The devastating Turkish hammer on serve also finished as the best scorer of the match with 22 points. The match against Perugia begins on April 6th at 5.30pm in Umbria
This time, not even the tie break that had decided three of the four previous matches was needed: Piacenza beat Modena 3-1 in a sold out PalaPanini and flew to the semi-finals for the third time in the last four years, while Giuliani’s team had missed the appointment for four seasons. What happened in 2023 is repeated, with the Canaries playing for the match point at home but the red and whites celebrating once the last ball fell to the ground. The match was decided by Efe Mandiraci, who split the first set with his serve and was then decisive in all the fundamentals, both in serving, with 9 aces in total, and in attack. The guests are superior on the high ball, the Turk is supported by an excellent Gutierrez and Porro can make the most of his attackers. Modena, as in Game 4, dominates with the central defenders as both Mati and Sanguinetti attack with a stellar 88 percent, but it is not enough in the face of a relentless Piacenza who in the three sets won do not allow their opponents to exceed 20.
giant mandiraci
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Valsa collapses at the beginning under Mandiraci’s attacks, then manages to recover by taking advantage of a positive Buchegger in the final stages of the second half, but in the last two partials they are always forced to chase and never manage to reach the guests. For the third consecutive time in this quarter-final series, the away team rejoices and Boninfante’s group leaves the field with arms raised. Triple celebration at Gas Sales Bluenergy: the success is worth finishing in the top four and qualifying for Europe (in the Champions League or in CEV it will be clear with the outcome of the semi-finals), but the applause from the whole sports hall also goes to Gianluca Galassi, who surprisingly returned to the field after the second operation for testicular cancer. For the centre-back, three points from three attempts and a winning block, there couldn’t have been a better start to his recovery.
Quarterfinals match 5 Modena-Piacenza 1-3 (18-25, 25-21, 20-25, 20-25)
Semifinals Game 1 Sunday 5 April at 6pm Rana Verona-Cucine Lube Civitanova
Monday 6 April at 6pm Sir Susa Scai Perugia-Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza
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