It’s been another magical night for Piacenza. Crowned Italian champions in May, it added, for the first time of its history, the Supercup in its trophy cabinet.
The season opened at the Frosinone gym with a minute silence in memory of the Kabul victims. Then, a great battle took place between the Italian champs and the Cup holders. This went all the way to the tie-break, which has been tight too. Omrcen and Cisolla were returning the favours to Zlatanoc and Bjelica. But in the end Macerata had to surrender to Piacenza and Zlatanov, named MVP of the encounter.
COPRATLANTIDE PIACENZA – LUBE BANCA MARCHE MACERATA 3-2 (25-19, 24-26, 20-25, 25-20, 20-18)
COPRATLANTIDE PIACENZA: Rak 4, Mazza, Meoni 2, Marshall 20, Grassano, Boninfante, Sequeira 1, Zlatanov 24, Durante (L), Oivanen, Urnaut 11, Bjelica 15. Coach. Lorenzetti Angelo.
LUBE BANCA MARCHE MACERATA: Lebl 9, Raymaekers 1, Cisolla 18, Paparoni, Vermiglio 1, Bartoletti 3, Martino 11, Monopoli, Corsano (L), Omrcen 20, Podrascanin 11. Did not play: Smerilli. Coach. De Giorgi Ferdinando.
REFEREES: Roberto Locatelli, Paolo Barbero.
NOTE – 3100 crowd, takings 24000, set time: 28′, 29′, 26′, 20′, 23′; tot: 126′.
MVP: Hristo Zlatanov (CoprAtlantide Piacenza)
Angelo Lorenzetti (All. CoprAtlantide Piacenza): “Macerata is a very strong team, testimony the game they played tonight. We knew it was not going to be easy, but we were eager to do well to win this trophy. Congratulations to the boys who fought hard from beginning to end”.
Novica Bjelica (CoprAtlantide Piacenza): “It’s been very tough and the results show sit. The crow expected a tight game too. There have been many mystakes, but it’s always the case at the beginning of the season. We are very happy to have won our first Supercup in history”.
Marco Meoni (CoprAtlantide Piacenza): “We played well but only in flashes. We knew the understanding between the players would lack tonight. We resumed where we had left off, and that is important for the beginning of the season, for our hopes to do well this year too”.
Abbiamo giocato bene solo a sprazzi, ma eravamo consapevoli che gli automatismi sarebbero mancati questa sera. Siamo partiti da dove ci eravamo fermati, e questo è importante per l’inizio della stagione e per sperare di fare bene anche quest’anno.”
Ferdinando De Giorgi (All. Lube Banca Marche Macerata): “Abbiamo avuto molte occasioni, ma abbiamo perso per colpa di alcuni dettagli. Complimenti a Piacenza per questo successo.”
Valerio Vermiglio (Lube Banca Marche Macerata): “We started poorly, living too many points away. We struggled to settle in even if we reacted. We couldn’t afford to waste that much against a team that never slows down. This is the carbon copy of last year’s playoff semi final. Congratulations to Piacenza again”.
ITALIAN SUPERCUP
Past winners
1996 Alpitour Traco Cuneo
1997 Casa Modena Unibon
1998 Sisley Treviso
1999 TNT Alpitour Cuneo
2000 Sisley Treviso
2001 Sisley Treviso
2002 Noicom Brebanca Cuneo
2003 Sisley Treviso
2004 Sisley Treviso
2005 Sisley Treviso
2006 Lube Banca Marche Macerata
2007 Sisley Treviso
2008 Lube Banca Marche Macerata
2009 CoprAtlantide Piacenza