The end of SuperLega season is much more than the League playoffs. This weekend, there will also be the Challenge playoffs final four in the house of the Challenge Cup winners, Verona.
It’s been a spectacular year for Molfetta with a league playoffs qualification thanks to a superb 6th place in regular season, and now they want to end the season with another unprecedented result. Having lost in the league playoffs only at the very end of Game 5 against Trento, Molfetta bounced back in the challenge playoffs. And once again, they looked very difficult to stop in their PalaPoli arena. In the previous round, they knocked out Monza in the deciding third game at home with Hernandez key as he was just back from injury (19 points). Middle blocker Candellaro and spiker Michele Fedrizzi greatly contributed too. On the other side of the net, there will be Piacenza, who’s been having the best time of an otherwise poor season, finishing bottom of the league. But now they have found their rhythm and will try to use their momentum to triumph in this three-day event. After a good run in the preliminary group stage, Giuliani’s men knocked out Padova behind outstanding performances from Thijs Ter Horst in both encounters (28 points in Game 1, 18 points in the home game).
Fifth in the regular season, Verona only surrendered in Game 5 of the League playoffs against Perugia. They immediately bounced back in the Challenge Playoffs, in which they disposed of CMC Romagna by winning both their home games, the first and the deciding third of the series (3-1). Now Giani’s men will have a chance to play this Final Four at home and have a chance to get back in the Challenge Cup, a trophy they have just won in Siberia. Their semi-final opposition is Latina, 8th in the regular season. Latina was quickly brushed aside in the league playoffs by Civitanova but in the Challenge playoffs, they left Milan no chance (double 3-0). In a press conference, President Falivene expressed his strong desire to finish with a victory in those playoffs, which would be the ice on the cake of a great season. Next season, they will aim to build a roster composed of almost exclusively Italian athletes. The club would really love to take part in the Challenge Cup, in which they have great memories: a second place in 2014 behind the champions of Istanbul.
Challenge Playoffs Final Four
Semi-finals
Friday 22 April at 5.30pm
Exprivia Molfetta – LPR Piacenza Live on Lega Volley Channel
Friday 22 April at 8.30pm
Calzedonia Verona – Ninfa Latina Live on Lega Volley Channel
Final
Sunday 24 April at 6pm
Live on Lega Volley Channel
Past encounters: 24 (15-9 Verona)
This season: 2 games: one win each in regular season. Both won away from home, first Verona 3-0 then Latina 3-2.
Andrea Giani (coach Calzedonia Verona): “This will definitely be a good game. There is a lot at stake: a place in the Challenge Cup. In spite of having won this trophy this season, we have to regain the right to participate on court. We’ll need to play a good game because Latina has been playing well, they have great potential. We have to play with intensity if we want to go through. Our quality of play is crucial, because the crowd gets going when you give him reasons to do so. It’s all down to how we play the game”.
Nikolay Pavlov (Ninfa Latina): “We’ve been doing well of late. We’ve been training well and in the last two games we proved we were in good shape. We know how difficult it is to beat Verona, but we will do everything possible to make it hard for them and clinch victory”.
Exprivia Molfetta – LPR Piacenza
Past encounters: 6 (3 wins each)
Precedenti in questo Campionato: 2 games in regular season: Molfetta won both, 3-0 away then 3-0 home.
Vincenzo Di Pinto (coach Exprivia Molfetta): “We showed great character to beat Monza. We wanted this win and we fought for every point. And we did it in spite of various problems, with a few players who were not even available in training. We’re up against Piacenza, who wants to get in Europe to make up for a season made of ups and downs. They have strong individuals, they have been able to rest more than us, and they had more time to prepare the game. We’ll face a motivated team. But we will do our very best to get in the final. We’ll just wait and see who eventually wins it”.
Hristo Zlatanov (LPR Piacenza): “This semi-final against Molfetta will be an extremely important game, it’s do or die. Anything can happen in those games, we’ll just play with maximum determination and play to the best of our ability, without fear and without pressure. We’ve been playing with a better flow of late, at a higher level. This season, and even more in the playoffs against Trento, Molfetta proved it was a very strong and well-balanced team. In order to do well, we’ll need to focus exclusively on our game. The Verona arena is excellent, a positive factor for both teams”.
