Credem Banca SuperLega Playoff Semifinals:
Cucine Lube Civitanova – Rana Verona 3-1 (26-24, 25-21, 21-25, 25-22)
Cucine Lube Civitanova reopens the series: at the Eurosuole Forum, Medei’s team dominates with a 3-1 victory over Rana Verona, thus winning Game 2 of the Credem Banca Playoff Semifinals. The series continues and will go to at least Game 4, with dates and times to be announced in the coming days.
The top scorer of the evening was Aleksandar Nikolov: the Bulgarian striker from Civitanova scored 18 total points, followed by Mattia Bottolo (12), Eric Loeppky (11), and Giovanni Maria Gargiulo (10). On the Verona side, Fabio Soli’s team paid the price for numerous service errors (23) and failed to excel on serve (only 2 aces). On Civitanova’s half of the court, however, the nine blocks collected throughout the match made the difference.
The first set, played on the edge of balance, was decided after an attacking error by Keita; in the second, Cucine Lube Civitanova—encouraged by the over 3,000 spectators at the Eurosuole Forum—was able to pull away with relative ease, further igniting the Palas. In the third set, Rana Verona, determined not to let the Cucine Lube team escape, capitalized on the strong offensive percentages of Noumory Keita and Aleksandar Nedeljkovic, thus reopening the contest. The Marche team had a scare in the fourth set when the home team, after a strong start, gradually saw their lead diminish until a new final push gave Civitanova the victory.
Tomorrow, Thursday, April 9th, live on Rai Sport, DAZN, and VBTV, at 8:30 PM, the second semifinal will take place: Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza hosts Sir Susa Scai Perugia to re-open the series.
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THE CREDEM BANCA SUPERLEAGUE PLAYOFF TABLE
Cucine Lube Civitanova – Rana Verona 3-1 (26-24, 25-21, 21-25, 25-22) – Cucine Lube Civitanova: Boninfante 3, Bottolo 12, Gargiulo 10, Loeppky 11, Nikolov 18, Podrascanin 3, Bisotto (L), Orduna 0, Balaso (L), Kukartsev 0, Duflos-Rossi 0. N.E. D’Heer, Hfaiedh, Tenorio. Coach: Medei. Rana Verona: Christenson 2, Mozic 5, Vitelli 1, Ferreira Souza 11, Keita 16, Zingel 8, D’Amico (L), Planinsic 1, Staforini (L), Sani 5, Bonisoli 0, Nedeljkovic 10. N.E. Valbusa, Glatz. Coach: Soli. REFEREES: Zavater, Brancati, Salvati. NOTES – Set duration: 32′, 26′, 27′, 27′; total: 112′.
