Easter is underway under the arches of the Perugia stadium, which will turn the spotlight tomorrow on Game 1 of the Playoff Semifinals: the most exciting phase of the Italian volleyball season is about to begin, and Sir Susa Scai Perugia will compete for a spot in the Scudetto Finals in a best-of-five match against Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza, who advanced to the semifinals after closing out the quarterfinal series against Modena in Game 5 last Sunday, March 29th.
Both teams kept up the pace with their respective European commitments: on one side, the Block Devils, in their Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia guise, took to the court at home last Wednesday, April 1st, for the second leg of the Champions League Quarterfinals against the Canarian team Guaguas Las Palmas, whom they defeated resoundingly 3-0 to secure a spot in the Final Four in Turin.
Piacenza also has a European commitment, having conquered the PalaPanini in Modena 3-1 in Game 5. They took to the field again on Thursday, April 2nd, once again away, this time in Ljubljana, Slovenia, where they secured a spot in the CEV Volleyball Cup with a 3-1 victory over the home team.
This afternoon, President Gino Sirci’s players met to train on the field ahead of the first leg of their match against the Emilian team. A video session and final training sessions are scheduled for tomorrow morning before the match, which kicks off at 5:30 PM.
Game 2 will be played at the PalaBanca Sport in Piacenza on Thursday evening, April 9th, at 8:30 PM, while Game 3 will again be played at the PalaBarton on Sunday, April 12th, at 6:00 PM.
Both teams aim to get off to a strong start, which is why it promises to be a high-level and intense match. Coach Lorenzetti could start with the same starting six from recent games, with Giannelli alongside Ben Tara, Russo and Crosato at the middle, Semeniuk and Plotnytskyi as spikers, and Colaci as libero. On the other side of the net, Coach Boninfante could return the starting six from last week’s Game 5 of the Quarterfinals at the PalaPanini, which also played in Ljubljana, with Paolo Porro alongside Bovolenta, Simon and Comparoni at the middle, Mandiraci and Gutierrez as spikers, and Domenico Pace as second line.
PREVIOUS MEETINGS
Tomorrow’s matchup will be the 20th between the two teams, starting in 2019, the year Piacenza’s new ownership structure took effect. Of the 19 previous competitive meetings between the two teams, Perugia have won 17 and the Emilian club two. The last head-to-head match was the regular-season return leg played at the Pala Barton Energy on February 15th, which was won by the Block Devils in a tiebreaker.
