Minute silence for Stefan Vujevic
A minute silence will be respected on all Serie A court for the little Stefan Vujevic, son of Perugia’s captain Goran Vujevic and Francesca Lolli, who died during the night of Monday October 21 at the age of 5.
Serie A1
Round 2 preview
The big game of the weekend, live on Rai Sport, will be Perugia versus Modena. Interesting encounter between Latina and Macerata.
Serie A1 Round 2
Saturday October 26 at 5.30pm
Sir Safety Perugia – Casa Modena Live on RAI Sport 1
(Cipolla-Cesare)
Sunday October 27 at 5.30pm
CMC Ravenna – Diatec Trentino Live on RAI Sport 1
(Padoan-Sobrero)
Sunday October 27 at 6pm
Copra Elior Piacenza – Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia
(Pasquali-Sampaolo)
Andreoli Latina – Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata Live on Sportube.tv
(Satanassi-Boris)
Calzedonia Verona – Bre Lannutti Cuneo
(La Micela-Pol)
Exprivia Molfetta – Altotevere Città di Castello
(Gnani-Piana)
League table
Casa Modena 3, Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata 3, Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia 3, Altotevere Città di Castello 3, Sir Safety Perugia 2, Bre Lannutti Cuneo 1, Andreoli Latina 0, Diatec Trentino 0, Copra Elior Piacenza 0, Calzedonia Verona 0, Exprivia Molfetta 0, CMC Ravenna 0
Sir Safety Perugia – Casa Modena
Emotionally difficult week for Perugia and especially for its captain, whose son Stefan passed away. Winner over Cuneo in the first round, Kovac’s men still tried to prepare the game against Modena as well as possible. Beaten twice last year, Modena will try to win this match-up and add to the convincing opening win over Ravenna.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 2 (2 for Perugia)
Benedetto Rizzuto (sport director Sir Safety Perugia): “This will definitely be a particular game for us, different from any other given what happened this week. We obviously had all our thoughts going to Stefan as we went back in the gym, it was not easy to prepare the game, but I am sure everybody will give everything they have on court. Modena is definitely a very strong opponent. They’re coming off a good victory over Ravenna, they have an excellent coach and a group of strong, all-around and motivated athletes”.
Lukas Kampa (Casa Modena): “Perugia is a strong team. The group was already solid last year and they’ve added even more quality. A “Serbian” group which has technique and the capacity to fight. We must expect a very tough game in every way. This is our first away game: we trained well during the week, which to be honest we have been doing from day one. We have seen a couple of videos but we mainly focused on ourselves, on what we have to do on our own side of the court. We have what it takes to make it hard for them, to fight on every ball too. I have faith in my teammates”.
CMC Ravenna – Diatec Trentino
The heated PalaAndrè is ready to host its first game of the season. Ravenna will try to bounce back from its debut loss against Modena as they face the Italian champions of Trento. Ravenna has not won at home since April 1st 2012, this encounter against Trentino, who’s coming off the Champions League win, could be a great opportunity for a special gift to its supporters.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 4 (All Trento)
Marco Bonitta (coach Cmc Ravenna): “There will definitely be a good crowd for this home debut. Besides, on the other side of the net, there will be a great team, which had a brilliant start to the season. In my opinion, not only have they reached a high rhythm but they also have the best outside hitter in the league. They have played the Super Cup, the World Club Championships as well as the Champions League, so they’re well ready to play. As for us, we know we can do well, but we’ll have to be more consistent than against Modena”.
Giacomo Sintini (Diatec Trentino): “Playing in Ravenna is like going back home for me. I was not only born very close to the city, but I also began my A1 career in the PalaDeAndrè arena. So I’m always happy to go back there even if I have to say this will be a tricky game. We’ll be playing our third game in seven days in a third different competition against an opponent eager to bounce back after their loss against Modena in the first round. This is our debut in the league and we’d like to start off with a win, like we did on Thursday in the Champions League and the previous week in the World Club Championships”.
Copra Elior Piacenza – Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia
Piacenza recovered from its opening league loss with a Champions League victory, and now they host Vibo Valentia. The latter opened its season with a win over Verona, led by a superb performance from Gavotto (22 points).
