Kovac’s men remain excited with the challenge ahead despite having lost the opening game of the semi-finals against Piacenza. On Wednesday they will try to tie the series as they play at home.

“Our fans were amazing yesterday in Piacenza – said President Sirci – They came in numbers, I’d like to thank every single one of them”. As for the game assistant coach Fontana added “Piacenza deserved to win, you can’t argue with that, they were better than us yesterday. We had a good disciplined first set but they did well to convert their opportunities. Then, we struggled to contain their powerful spikers and go past their blocks. I think we can and must play better, we need to be more effective on the serve and overall be more consistent”.