucial to take three points against Perugia, which stands just one point behind us”.
Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo – BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 3 (Cuneo won them all)
Nikola Grbic (Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo): “There is a risk of thinking already about the game against Vibo Valentia, we have to be very careful not to make the mistake we made last Sunday in Perugia”.
Flavio Gulinelli (coach BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte): “This will definitely be a tough game, we both suffered an unexpected defeat last week and we’re both looking for points. Looking at the standings and the results round after round, we can see it is a very tight championship, anything can happen, but we know that Cuneo is one of the big teams of this league. I personally have many friends in Cuneo, I am from this area, but it’s true that some negative elements meant the experience did not have a happy ending but that’s part of the past now”.
Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata – Altotevere San Giustino
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 1 (Macerata)
Marko Podrascanin (Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata): “We are happy with the second place obtained at the halfway point, but our target remains the top spot, and to catch up Trento we’ll need as many wins as we can get in the return games. This game is also a good test ahead of the cup quarter-final. We have put an end to our three-game losing streak by winning in the Champions League against Lennik and then by beating Vibo in the league. Two games in which the three points came with a good performance, and that’s what we want in this game against a team we cannot underestimate”.
Francesco Mattioli (Altotevere San Giustino): “Tough game, but in sport you can’t take anything for granted. We’ll try to impose our game. In the Serie A1, you can’t just try to limit your mistake, you have to impose your game, be aggressive, try to hit on their weaknesses. Macerata will have some players missing, which could be seen as an advantage for us, but they have a superb squad, it’s not going to change much. We had a very positive first half of season, but we haven’t had one of those prestigious victories against a top team, hopefully we’ll get it on Saturday, it would be a nice present for us, the club and fans”.
Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia – Itas Diatec Trentino
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 20 (17-3 Trento)
Marcello Forni (Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia): “Against the World Champions, we’re obviously expecting a higher quality of volleyball. They have been the strongest for years, and they’ll also come here willing to take revenge on their only defeat in the first half of season. On our part, like always at home, we’ll have this positive pressure which has favoured us so far, we’ll have to try everything possible to keep this positive trend going. We’ll have to be aggressive to prevent Rapha from developing his fast game: it will be crucial not to lose focus or lose our head during the game. Then, everybody knows there’s always a part of unexpected in games, and we have the maturity and the courage to face this kind of teams at home”.
Osmany Juantorena (Itas Diatec Trentino): “Vibo Valentia beat us in the first leg and they have never lost at home. It will be tough to impose our game the way we did in recent weeks. Very indicative test ahead of the Italian cup. We’ll take this road game very seriously. We’ll be up against one of the most in-form teams of the league”.
Copra Elior Piacenza – CMC Ravenna
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 3 (2-1 Piacenza)
Davide Marra (Copra Elior Piacenza): “Sunday’s game will be important, the first return game. We’ll need to be focused on Ravenna’s game, the one of December 26 against Modena will come later. Ravenna will go all out, without fear, it will be a difficult game, this is a team that proved they could play, as seen in the victory against Modena”.
Mauro Fresa (coach CMC Ravenna): “We’re travelling again to meet one of the strongest teams of the A1, but Piacenza is not Trento so we’ll try to make it hard for them and win at least a set. The team keeps working hard in training, everybody is giving its best, they’d deserve a good result on court, hopefully this will come soon”.
Marmi Lanza Verona – Casa Modena
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 17 (14-3 Modena)
Nicola Pesaresi (Marmi Lanza Verona): “Hopefully the first return game will be the opportunity for us to start over and play well. We need the most we can get from this game and prove that we’re eager to turn things around. We’re facing a tough game for various reasons: Modena has put together a good run of victories while we have been struggling, with many injuries too. We know it won’t be easy, but we want to start this second half of season as well as possible”.
Guillaume Quesque (Casa Modena): “I think we did OK in the first half of season. We had ups and downs: defeats we might not have expected and victories that were not easy. We were and are still a young group, we have definitely got better as weeks went by, but we have a lot to do, and we know we can never lower our level of intensity and concentration. We got out of the tunnel but if we are superficial and don’t train at our best every day, we can get back in the dark very quickly. We’ll have a very difficult game in Verona. Just like us, they need points and they play good volleyball. We’ll try to limit our mistakes and keep thinking one set at a time”.
Serie A2
Round 13
Crucial round that will define who will make it into the A2 Italian Cup final four.
Globo Banca Popolare del Frusinate Sora – Vero Volley Monza. Sora is on a five game winning streak, they have kept moving up the table and have now a shot at second place to play the cup semi-final at home. As for Monza, thanks to the last two three-point victories, they have a chance to get into the top four if they win and one of Molfetta and Atripalda loses.
Caffè Aiello Corigliano – Elettrosud Brolo. Corigliano’s run was stopped last week in Monza, while Brolo is desperate for points to get away from the danger zone.
Sidigas Atripalda – Coserplast Matera. Atripalda only needs a point to make it into its first ever Italian cup. Totire’s boys can also aim for second spot if they beat Matera and Sora loses. Matera is looking to end this first half of season on a high as it fights to stay up.
Conad Reggio Emilia – Gherardi SVI Città di Castello. It’s Reggio Emilia’s turn to try to stop Città di Castello, still undefeated. Cantagalli’s boys have won two in a row.
Exprivia Molfetta – Tonazzo Padova. Molfetta will try to qualify for the Italian cup for the second time running following their debut last season. They need three points at all cost to have a place in the final four guaranteed. Otherwise, they will be at the mercy of the other results. Padova was rested last weekend.
Pallavolo Loreto – B-Chem Golden Plast Potenza Picena. Just over ten kilometers separate the two clubs. A derby between two teams not going too well. Loreto is bottom and Potenza Picena is just one point ahead. The loser will end this first half of season at the bottom of the league table.
Serie A2 round 13
Saturday December 22 at 8.30pm
Globo Banca Popolare del Frusinate Sora – Vero Volley Monza
(Oranelli-Cassarino)
Caffè Aiello Corigliano – Elettrosud Brolo Differed RAI Sport 1, Tuesday December 25 at 8pm
(Canessa-Zingaro)
Sidigas Atripalda – Coserplast Matera
(Orpianesi-Allegrini)
Conad Reggio Emilia – Gherardi SVI Città di Castello
(Piluso-Rossetti)
Exprivia Molfetta – Tonazzo Padova
(Zavater-Prati)
Pallavolo Loreto – B-Chem Golden Plast Potenza Picena
(Turtù-Feriozzi)
Rested: Sieco Service Ortona
League table
Gherardi SVI Città di Castello 31, Globo Banca Pop. Frusinate Sora 24, Sidigas Atripalda 23, Exprivia Molfetta 21, Vero Volley Monza 20, Sieco Service Ortona 20, Tonazzo Padova 17, Conad Reggio Emilia 16, Caffè Aiello Corigliano 15, Elettrosud Brolo 9, B-Chem Golden Plast Potenza Picena 7, Coserplast Matera 7, Pallavolo Loreto 6
1 game more: Sieco Service Ortona
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