Volleyball, Super League: Piacenza beats Vibo. The Italian Cup draw

A crazy calendar, forced by postponements for Covid, proposes the last day of the first round when the teams have already taken the field for some return matches. In Piacenza the challenge with Vibo Valentia, who continues to play with masks (although not all of them), is fundamental especially in the Italian Cup, because the match of the red and white depends on the result. And the 3-0 gives Bernardi’s team fifth place at the end of the first round and the match against Modena in the quarter-finals while Monza will travel to Trento (both races on Sunday at 6 pm).

Piacenza-Vibo Valentia (27-25, 25-22, 25-23)

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At the start, the Gas Sales Bluenergy is fully booked while the guests cannot count on Nelli, formerly of the Emilians, because he is registered after the date initially scheduled for the meeting, but they recover Nishida, on the field from the first point and immediately protagonist with an ace. The initial fraction is very balanced: Vibo tries a couple of times to escape and even manages to find three points of advantage with Candellaro’s block (best scorer of the set with 6 points) which is worth 14-11. But Gas Sales Bluenergy leans on Recine, also takes advantage of some too many errors of the Calabrians and in a final shoulder to shoulder closes the third useful ball thanks to a wall by the European champion hitter on Nishida. Now Piacenza seems to have found the rhythm as confirmed by the 7-3 that Caneschi gives to his teammates. This time it is Baldovin’s team that must remain attached to the match and it does so discreetly by finding solutions just before half-time when only one ball is missing to grab the red and white. But it is only an illusion, because just when the fraction seems to return to equilibrium, the Gas Sales Bluenergy stretches in a decisive way, also finding in Brizard an important sniper for the 21-15. Vibo forces Piacenza to sweat the last points, Caneschi closes with the attack of 25-22. After a few exchanges of the third set Baldovin tries to change direction by inserting Partenio for Saitta, but the hosts continue to run with Holt’s 9-5. The guests have the merit of never giving up and are rewarded by the series in the service of Fromm which allows them to put the arrow coming to lead 19-17. As in the initial set we arrive at the sprint and once again the wall allows the red and white to put their heads back: Recine and Holt in sequence are the protagonists of the 22-20 up to the decisive point of Stern.