Del Monte Italian Cup A1 – Quarter-finals
At stake a place in Bologna’s final four
On Wednesday night eight teams will fight it out for a place in the Italian Cup final four to take place on March 8-9 in Bologna.
Del Monte Italian Cup Serie A1 – Quarter-finals
Wednesday January 29 at 8.30pm
Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata (1) – (8) Bre Lannutti Cuneo
(Santi-Tanasi)
Sir Safety Perugia (4) – (5) Calzedonia Verona Live on RAI Sport 1
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
(Pasquali-Cesare)
Copra Elior Piacenza (2) – (7) Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia
(Bartolini-Satanassi)
Diatec Trentino (3) – (6) Casa Modena Live on Sportube.tv
(Cipolla-Pol)
Del Monte Coppa Italia Serie A1 – Final Four
PalaDozza – Bologna
Saturday March 8 at 4pm
1st semi-final
Winner (1)/(8) – Winner (4)/(5) Live on Rai Sport 1
Saturday March 8 at 6.30pm
2nd semi-final
Winner (2)/(7) – (3)/(6) Live on Rai Sport 1
Sunday March 9 at 5.30pm
Final Live on Rai Sport 1
Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata – Bre Lannutti Cuneo
Exciting tie between the team that dominates the league, Macerata, and Cuneo. Macerata has been defeated in the league by Perugia this weekend right after going out disappointingly of the Champions League, knocked off by Piacenza. They will try to bounce back with a good run in a competition they lost in the final in the past two seasons. As for Piazza’s men, they qualified as 8th and last team and have therefore this tough draw. They had a roller-coaster so far this season, they’re out of the Cev Cup and behind expectations in the league. Now seventh in the Serie A, they will try to go back to the cup final four after two seasons out of it. Cuneo’s last triumph in the competition was in 2011, when the team was coached by Alberto Giuliani.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 73 (38-35 Cuneo)
In the cup: 6 – Semifinali 2010-2011 (Cuneo – Macerata 3-2), Finale 2008-2009 (Macerata – Cuneo 3-1), Semifinali 2007-2008 (Cuneo – Macerata 0-3), Semifinali 2003-2004 (Macerata – Cuneo 2-3), Quarti di Finale Coppa Italia A1/A2 1996-1997 (gara di ritorno Cuneo – Macerata 3-0, gara di andata Macerata – Cuneo 1-3).
Macerata’s past in the cup:
19 participation, 4 titles: 2008–2009 vs Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo, 2007–2008 vs M. Roma Volley, 2002–2003 vs Sisley Treviso, 2000–2001 vs Sisley Treviso.
Cuneo’s past in the cup
22 participation, 5 titles: 2010-2011 vs Itas Diatec Trentino, 2005–2006 vs Copra Berni Piacenza, 2001–2002 vs Maxicono Parma, 1998–1999 vs Sisley Treviso and 1995–1996 vs Sisley Treviso.
Marko Podrascanin (Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata): “We want to bounce back from those two consecutive losses and get into Bologna’s final four. It will be an in-or-out match, which already makes it a difficult game. We’ll need maximum focus against a team that will give its all. They’re coming off back-to-back wins in the league, but our goal is to win this important game and play the kind of volleyball we proved we could play in the first part of the season”.
Gabriele Maruotti (Bre Lannutti Cuneo): “We went straight from Latina to Macerata for this cup quarter-final against the league leaders. They have proved they deservedly are in the first place, they have strong players in every position, and I think their serve is their main strength. If we want to win in their Fontescodella gym, we’ll need to play at our best. We’ll need to put all the energy we’ve got into it and try to do our best. We have to go there knowing we have nothing to lose and just go all out”.
Copra Elior Piacenza – Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia
Third consecutive home game for Piacenza in three different competition. After the Champions League triumph over Macerata and the league win over Modena, it’s cup time against Vibo Valentia. Zlatanov and co hope to qualify for the final four in which they have not been since 2008-09, and win the first Italian cup in Piacenza’s history. The quarter-final stage has always been tough for Piacenza, beaten six out of eight times. One of those knock-out punches was inflicted by Vibo Valentia in 2004-05.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 22 (17-5 Piacenza)
In the cup: 1 – Quarter-finals 2004-2005 (Piacenza – Vibo Valentia 0-3).
Piacenza’s past in the cup:
8 participations: semi-final (vs Macerata) in 2008–2009 , Final lost vs Cuneo in 2005–2006
Vibo’s past in the cup:
6 participations: One semi-final in 2013 (beaten by Trentino), one final in 2005 (beaten by Treviso).
