The SuperLega makes its 2017 debut this weekend with round 18. The League leaders of Civitanova will open things up on Friday night when they take on Milan, last from bottom.
Beaten in the last round of 2016 in Piacenza, Molfetta will try to bounce back to make sure they remain in tenth place, threatened by various teams. Among them, there is Padova, tied with Latina in eleventh place. Baldovin’s men have failed to win in the past eight encounters.
Modena’s mission to get back up the ranks from its current fourth place will begin in its PalaPanini arena against Latina, beaten home in the last round by Trento.
Trento will play against the other Italian team taking part in the CEV Cup this season, Piacenza. The latter is coming off a straight set win over the Austrians of Innsbruck with a dominant performance, while they won their last league encounter 3-1 over Molfetta.
Verona ended the year with a road win over Monza on a 3-0 score. The worries and negative run is way behind them now even if they are seven points away from fourth place, occupied by Perugia. Grbic’s arrival on the Verona bench gave new life to the team and they want to keep going against Ravenna, beaten home in the last round by Perugia.
The latter are on a roll. Bernardi’s men have claimed third place as they leapfrogged Modena. They will now take on Vibo Valentia, who has managed to stun more than one giant so far, one of them being Trento with a thrilling tie-break.
Seventh in the league table at the end of 2016, Monza will start 2017 with new signing Leandro Vissotto. The Brazilian outside hitter will try to help his new teammates to bounce back from a 3-0 home loss against Verona when they take on Sora. The latter seemed to have found their rhythm after a tough start to the season but recent defeats have sent them crashing at the bottom.
SuperLega UnipolSai Round 18 :
Friday 6 January at 6.30pm
Cucine Lube Civitanova – Revivre Milano Diretta RAI Sport 1
Live on streaming su www.raisport.rai.it
Sunday 8 January at 6pm
Exprivia Molfetta – Kioene Padova Live on RAI Sport 1
Live streaming on www.raisport.rai.it
Azimut Modena – Top Volley Latina Live on Lega Volley Channel
Diatec Trentino – LPR Piacenza Live on Lega Volley Channel
Calzedonia Verona – Bunge Ravenna Live on Lega Volley Channel
Sir Safety Conad Perugia – Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia Live on Lega Volley Channel
Gi Group Monza – Biosì Indexa Sora Live on Lega Volley Channel
League table
Cucine Lube Civitanova 44, Diatec Trentino 41, Sir Safety Conad Perugia 40, Azimut Modena 38, Calzedonia Verona 31, LPR Piacenza 27, Gi Group Monza 25, Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia 24, Bunge Ravenna 19, Exprivia Molfetta 15, Top Volley Latina 14, Kioene Padova 14, Revivre Milano 13, Biosì Indexa Sora 12
Exprivia Molfetta – Kioene Padova
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 9 (5-4 Molfetta)
Thiago Pontes Veloso (Exprivia Molfetta): “We want to get off to a good start in 2017 against a team that beat us in the first meeting. It’s important to win at home and take points because we will have the top teams to play which will be tough. Let’s focus on this one against Padova, we’re all in good shape, I am confident ».
Marco Volpato (Kioene Padova): “We’ll start the new year with a tough road game. This will be a different game than the first one. We’ll have to be at our best to impose our game and limit their talented offensive players like Sabbi. It will be important to focus on our game and be composed like we used to be at the start of the season ».
Azimut Modena – Top Volley Latina
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 32 (22-10 Modena)
Roberto Piazza (coach Azimut Modena): “Complicted game for us. I saw the players come back from the break focused. This is a difficult but thrilling period, we have to be extremely careful. We’re all physically in good shape, we’re training well but we know we have a lot of games to play in just a few days, and they’re all important. We have to understand where we make mistakes and correct them before the next game. We have to get better as a team and in the block-dig department ».
Rozalin Penchev (Top Volley Latina): “We’re ready to give it all in this game against Modena. I don’t really know in which situation are our oponents, who will be home after a defeat against Ravenna. We will give it our best shot. This is a new challenge for me in 2017, we want to get on the right track ».
