DHL MODENA – DIATEC TRENTINO 3-1 (23-25, 26-24, 25-19, 25-16)
DHL MODENA: Mossa De Rezende 1, Petric, Casadei, Rossini (L), Ngapeth 23, Nikic 8, Bossi 3, Sens 1, Saatkamp 21, Vettori 16, Sighinolfi. DNP Donadio, Soli, Sartoretti. Coach. Lorenzetti.
DIATEC TRENTINO: Kaziyski 7, Antonov 2, Bratoev, Giannelli 5, Lanza 2, Solé 10, Djuric 16, Colaci (L), Van De Voorde 1, Urnaut 7, Mazzone 6. DNP Mazzone, De Angelis. Coach. Stoytchev.
In front of a 4600 crowd, Modena had the better of Trento on a 3-1 score in the opening game of the semi-final series, to be played on the best of five. Game 2 in Trento on Tuesday.
Modena got off to a strong start and were still ahead at 21-18. But that’s when Trento made an incredible break to steal the opening set. The second set was a real battle, it was tight and extremely entertaining. Modena clinched it by the minimum margin to tie the game. Modena sprinted off the blocks in the third (7-1) and would never let Trento too close. The momentum was with the hosts in the fourth (8-5 then 16-9). Trento was struggling to counter while Modena was sharp in attack. The hosts converted the first strike of the series.
Angelo Lorenzetti (coach DHL Modena): “Congratulations to my boys, they played great volleyball against a top quality team. We know it will be very tough but it was crucial to get off to a good start. And we did it”.
Radostin Stoytchev (coach Diatec Trentino): “We lost against a superb team, they did an excellent job in the important moments of the match. But there’s still a long way to go in the series, we’ll try to redeem ourselves on Tuesday in Trento”.
Fixtures:
Tuesday 12 April at 8.15
Sir Safety Conad Perugia – Cucine Lube Banca Marche Civitanova Live on RAI Sport 1. Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
Tuesday 12 April at 8.30pm
Diatec Trentino – DHL Modena Live on Lega Volley Channel
Challenge Playoffs SuperLega UnipolSai
Quarter-finals Game 1: Verona sweeps Romagna
CALZEDONIA VERONA – CMC ROMAGNA 3-0 (25-19, 28-26, 25-21)
CALZEDONIA VERONA: Zingel 5, Kovacevic 15, Pesaresi (L), Gitto 6, Spirito 1, Frigo, Starovic 20, Bellei, Anzani 6. DNP Baranowicz, Sander. Coach. Giani.
CMC ROMAGNA: Mengozzi 10, Ricci 8, Cavanna, Della Lunga 6, Van Garderen 7, Polo, Koumentakis 4, Goi (L), Torres 12, Boswinkel, Bari (L), Perini De Aviz 1. DNP Zappoli. Coach. Kantor.
Verona swept the opening game of the quarter-final series (on the best of 3) at the expense of Romagna. Only the second set proved tight in spite of the fact that Verona was without three spikers: Sander, Lecat and Bucko, all with the flu.
Luca Spirito (Calzedonia Verona): “A win and game in which we put all the things we had inside since the game against Perugia. That defeat still hurts. We had some problems with our line-up today but we had a good game and took the victory”.
Waldo Kantor (coach CMC Romagna): “A tough game, we did not play well. We failed to come out with the quality and determination needed to play against a team that went so close from the league semi-finals three days ago. We have not been clinical enough to seal the second set, you can’t afford to waste so many chances. Hopefully, we’ll make up for that game on Wednesday.
Challenge playoffs, quarter-finals Game 1
Saturday 9 April at 8.30pm
Calzedonia Verona– CMC Romagna 3-0 (25-19, 28-26, 25-21)
Sunday 10 April at 6pm
Ninfa Latina– Revivre Milano Live on Lega Volley Channel
Exprivia Molfetta– Gi Group Monza Live on Lega Volley Channel
Tonazzo Padova– LPR Piacenza Live on Lega Volley Channel
Challenge playoffs quarter-finals Game 2
Wednesday 13 April at 8.30pm
CMC Romagna – Calzedonia Verona Live on Lega Volley Channel
Revivre Milano – Ninfa Latina Live on Lega Volley Channel
Gi Group Monza – Exprivia Molfetta Live on Lega Volley Channel
LPR Piacenza – Tonazzo Padova Live on Lega Volley Channel
