Serie A1
Round 8
Another weekend of volley coming up with four rounds to go and the Italian cup qualification in the minds of everyone.
Serie A1 round 8
Saturday December 7 at 5.30pm
Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia – Diatec Trentino Live on RAI Sport 2
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
(Balboni-Piana)
Sunday December 8 at 5.30pm
CMC Ravenna – Sir Safety Perugia Live on RAI Sport 2
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
(Sampaolo-Padoan)
Sunday December 8 at 6pm
Copra Elior Piacenza – Exprivia Molfetta
(Santi-Vagni)
Andreoli Latina – Casa Modena
(Zucca-Rapisarda)
Altotevere Città di Castello – Bre Lannutti Cuneo
(Cipolla-Cappello)
Sunday December 8 at 7pm
Calzedonia Verona – Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata Live on Sportube.tv
(Sobrero-Gnani)
League table
Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata 20, Copra Elior Piacenza 17, Diatec Trentino 16, Sir Safety Perugia 12, Calzedonia Verona 12, Exprivia Molfetta 9, Casa Modena 9, Altotevere Città di Castello 8, Bre Lannutti Cuneo 7, Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia 7, CMC Ravenna 5, Andreoli Latina 4
Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia – Diatec Trentino
Down to tenth after 3 consecutive defeats, Vibo needs points against Trentino to make it into the Italian Cup. This will be the longest trip of the season for Trento, which is coming off an excellent performance in the Champions League in Izmir. The Italian champs are looking for their fourth consecutive league win.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 24 (21-3 Trento).
Alessandro Farina (Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia): “This will be a rather complicated game, we won’t have our full squad either. We’ll face them with confidence even if we will face many difficulties. Unfortunately, we’re playing the strongest teams of the league one after another, but we’ll try everything possible to give our amazing fan a great result”.
Sebastian Solé (Diatec Trentino): “This is a very special game for me because I will be up against my great friend and national teammate Pablo Crer. I really want to do well and make life as difficult as possible for him, I know he will do the same with me. We have prepared this extremely tricky game very carefully. We can’t get this one wrong if we want to stay close at the top”.
CMC Ravenna – Sir Safety Perugia
Four consecutive losses for Ravenna, which will try to get its second win of the season against Perugia. Despite the defeats, they have taken points, pushing Città di Castello to the tie-break away, and going to the fifth too at home against Verona. The 8th position and last ticket for the cup is just 3 points away. Perugia is coming off too excellent three-point wins.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 4 (2 each)
Marco Bonitta (coach CMC Ravenna): “Perugia has only lost against Macerata and Piacenza so far, two of the favourites for the league titles. They have great personality, conveyed mostly by the Serbians, some of them being Olympic champions. I think they also have some weaknesses, which we’ll have to make the most of to get a result, which we’ll be able to do only if the whole team plays at its best”.
Andrea Giovi (Sir Safety Perugia): “This will be a really tough one. They have gathered some negative results but this is a good team, and they will be home. Their main men are outside hitter Klapwijk and the spikers Tillie and Cebulj, all extremely good on high balls, they’re very promising young players. And there is my friend Bari, a guarantee. It will be very difficult, we’ll have to give our best if we want the win. We’ll need consistency, and keep making it hard for them with our serve, which has helped us a lot in recent games, Mitic has served especially well against Vibo for example”.
Copra Elior Piacenza – Exprivia Molfetta
Back from Bulgaria with a crucial Champions League win, Monti’s boys are playing host to Molfetta. The latter has had great games like last Sunday against Verona (3-0) and they have added Enrico Diamantini from Avellino this week. However, they still have to win away, having conceded three 3-0 defeats on the road (vs Macerata, Trento and Latina).
PAST ENCOUNTERS: None
Luca Monti (Coach Copra Elior Piacenza): “Between the Champions League game against Dupnitsa and the Molfetta game, we’ll have very little time to train. We’ll need to recharge our batteries quick and be ready for this important match. I am sure we’ll manage that, the team is in good shape, we had a little weight session on our return from Bulgaria and tomorrow we’ll train without pushing it too much. Like all the teams involved, we knew the Champions League would bring some difficulties. The group has to keep pulling together, hang on tight and give whatever’s left in the tank until December 20. After that, there will be time to rest”.