Diatec Trentino – LPR Piacenza
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 49 (31-18 Trento)
Angelo Lorenzetti (coach Diatec Trentino): “We had a lot of time to train in December but now we will mainly play. Many games coming up in quick succession, we’ll have to show on court what we have worked on in recent weeks. The game against Piacenza will be tough, they have servers who can make it difficult for anyone. We’ll have to hang on tight in reception and remain unbeaten in our PalaTrento arena ».
Luca Tencati (LPR Piacenza): “We have to do a good job of separating the CEV Cup from the SuperLega. The level of play of the two competitions is different. The game against Trento will be crucial. The fixture list was tough on us, we faced all the top teams one after the other. It’s important to try to take some points now. This will definitely be a nice challenge and a good test ahead of the cup tie against Perugia on Wednesday 11 when we’ll try to make it into the final four ».
Calzedonia Verona – Bunge Ravenna
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 16 (10-6 Verona)
Luigi Randazzo (Calzedonia Verona): “This will be an extremely important game. We’ll try to keep our positive run going. We have to remain focused because they have a strong team and obtained some quality results ».
Fabio Soli (coach Bunge Ravenna): “We did not train too hard after the break, we want to get back into it little by little. We’re up against a team that has done well of late. They found their game after the change of coach, even if in my opinion nobody can put the blame on Giani. The group needed a shock and they responded well with two wins without losing a set. They’re in good shape and we need to face them with maximum respect, though without fear. In spite of a positive performance, they beat us earlier this season thanks to the many alternatives they have in their roster. In order to beat them, we need to keep a high level on the serve and try to make the most of our opportunities. We’ll need to work hard and stay composed, things we’ve done rather well of late ».
Sir Safety Conad Perugia – Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 5 (3-2 Perugia)
Emanuele Birarelli (Sir Safety Conad Perugia): “Tricky game for us on Sunday. Vibo is a dangerous team, well-organised, they play extremely well and can make it hard for anyone. We’ll have to be extremely focused, we don’t want to lose points, especially at home, but nothing can be taken for granted, we’ll need to play well. I hope the break will not have interrupted our positive trend. It’s up to us to deal with the training sessions we have before the game as well as we can. If we work well in the previous days then we’ll also do well on Sunday ».
Rocco Barone (Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia): “We’re facing a very tricky game on the road against a team that has a roster filled with super stars trained to win. But we have to play loose, without fear. This will be a very intense month of January, we’ll have to give everything we’ve got ».
Gi Group Monza – Biosì Indexa Sora
PAST ENCOUNTERS: 11 (8-3 Sora)
Donovan Dzavoronok (Gi Group Monza): “We’re extremely excited and motivated. The break helped us recharge our batteries and that gave us the time to prepare for Sunday’s game. We had not played our best volley in the first meeting, we’ll have a different approach, we have gotten better and we have more self belief. We know Sora is a quality team, they can make it hard for anyone, but we have to focus on our game to keep doing as well as we’ve done so far ».
Marco Santucci (Biosì Indexa Sora): “We have two important games ahead of us. The one in the league is crucial because it is against a direct rival. A lot will depend on this result. Monza is a good team that we beat 3-0 in the first meeting. They were missing two important players, their starting setter and outside hitter but we had had an excellent performance for what was our first win in the SuperLega. They will have their full squad on Sunday, but we are ready and up for it. Things are getting more difficult now because the teams know each other now. We are the Cinderella. The teams we’ll meet know who we are and they respect us ».
No time for a breather in the Serie A2. Just three days after the last round, all the teams are back in action. Club Italia, still bottom after a road loss against Aversa, will try to make the breakthrough against Castellana Grotte. The latter are still within one point of the leader thanks to their 3-1 win over Ortona.
The other team from the Apulia region, Alessano, is finding it a lot more difficult. They will try to bounce back from a 3-1 loss against Tuscania away when they take on Santa Croce. The latter is coming off a straight set victory against Lagonegro. Setter Paulo Renan Bertassoni has left the club to play for the Greeks of Iraklis Thessaloniki.