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 20 (15-5 Piacenza)
Davide Marra (Copra Elior Piacenza): “Wednesday’s Champions League victory is already behind us. We have to focus on our game, we have to reach our best form in just a few training sessions. Playing games in quick succession means we have less time to rest, and now we’re facing Ravenna which had a good start to the season. They have a good mix of young and experienced players, and they’re all quality athletes. This will be another difficult game, we’ll have to be strong and play with courage”.
Gianlorenzo Blengini (Coach Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia): “I think that, together with Macerata, Piacenza is a team built to win the league. Last Sunday’s defeat and the fact they play at home, without forgetting how strong they are, means they’ll get on court extremely focused. They won in the champions League, they had difficult moments but they brilliantly overcame them. We’ll try to go there and make progress, even if we know they won’t give us anything. But we’ll try to play our game”.
Andreoli Latina – Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata
Latina will make its debut this weekend as in the first round it was meant to face Trento, which was in the World Club Championships. Latina will be up against an in-form and motivated team following back to back victories in the league and in the Champions League against Kazan (3-0).
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 30 (25-5 Macerata)
Carmelo Gitto (Andreoli Latina): “We start the season where we had left off, our last one was in the playoffs game four in the PalaBianchini arena against Macerata. We know they’ll be one of the teams to beat this season again: the favorite. So we have to be focused and try to limit our mistakes as much as possible. We have nothing to lose, so we’ll play without pressure, which could be an advantage for us”.
Natale Monopoli (Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata): “This will be our first away game, and after our nice Champions League victory over Kazan, we are full of confidence. The PalaBianchini is always a tough place to go for us, so we’ll have to be careful and keep our feet on the ground, without getting carried away because we won two games. Latina has an expert setter in Sottile, he knows how to get things organized. Besides, this will be their debut so they’ll be up for it at home. But we’re ready and focused”.
Calzedonia Verona – Bre Lannutti Cuneo
Both losers in the first round, Verona and Cuneo will fight it out for a first win. Verona has not won since November 4 2012, while Cuneo immediately bounced back from their league disappointment against Perugia with a victory in the Cev Cup.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 22 (16-6 Cuneo)
Andrea Giani (coach Calzedonia Verona): “We prepared well for this tough encounter against one of the best teams. They have solid players, guided by a well-prepared coach. Our goal is to step up a level. After the Vibo Valentia game, we focused on various aspects and game situations we had to improve to be ready for this game”.
Gabriele Maruotti (Bre Lannutti Cuneo): “Sunday’s game will be a crucial one, especially after a rather poor debut game against Perugia, even if we can be satisfied with the point taken given how things went in the previous weeks. We’ve been working for a long time, a win would give us a boost. No matter who will be on the other side of the net, we’ll have to be ready to give it all, for the good of the team. This is a rather difficult and stressful period: 4 games in 10 days and trips in Nantes and Verona, but we will do our best to get the victory”.
Exprivia Molfetta – Altotevere Città di Castello
The two A2 starring teams of last season are back facing each other but at the level above. It’s Molfetta, winners of the playoffs, versus Città di Castello, which triumphed in the regular season. Molfetta lost in the first round against Macerata while Città di Castello made a breakthrough against the vice-champions of Piacenza with an outstanding Van Walle (31 points).
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 7 (5-2 Città di Castello)
Cristian Casoli (Exprivia Molfetta): “Città di Castello is a different team and it plays differently to Macerata. We’re working well, hoping our home fans will bring us luck from the first game. One of our main strength will come from the union of the group, the atmosphere in the changing room, the fact we have a young group helps in that regards. Città di Castello will be full of confidence, they’re coming off that win over Piacenza. We’ll need to be focused from the first point. Besides, the coach always asks us maximum effort on each point, and rightly so”.
Federico Tosi (Altotevere Città di Castello): “We’re facing a very difficult game because we have to confirm and maybe consolidate what we did in our debut in the A1, showing the quality and will to win that helped us defeat Piacenza. Their team is built around outside hitter Sabbi, who had a good season in Castellana. Anyway, we’re going there after an excellent week of training behind us and the determination to play a good game against a newly promoted side like us”.
Serie A2
Round 2
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