On Saturday, March 21, at the PalaBigi in Reggio Emilia, Game 1 of the Serie A3 promotion playoff took place, the series that decides direct access to Serie A2. The match, played as a best-of-five game—with the first team to win three games advancing to the next division, while the loser advances to the Playoff Semifinals—saw Conad Volley Tricolore get off to a flying start, defeating Domotek Reggio Calabria 3-1. The Granata, who finished as the best first-place team in the regular season and boasting home-field advantage, will also face the Calabrian team in the final of the Italian Super Cup, a competition that pits the team with the most points at the end of the second half of the season against the winner of the Serie A3 Italian Cup.
The match unfolded over four hard-fought sets, with Conad maintaining control in the decisive moments of the first two sets, played with order and consistency. Reggio Calabria responded in the third set, raising the bar and temporarily reopening the match. However, in the fourth set, the Reggio Calabria team regained their composure and aggressiveness, regaining their pace and closing out the match in front of their home crowd, thus winning the first point of the series.
“In the first set, we relived the ghosts of the Italian Cup, but from the second set onward, we looked at ourselves and changed the pace. We did well to capitalize on the home advantage, putting them under pressure, especially with our serve and defense. Our serve made the difference in key moments: it was something we had prepared well, and we were able to put it into practice, both tactically and in terms of aggression,” said setter Filippo Santambrogio.
