A forty-minute tie-breaker, pushed deep into overtime, finished at 24-22 and put an end to Sir Susa Vim Perugia’s 24-match winning streak across all competitions. The culprit - Itas Trentino Trento! In front of five thousand spectators at a sold-out Pala Barton in Perugia, the top two teams in the Italian SuperLega Credem Banca current standings put up an epic five-set battle to crown the 16th leg of the regular season with a memorable spectacle.
Superlega 2024/25
In epic five-setter, Trentino end Sir’s 24-game winning streak
Recap of Italian SuperLega 16th-leg matches
Published 06:09, 13 Jan 2025
Sir’s Oleh Plotnytskyi against a three-man Trentino block
- Watch the SuperLega on VBTV.
Defending champions Sir Susa Vim Perugia are still on top of the table, but can no longer be labelled as undefeated. They stand on 42 points and a 15-1 win-loss record, while Itas Trentino Trento are second on 38 and 13-2, with a game in hand. At the end of Sunday evening’s epic battle that lasted two hours and 40 minutes, the reigning European champions celebrated a 3-2 (20-25, 25-20, 18-25, 25-21, 24-22) victory after coming back from a set down twice during the match.
Outside hitter Alessandro Michieletto contributed a match-high 22 points, including three kill blocks and two aces, to his team’s success, while Romanian middle blocker Bela Florian Bartha, spiking at a 68% success rate, added another 17 points, including three blocks and an ace, and earned the Most Valuable Player (MVP) nomination. Outside Daniele Lavia and Brazilian middle Flavio Gualberto finished with 12 points apiece for Trentino. Ukrainian outside Oleh Plotnytskyi was Sir’s leading scorer with 17 points, including four aces and a block. His Japanese cross-court teammate Yuki Ishikawa produced 15 points, while Argentinean middles Sebastian Sole and Agustin Loser put away 10 points each.
“A very long match, how nice to win it like this!” Flavio Gualberto exclaimed. “We suffered a lot, but we managed to get out of this court alive, which is absolutely not easy. This result also helps us for the future. Suffering and enduring this level of play will give us a lot in view of the final rush of the season.”
“There were our moments and their moments. It's a shame because we had two balls to close,” said Sir’s setter and captain Simone Giannelli. “In fact, I'm proud of my team and I think we can also make some progress in the phases to be perfected, on plays that didn't work tonight. We have to use this match to grow!”
The SuperLega weekend offered another two five-set duels. Trending rookies Yuasa Battery Grottazzolina achieved their fourth win over the last five matches played and that also came after an extended tie-breaker – 3-2 (25-23, 25-22, 23-25, 20-25, 22-20) at home against Gioiella Prisma Taranto. 21-year-old Croatian opposite Gabrijel Cvanciger led the way with 26 points. His Prisma counterpart Fabrizio Gironi tallied 25, while outside Filippo Lanza impressed with five aces for the visitors. The two teams are neighbours in the table, just above the relegation zone. Grottazzolina are in 10th place on 14 and 4-12, while Prisma are in 11th on 11 and 3-13.
On Saturday, Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza squeezed out a narrow 3-2 (15-25, 25-23, 25-20, 32-34, 15-13) home victory over Sonepar Padova Padua to stay in third place on 34 and 12-4. Padova kept their ninth place on 14 and 4-11. Gas Sales’ middle Gianluca Galassi and Padova’s Croatian outside Marko Sedlacek shared the top scorer honours of the match with 18 points each.
SUPERLEGA 🇮🇹: PIACENZA 3-2 PADOVA
— Volleyball World (@volleyballworld) January 12, 2025
Just like in the first leg of the league, Padova pushed the favorites Piacenza to a 5th set despite the odds – with Piacenza sitting third in the standings and Padova ninth.
📺 Replay on VBTV: https://t.co/tLeKGVNZId.
🏐 #Volleyball #Pallavolo pic.twitter.com/gAYDaALsoA
Allianz Milan caught up with Rana Verona on 16 and 9-7 after beating them in four sets in Verona on Sunday. They are separated on set ratios in sixth and fifth place, respectively. Belgian opposite Ferre Reggers contributed 22 points, including three aces and three blocks, towards Allianz’s 3-1 (25-21, 21-25, 25-17, 25-20) win.
Cucine Lube Civitanova hammered out a 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-17) victory on the road at Cisterna Volley to improve to 33 and 10-5 in fourth place with a game in hand. Cisterna dropped to eighth on 15 and 5-10, also with a game in hand. Lube’s Turkish opposite Adis Lagumdzija was the best scorer of the match with 15 points.
Valsa Group Modena overtook Cisterna into the seventh place, on 18 and 6-10, after a 3-0 (25-21, 26-24, 25-17) sweep of their away game at Mint Vero Volley Monza with a 19-point match high, including four aces, from Belarusian outside Uladzislau Davyskiba. Last season’s silver medallists are stuck at the bottom of the table, in 12th place on 9 and 4-12.
The matches of the 17th leg will be played next weekend, January 18 and 19.
SuperLega Credem Banca 2024-2025 17th leg:
Jan 18, 20:30 local (19:30 UTC): Sonepar Padova Padua v Cisterna Volley
Jan 19, 16:00 local (15:00 UTC): Gioiella Prisma Taranto v Mint Vero Volley Monza
Jan 19, 17:00 local (16:00 UTC): Allianz Milan v Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza
Jan 19, 17:00 local (16:00 UTC): Itas Trentino Trento v Yuasa Battery Grottazzolina
Jan 19, 18:00 local (17:00 UTC): Valsa Group Modena v Rana Verona
Jan 19, 19:30 local (18:30 UTC): Cucine Lube Civitanova v Sir Susa Vim Perugia