Giancarlo D’Amico (Assistant coach Exprivia Molfetta): “The three years I spent with Lorenzetti and the few months with Luca Monti were great experiences, they have been the turning point of my career. It will be great to meet my friends in Piacenza. As for the game, we have to overcome the difficulties we had so far on the road, we have to face the game without getting stressed out for the result but trying to do well all the things we know we’re capable of”.
Andreoli Latina – Casa Modena
In the postponed game played in midweek, Latina was defeated by Verona and stayed stuck at the bottom of the table. But the way back up is not impossible as the sixth position is just five points away. There’s however a tough task ahead against Modena, which took a point in Macerata in the last round before going on a mini-camp in Cannes, France. A couple of players are doubtful for Lorenzetti.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 23 (14-9 Modena)
Salvatore Rossini (Andreoli Latina): “After the defeat in Verona, we have to get back down to work. We have to start winning, so a win at home against Modena could give us those three points we need to get moving in the table. There is no real problem in the team which could justify these results, this is without a doubt a series of factors put together. We have to work hard, there’s no other solution”.
Angelo Lorenzetti (coach Casa Modena): “The days spent in Cannes and the two friendlies gave us some good indications. We spent some time together and tried to understand how to put all the good things done in training on court during games as soon as possible. We still don’t know which line up we’ll be able to send on Sunday. We’ll face a tough game in Latina, they are starting to find their game. They have been penalized by a very tough fixture list to start with, they’re aiming for the Italian cup and they have what it takes to make it”.
Altotevere Città di Castello – Bre Lannutti Cuneo
Città di Castello has taken a point against Ravenna and one against the Italian champions of Trento in the last two rounds. Radici’s men want to keep surprising and stay in the top 8. Winners in the Cev Cup in Germany, Cuneo had gone back to winning ways in the league against Ravenna (3-1), which stopped a three-game losing streak. Only one point separate the two sides, entertainment guaranteed as both team fights for a place in the Italian Cup.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 2 (Cuneo won both)
Andrea Rossi (Altotevere Città di Castello): “Cuneo’s real worth has nothing to do with its league position. They have top quality players, hopefully we’ll have a great game. This is a special feeling for me to face Cuneo, because I grew up there from 16 years old until the end of last year. Undoubtedly an extra motivation to give my best on court”.
Roberto Piazza (coach Bre Lannutti Cuneo): “A very important game. A match between two teams still looking for a good balance and consistency. I think the key could be the way we handle the block-dig department and the atmosphere there will be there”.
Calzedonia Verona – Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata
Superb and fundamental win for Verona in the postponed game against Latina in midweek (3-1), which send them to fifth in the table. They are now hoping to get back in the Italian Cup as its last participation was in 2008-09. They will try to hand Macerata its first defeat of the season. Kurek and co have won 7 out of 7 so far but are coming off a European loss and a long trip to Siberia.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 19 (16-3 Macerata)
Andrea Giani (Coach Calzedonia Verona): “We’re up against the league leaders, they’re still undefeated. Macerata has top class players, this is one of the most complete squads of the league, they’re very strong on the break. We’re extremely up for it, we must try not to play with fear and neither should we get carried away. We must stay composed, and play on our strengths. There is obviously a difference between the two teams, but we proved we had character and we’ll give it our best shot”.
Stefano Patriarca (Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata): “We’re coming off a long and difficult trip to Siberia in the Champions League, and that took a lot of energy. But we want to do well in the league and win it. We know Verona is in great shape, they had a brilliant start to the season, but we should not be scared. We’ll face a confident and motivated team and these games should give us the excitement needed to give our best and maintain our hundred percent record in the league. We must prove the defeat against Novosibirsk is behind us”.
Serie A2
Round 8
League down to 11 teams with Avellino ejected
On Sunday 8, the A2 will resume without Avellino, ejected of the league. Each club will therefore be rested every week, it’s Brolo’s turn this weekend.
Materdominivolley.it Castellana Grotte – Itely Milano. Castellana Grotte is looking for its first win of the season while Milan wants its first triumph on the road. Castellana was beaten by Ortona last week, while Milan was boosted by its victory over Corigliano.
Caffè Aiello Corigliano – Tonazzo Padova. This week, Corigliano named Michele Totire new head coach as he could not continue at Avellino. He will start with a tough task against the league leaders, Padova. Bladovin’s boys have won its last five and always taken points since the beginning of the season.
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