Following their third-place finish in the White Group of the Credem Banca Serie A3 championship, ErmGroup Altotevere will face the sixth-place team in the Blue Group in the first round of the playoffs. This season’s new development is that, while last year’s initial round was an “internal” one, with matches between teams from the same group, the two groups will now play each other straight away. Another important point: ErmGroup Altotevere’s third-place finish is secured with one matchday remaining before the regular season finale, due to a specific ranking system; in the event of a tie on points, priority is given to the highest number of wins. Gabbiano Farmamed Mantova, playing in Trebaseleghe on March 15, can join the white-and-blues on 36 points with a win, but their wins will now reach 11, compared to the 12 of coach Bartolini’s men. That said, ErmGroup’s only concern will be determining which opponents they will face on March 22nd away and on the 29th in San Giustino. Theoretically, there are three possible teams, but in practice, there are only two: Viridex Sabaudia (which will play in the Coppa Italia Final Four this weekend) and EnergyTime Campobasso. The third-placed team, Avimecc Modica, has a three-point lead over the other two and is expected to suffer a pointless defeat (combined with a 3-0 defeat on their home field) at home to bottom-placed Gaia Energy Napoli. However, they would still be fifth if the match between Sabaudia and Campobasso were to end in a tiebreaker. Currently tied on points, Campobasso will play a play-off for sixth place in the final round on Lazio soil. There’s a 99% chance the winner will face Altotevere, while the loser will face Belluno. Certainly, a better league finish will allow Biffi and his teammates to play the return match at home, which will feature a golden set in the event of a tie in terms of wins and scores: 3-0 and 3-1 are therefore indifferent, as they are worth three points, while a tie-break awards two and one. Whoever advances will advance to the quarterfinals: the same format as the first and second legs, with a grid determined by the ratio of points and games played. The team with the best score will face the team with the worst score (and will play the second match at home), then the team with the best score will face the team with the second worst score, and finally the third-placed teams. The three qualified teams will be joined in the semifinals by the loser of the play-off between the top-ranked teams for promotion to A2.
