Serie A1
Round 15
We’re back in the league after a thrilling weekend of cup action with the quarter-finals. This weekend, the big game will put the leaders Macerata face to face with the Italian champions of Trentino. Modena vs Città di Castello and Perugia vs Verona are two other exciting games.
Serie A1 round 15
Saturday February 1 at 5.30pm
Casa Modena – Altotevere Città di Castello Live on RAI Sport 1
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
(Sampaolo-Genna)
Sunday February 2 at 5.30pm
Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata – Diatec Trentino Live on RAI Sport 1
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
(Saltalippi-Bartolini)
Sunday February 2 at 6pm
Andreoli Latina – Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia
(Braico-Zanussi)
Sir Safety Perugia – Calzedonia Verona Live on Sportube.tv
(Sobrero-Gnani)
Bre Lannutti Cuneo – Exprivia Molfetta
(La Micela-Simbari)
Postponed to Wednesday February 26 at 8.30pm
CMC Ravenna – Copra Elior Piacenza
League table
Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata 37, Copra Elior Piacenza 34, Diatec Trentino 31, Sir Safety Perugia 27, Calzedonia Verona 21, Casa Modena 19, Bre Lannutti Cuneo 18, Altotevere Città di Castello 17, Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia 15, CMC Ravenna 12, Exprivia Molfetta 12, Andreoli Latina 9
Casa Modena – Altotevere Città di Castello
Modena has lost three in a row and the last one cost them the participation into the cup, competition in which they had taken part the two previous seasons. They will try to bounce back with the help of spiker Bartman, second top scorer of the A1. Città di Castello is now just two points behind and could leapfrog its opponent of the day if it could get a third consecutive win after the ones inflicted to Verona and Molfetta.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: (2-1 Modena)
Andrea Radici (Coach Altotevere Città di Castello): “Modena has changed its game with the arrival of Bruninho. Bartman has stepped up a level and they have a top quality line-up. Besides, they will want to bounce back. We are aware of how difficult it is but I expect the boys to show more character than on other road games. If we have to lose it, at least be that because our opponent played better”.
Angelo Lorenzetti (Coach Casa Modena): “We have to start taking points again. It was not easy to get into the cup and it will not be easy to get into the playoffs either. We have spent a lot of energy mentally in the past three games against top teams. Having played in Trento on Wednesday, we had little time to prepare this encounter: we have to be careful and ready mentally. Città di Castello forces you to use all your energy. Their setter Corvetta plays very fast, I think he’s having his best season”.
Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata – Diatec Trentino
Macerata woke up from its nightmare that saw them out of the Champions League and beaten in the league by Perugia. They bounced back by knocking Cuneo out of the Italian Cup in the quarter-finals to make it in the final four for the fourth consecutive time. Trento has lost three times in the league so far, once was against Macerata but they are in great form: they’re doing well in all competitions: they qualified for the Champions League playoffs 6 and the cup semi-finals.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 42 (25-17 Trento)
Dragan Stankovic (Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata): “After the cup victory over Cuneo here is another tough encounter. We’ve met Trento so many times in recent years, what’s important for us on Sunday is get back on track in the league to stay top, while they will try to move back up from their third place. I expect it to be a tough game, we’ll need to give it our best shot with maximum focus because Trento has been playing excellent volleyball”.
Filippo Lanza (Diatec Trentino): “Getting to this big match against Macerata and then the Champions League game in Russia after having obtained our pass into the cup final four and the nice play seen against Modena is really the best thing that could have happened to us. We’ll go there chasing more important points, we won’t have any pressure, we don’t have anything to prove. This is the best position to have mentally when you want to trouble such a great team like Macerata. It’s no wonder they have lost only twice so far in the league and on both occasions that was at the tie-break.
Andreoli Latina – Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia
Now led by head coach Dario Simoni, Latina must try to turn things around in the league in which they only won twice. Nothing to do with the excellent run in the Challenge Cup in which they have now reached the quarter-finals. Latina added quality to its squad with middle blocker Francesco Fortunato, who was at Avellino (ousted from the league) and had already played at Latina for four seasons from 2003-04. Vibo has to deal with various physical problems and is looking for its first win in this second half of season. Vibo was knocked out of the cup by Piacenza after reaching the semi-final the previous season.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 15 (9-6 Latina)
Salvatore Rossini (Andreoli Latina): “Vibo is an excellent team, with experienced players who can play good volleyball. We have found it hard against them in the pre-season friendlies too. Having said that, we really want points and victories, and we’re preparing this game as well as we can to obtain a third victory this season. Our goal right now is to get off the bottom of the table”.