Hristo Zlatanov (Copra Elior Piacenza): “We have to be as concentrated as possible for this important game, Piacenza has been missing the final four for too long. We have to go through at all cost, we cannot hide ourselves, we have what it takes to make it, we have to go out there and do the job. We’ll have to be united, put maximum effort without ever underestimating the opponent and get in Bologna’s final four”.
Gianlorenzo Blengini (Coach Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia): “We’re in a tough situation, we knew it would be so from the start. The important thing, no matter the situation we know is that the team give everything it has , and I think we did exactly that again against Ravenna. On Sunday in the fourth and fifth set, we had two players that would have been better off out of the game because of physical problems, and two others with cramps. We’ll go to Piacenza with what we have, we’ll try to execute well all the things that do not depend on who’s on the other side of the net. We’ll try to play composed, without the pressure that the favorite has”.
Diatec Trentino – Casa Modena
Winner of the last two editions, Trentino will go for a third consecutive triumph, starting with a home game against Modena. So far Serniotti’s men have had an intense month of January but a satisfactory one too with the Champions League qualification as well as three consecutive league wins. They are in good form but careful to Bruninho and co. Despite their last two losses against Perugia and Piacenza, they proved they could play face to face against the best teams. Last year, they had a brilliant performance knocking out Piacenza and qualifying for Assago’s final four. This game will also be the best blocking team (3.31 blocks per set for Trento) against the best attack (760 winning spikes for Modena).
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 43 (27-16 Trento)
A1In the cup: 1 – Semi-final in 2010 (beaten by Trento)
Trento’s past in the cup:
12 participations, 3 titles: 2012-2013 and 2011-2012 against Macerata, 2009-2010 vs Cuneo
Modena’s past in the cup
31 participations, 10 titles: 1997–1998 vs Alpitour Traco Cuneo, 1996–1997 vs Alpitour Traco Cuneo, 1994–1995 vs Sisley Treviso, 1993–1994 vs Maxicono Parma, 1988–1989 vs Sisley Treviso, 1987–1988 vs Camst Bologna, 1985–1986 (1st place out of 4 teams), 1984–1985 (1st place out of 4), 1979–1980 (1st place out of 4), 1978-1979 (1st place out of 4).
Filippo Lanza (Diatec Trentino): “We’re getting to this tie with a smile thanks to the three points taken on Sunday night in Molfetta. But the task ahead with be anything but easy. Compared to the league game won against them, Modena now has a new setter, a top class player, Bruninho, who made them step up one level. We’ll have to study well, tactically too, to understand what to do to contain their spikers. This is a very exciting game but risky too. Good job we can play it in our PalaTrento, with our fans”.
Angelo Lorenzetti (Coach Casa Modena): “We are a bit disappointing with the last two league defeats, I think we’d have deserved to play a tie-break on both occasions. On the one hand, those games against very strong oppositions like Piacenza and Perugia told us we were still a little short, but on the other hand, if we play aggressive, we know we have our chance too. We’ll need to be aggressive against Trento, convert the opportunities that we’ll create ourselves and be composed too, even in the hard times, especially when dealing with the quality of their serve. They can build their attack as well as last season, they are quicker and play more in the center”.
Sir Safety Perugia – Calzedonia Verona
Respectively fourth and fifth in the league, Perugia and Verona meet for the first time ever in the Italian Cup. Perugia, who can boast the top scorer of the league in Atanasijevic (292 points), will take part in their second cup after last year’s debut on their first year in the elite of Italian volleyball. They will try to add to the recent win over the league leaders Macerata and make it into their first final four. Verona’s last participation was in 2008-09. They will try to bounce back from two league defeats in a row against Città di Castello and Cuneo. Verona had made it into the final four in 2004-05. They will try to use their aggressiveness on the serve to reach that stage again (Gasparini is number one in the chart with 32 aces) as well as their blocking (Zingel is the best with 50).
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 3 (all Perugia)
In the cup: None
Perugia’s past in the cup
1 participations: Beaten in the quarters by Trento in 2013
Verona’s past in the cup:
2 participations: One quarter-final in 2009 (beaten by Cuneo), and one semi-final in 2005 (beaten by Vibo)
Andrea Giovi (Sir Safety Perugia): “We have celebrated for just a few hours our victory over Macerata because we already had our minds set on the cup game against Verona. As good as the win over Macerata was, this remains a simple league game, while on Wednesday we play in a do-or-die game and an important target which Perugia has never reached. We are extremely motivated to make it into the final four and we’ll have the help of our amazing fans to try to get there”.
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