Comunicato Stampa della Lega Pallavolo Serie A

Sir Safety Perugia: The Italian Cup goes to Piacenza. Monti’s men deserve the applause, they were solid, played excellent volleyball with top class performances of players such as Fei and Papi, just to name a couple. Applause as well for Perugia for making a name for themselves, entering into the top teams of Italian Volleyball and for giving it a great fight in front of a packed PalaDozza arena in Bologna (5600 fans). And what a fair play: both sets of fans applauding each other at the end, superb supporters that made it a great weekend of sport.

As for the game, Perugia had a chance to win the first set at 24-23 before surrendering  28-26. Big fighting spirit as well in the second and third with Atanasijevic scoring 18 all together, Petric did well too while Giovi achieved the impossible in dig. Coach Kovac also tried everything he could but in the end Piacenza was unbelievably good on the serve and at the net. And the reception was accurate too, helping De Cecco to distribute at will, being at his unpredictable best.

Alessandro Fei (Copra Elior Piacenza): “The fact we had to fight hard in the semi-final as well as in recent league games has surely helped us to come out on top in the first set. Serves and blocks made the difference. It’s true that Perugia took its foot off the pedal in the third but we did well never to lower our guards”.

Luca Vettori (Copra Elior Piacenza): “We played one set at a time. When Perugia made it hard for us, we did well not to lose it and come out on top with authority. I am happy with my first Italian Cup, the first as well for the club”.

Denys Kaliberda (Copra Elior Piacenza): “Our serve was our special weapon today. We ran the risk of losing the first set because of silly mistakes, but we never took our eyes off our target and we never surrendered. In the second set, we played well and indeed the four point difference prove it. In the third, Perugia faded and that made it easier for us”.

Luciano De Cecco (Copra Elior Piacenza): “Composure was our virtue today. In the crucial moments, we did not panic. I am thrilled, this is my first Italian Cup in the Serie A1, I’m really going to enjoy it”.

Goran Vujevic (Sir Safety Perugia): “We were close in the result but not in the game. It’s tough to contain Piacenza when the reception does not work too well. De Cecco had a blinder, we did not see the ball, we could not find a solution to their attack. We might have needed more courage to take risks. Atanasijevic can’t always sort things out for us. Shame we did not manage to play our best volleyball”.

Andrea Semenzato (Sir Safety Perugia): “We knew it was going to be tough. It was difficult too yesterday but we played at a different level. We did not take care of the details and in that kind of games, that always makes the difference. Despite the 3-0 score, it was tight, and they served well from start to finish. Now we just have to deal with a huge disappointment”.

Nemanja Petric (Sir Safety Banca di Mantignana Perugia): “We knew it was going to be a tough battle. We did everything we could. Obviously we could have done better, but credit to Piacenza for its superb serving and blocking. I feel really disappointed right now, but it was a great final four for us. We proved we could compete at a high level. Now we’ll get back on focusing on the league in which we want to do well. We really want to thank the fans who followed us in numbers in Bologna, they really made their presence felt”.

Slobodan Kovac (Sir Safety Banca di Mantignana Perugia): “Piacenza played much better than us, they deserved to win. We have probably lacked composure at certain moments of the game, but I think we lost mainly due to the great quality of our opponents. These two days will remain an important experience and a fantastic result”.

SIR SAFETY BANCA DI MANTIGNANA PERUGIA-COPRA ELIOR PIACENZA 0-3
26-28, 21-25, 19-25

Durata Parziali: 31, 27, 26. Tot.: 1h 24’
SIR SAFETY BANCA DI MANTIGNANA PERUGIA: Paolucci, Atanasijevic 18, Semenzato 7, Buti 6, Petric 10, Vujevic 8, Giovi (libero), Mitic 2, Cupkovic 1, Della Lunga. DNP.: Della Corte, Barone, Fanuli (libero). Coach. Kovac

COPRA ELIOR PIACENZA: De Cecco 2, Vettori 16, Fei 12, Simon 10, Kaliberda 12, Papi 7, Marra (libero), Le Roux 2, Tencati 1. DNP.: Partenio, Zlatanov, Husaj, Smerilli (libero). Coach. Monti