Volley Superlega, Civitanova overwhelms Piacenza. Perugia at the Italian Cup Final Four

Perugia is the last qualified to the Final Four of the Italian Cup (5-6 March in Casalecchio di Reno) while in the recovery of the second return Civitanova takes the field of Piacenza

Piacenza-Civitanova 0-3 (17-25, 28-30, 21-25)

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Three days after the victory at Modena that gave Piacenza the Final four of the Italian Cup, Gas Sales Bluenergy faces the Italian champions of Civitanova, who were defeated by Milan in the quarter-finals of the Cup on Sunday. The people of the Marches have a full infirmary; to the absences already foreseen of Juantorena, Kovar and Jeroncic is added that of Anzani, who does not recover from the muscular problem in his right arm. The hosts have everyone at their disposal and Bernardi inserts Stern in place of Lagumdzija among the owners. But despite all the physical problems, the guests bring three important points on the bus, the result of a well-deserved 3-0 arrived after a discounted first set and a second fraction in which the hosts can complain for untapped opportunities. It takes three exchanges to understand that the Coppa Italia matches are on file. Civitanova starts at double speed, puts the hosts in difficulty with the service, so much so that Bernardi on 11-5 for the guests replaces Rossard with Russell. In the first set there is no match, the gap even in terms of points between the two teams is too clear, with Blengini’s team not wasting too much energy to give themselves a very easy 25-17 and Zaytsev on the shields author of 6 points. With Lube ahead 1-0 the parts are reversed and it’s up to the guests to chase after the red and white, who with the game at 7-7 take advantage of an excellent Rossard to stretch 13-9. But the script is different: the Lube never comes off excessively and in the end grabs parity thanks to an ace from Yant: 20-20. It’s not over: Stern and an erroneous attempt by Zaytsev on a very complicated ball bring the red and white forward 23-21. In the end, everything happens, the guests draw, then Bernardi’s team wastes two set points and is punished by Civitanova who finds the 30-28 with Lucarelli. Blengini does not change anything, also because the bench is not so rich, Bernardi instead proposes the Stern-Lagumdzija relay, this time in reverse. Civitanova shows all its solidity by arriving 13-11, but Rossard draws at 15. The two teams fight point by point, with Lube always ahead by one length and Piacenza attached to the jersey of the Marche but in the final stretch with Simon and Zaytsev giving himself three very important points.

Perugia-Padova 3-0 (25-15, 25-23, 25-21)

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Clear victory for Perugia, who flies in the final four of the Italian Cup (for the eighth time in ten seasons) by eliminating Padua at PalaBarton in three sets and winning the right to challenge Piacenza (which had eliminated Modena) in the semifinal, after the two teams will also face each other on Sunday in the league. There was no match, with Nikola Grbic’s men dominating practically from start to finish. At the start, Sir Safety entered the field with Giannelli in the direction, Rychlicki opposite, Ricci and Solè in the middle, Leon and Anderson spikers and Colaci free. On the other hand, Padua responded with the former Zimmermann as director, Weber opposite, Volpato and Vitelli in the middle, Loeppky and Bottolo spikers, with Gottardo free. Sir started the race by moving forward with Anderson immediately and then stretched with decision, despite the fact that on the other side coach Jacopo Cuttini tried to reverse the trend with the changes (inside Schiro, Zoppellari, Takahashi and Crosato). To close the fraction (25-15) was an attack by Rychlicki walled out. Padova raised its head at the start of the second set (with Crosato from the start in place of Volpato), moving forward until 12-16, but there was the vehement reaction of Perugia that overturned the score until 17-18 , dragged by a newfound Leon and by a growing Solè (three walls in the hamlet), then going to close (25-23) thanks to an error by Vitelli. In the third set, Sir has extended since the start, with the Venetians (inside Canella in the center instead of Crosato and Takahashi in the band for Loeppky) who tried to limit the Umbrian supremacy, returning up to 14-13. On Leon’s series of jokes (MVP and best scorer of the match with 17 points) then Perugia extended up to 19-14, securing the result and closing the match with the final point (25-21) with the error in Weber’s quip.