Serie A1
Cuneo needs a tie-beak
ALTOTEVERE SAN GIUSTINO – BRE BANCA LANNUTTI CUNEO 2-3 (25-27, 25-23, 25-20, 19-25, 13-15)
ALTOTEVERE SAN GIUSTINO: Fiore 13, Guttmann, Coali, Cesarini (L), Bohme 3, Torre 2, De Togni 5, Maric 26, Cebulj 21. DNP Van Den Dries, Mc Kibbin, Mattioli, Lo Bianco. Coach. Fenoglio.
BRE BANCA LANNUTTI CUNEO: Antonov 12, Ngapeth 14, De Pandis (L), Galliani, Kohut 8, Grbic 7, Della Lunga 4, Sokolov 33, Rossi 2. DNP Marchisio, Abdelaziz. Coach. Piazza.
San Giustino celebrated its early playoff qualification by hosting one of the big teams of the league, Cuneo. Coach Piazza had to make do without captain Wijsmans because of pain on his right knee. The game would be like the first set, tight all the way and decided only in last few rallies. In the tie-break, San Giustino went 5-3 then 8-5 ahead. This was a thrilling match with mistakes as well as brilliant plays like Bohme’s block that made it 11-9. The host would lead 12-10 before being pegged back and overcome 12-14.
Roberto Piazza (coach Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo): “We knew playing in San Giustino would be difficult, this is a tough place to go to for anyone. If we analyse the game, I have to say that they played better than us, they put us under pressure, they played well both in dig and serve. But we did well to stay in it and find key points in the tie-break”.
Goran Maric (Altotevere San Giustino): “Shame to lose this way, this was maybe one of our best performances. We had decided to hit the serve hard and play fast. At times, we managed to do it, but we also made mistakes, we really wanted to get a win against a big team of this league, we’ll have another go against Modena”.
League table
Itas Diatec Trentino 46, Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata 44, Copra Elior Piacenza 43, Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo 40, Casa Modena 30, Sir Safety Perugia 30, Andreoli Latina 28, Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia 26, BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte 23, Altotevere San Giustino 20, CMC Ravenna 10, Marmi Lanza Verona 8.
1 game more: Copra Elior Piacenza, Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo, Andreoli Latina, Altotevere San Giustino