Lagonegro got off to a poor start in 2017 with a defeat against the Tuscans of Santa Croce. They will try to get on track against Potenza Picena, a team they had defeated at the tie-break coming from behind. Potenza had a dramatic starts to the new year too with the players and staff hit by the flu. They lost 3-0 against Siena.
Last from bottom, Ortona plays host to Aversa, who could clinch a place in the promotion pool or almost with a road win. They’re coming off a home win over Club Italia.
No tim to celebrate their straight sets road win in the Eurosuole Forum for Siena. They’re right back on court against Tuscania, a team that has won 4 of the 5 meetings between the two clubs. This will be some kind of apetizer for the Italian Cup final A2.
Serie A2 UnipolSai round 15 – WHITE GROUP
Sunday 8 January at 4pm
Club Italia Crai Roma – BCC Castellana Grotte Live on Lega Volley Channel
Aurispa Alessano – Kemas Lamipel Santa Croce Live on Lega Volley Channel
Sunday 8 January at 6pm
Basi Grafiche Geosat Lagonegro – GoldenPlast Potenza Picena Live on Lega Volley Channel
Sieco Service Ortona – Sigma Aversa Live on Lega Volley Channel
7.30pm
Emma Villas Siena – Maury’s Italiana Assicurazioni Tuscania Live on Lega Volley Channel
White group standings
Emma Villas Siena 35, BCC Castellana Grotte 34, Maury’s Italiana Assicurazioni Tuscania 29, Sigma Aversa 25, Kemas Lamipel Santa Croce 22, GoldenPlast Potenza Picena 19, Basi Grafiche Geosat Lagonegro 15, Aurispa Alessano 15, Sieco Service Ortona 14, Club Italia Crai Roma 2.
Civita Castellana went from second to fourth place following their road loss against Spoleto. They will try to get on track against Reggio, fifth.
Still in the race for the playoffs, Cantù stands withing five points after their three-point win in Reggio Emilia. They will try to cut the deficit again with the derby against Bergamo. The latter had beaten their opponents of the day in teh first meeting and will try to make the double to get in the top five, which is just one point away.
Materdomini Castellana Grotte fought hard to get a point out of its match in Bergamo but the future does not look too bright. They are last from bottom with four games to play in the first phase. They will take on Mondovì, who proved they were not Paoletti dependent thanks to a nice team display against Grottazzolina. In spite of being without their outside hitter for a long time, they are still second.
Grottazzolina continues to use Moretti in spurt to allow him to get back to fitness little by little after his injury. But in the meantime, they are struggling to win and stand bottom after the latest defeat in the PalaManera arena. They entertain Montecchio Maggiore, who wants to take revenge on the loss conceded in the first meeting. Montecchio is coming off a tie-break win over Brescia.
Brescia, who added setter Torre to its roster, was defeated in its first game of 2017 and slipped to third. They will try to close the gap on the leaders with a double over the leaders of Spoleto. A difficult task because Spoleto looked impressive in its win over Civita Castellana in the big match of the last round.
Sunday 8 January at 12am
Ceramica Globo Civita Castellana – Conad Reggio Emilia Diretta Lega Volley Channel
Pool Libertas Cantù – Caloni Agnelli Bergamo Diretta Lega Volley Channel
6pm
Materdominivolley.it Castellana Grotte – VBC Mondovì Diretta Lega Volley Channel
Videx Grottazzolina – Sol Lucernari Montecchio Maggiore Diretta Lega Volley Channel
7.30pm
Centrale del Latte McDonald’s Brescia – Monini Spoleto Diretta Lega Volley Channel
Blue Group standings
Monini Spoleto 31, VBC Mondovì 27, Centrale del Latte McDonald’s Brescia 26, Ceramica Globo Civita Castellana 25, Conad Reggio Emilia 24, Caloni Agnelli Bergamo 23, Pool Libertas Cantù 19, Sol Lucernari Montecchio Maggiore 14, Materdominivolley.it Castellana Grotte 12, Videx Grottazzolina 9.