Alessandro Farina (Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia): “This is a very important game for us. We’ll go there to win it. We’ll play with determination and hopefully we’ll recover from the physical problems we’ve been having. To win it, we’ll need everyone, not only half the team. We’re facing a tough match, but except for the game against Verona we’ve always put great fighting spirit and will to win into it”.
Sir Safety Perugia – Calzedonia Verona
Perugia and Verona are at it again four days after their cup quarter-finals. Kovac’s boys won it and will try to make the double to defend their fourth position from Verona’s assault. Verona will need a more convincing performance this time with Gasparini at his best to give a hard time to Perugia’s reception and blocking.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 4 (All Perugia)
Carmine Fontana (Ass coach Sir Safety Perugia): “We met four days ago and know each other well. We’ll both be able to adjust with what we’ve seen in the last encounter. This will be another tough game, just like on Wednesday even if we won in straight sets, because Verona is a quality team and because it’s not easy to be ready in terms of psycho-physical energy just a few days after the cup game. We know Verona is good in the bloc-dig department, we’ll have to be careful not to get in trouble. Just like on Wednesday, our serve will be crucial to make it hard for their reception. This is a fundamental encounter because we could consolidate our fourth place and maybe start looking at who’s in front”.
Andrea Giani (Coach Calzedonia Verona): “This will be before all a great game to play. On Wednesday we’ve seen we could play face to face when we play at our best. And that’s what we need to do to have a chance. Perugia never make many mistakes, they can make various substitutions if the players on court were not to be effective. We have to make the best of the opportunities that will come our way, and use this game to make further improvements. We have our full squad, we have to put ourselves to the test”.
Bre Lannutti Cuneo – Exprivia Molfetta
Knocked out of the cup by Macerata, Cuneo will try to add to good recent results in the league in which they gathered two consecutive wins (vs Verona and Latina). The aim is to stay among the top 8. Tough start to the second half of season for Cichello’s boys, on a three-game losing skid. Molfetta has only taken one point all season on the road.
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 1 (1 Molfetta)
Giorgio De Togni (Bre Lannutti Cuneo): “We really want to take revenge on the 3-0 loss of the first meeting. We lost on Wednesday against the favourite Macerata but that still left us a bit disappointed. It was just a matter of a couple of bad plays in each set, which against a team like Macerata are too much. But we have to forget about it and focus on Sunday’s game. We played our worse game of the season there in November, win a heated atmosphere where all the teams find it hard. We want three points that would give us a boost and help us in the table. Last Saturday we came-back from 2-0 down to beat Latina at the tie-break, a great reaction from the group that managed to stay focused and maintain a high level of play for over an hour despite being behind in the scoreboard. On Sunday we’ll need determination, we need to make it clear from the start it won’t be easy for them in Cuneo”.
Francesco Del Vecchio (Exprivia Molfetta): “After the Trento game, in which we did not play that bad at all, we’re working hard in the gym. We’ll try to get out of this losing skid, we need to regain confidence, we have what it takes to do well, and we owe it to our fans who always support us. In its last few outings, in the league and Italian cup, Cuneo proved they were a tough team to beat, and a different side from the team we beat in the first half of season”.
Serie A2
Round 16
Cassa Rurale Cantù – Materdominivolley.it Castellana Grotte. Second home game running for Cantù following last week’s victory over Corigliano. Morelli exploded for 32 points as Cantù will look for their seventh win of the season. Castellana Grotte is extremely up for it after the breakthrough achieved in the last round, having taken three points against Sora thanks to a superb team performance. Cazzaniga shined with 21 points and Castellano added 16.
Globo Banca Popolare del Frusinate Sora – Tonazzo Padova. The big game of the day and a remake of the cup semi-final won 3-0 by Padova. Fenoglio’s men will not only try to bounce back from their poor display against Castellana but also try to cut the deficit that separate them from the leaders. This is a second road game in a row for Padova, which clinched it at the tie-break in Milan.
B-Chem Potenza Picena – Coserplast Openet Matera. Potenza registered back to back wins against Castellana Grotte and Brolo, leaving the crisis behind them. Second consecutive game away from home for Matera after the negative outcome of Monza. Krolis should be back as well as Luppi as coach Mastrangelo hopes to put an end to a three-game losing streak.
Caffè Aiello Corigliano – Vero Volley Monza. Corigliano was very close to steal the show in Cantù as they lost after leading 2-0. They will face Monza and Padura Diaz, who has spent three years with the Corigliano shirt before signing for Monza. The top scorer of the A2 will have to leave the emotion aside to guide his men to victory to stay close to Padova.
Elettrosud Brolo – Sieco Service Ortona. Stuck at the bottom way behind the others, Brolo will try once again to give the fans their first joy of the season. The Sicilian will be able to line-up newcomer Mariano Giustiniano. Ortona was rested in the last round and will be ready to go.
Serie A2 round 16
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