Trentino dethroned, Verona upset, Lube and Sir on to SuperLega semis

2025 Italian men’s volleyball SuperLega Credem Banca champions Itas Trentino Trento were dethroned without winning a single match in the playoffs. Cucine Lube Civitanova knocked them out in a 3-0 quarterfinal series and advanced to the semifinals. Sir Susa Scai Perugia also closed their series against Vero Volley Monza in three matches. Rana Verona, on the other hand, failed to do so, as their quarterfinal opponents Allianz Milan upset them at their venue in game three on Wednesday evening. Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza also upset Valsa Group Modena with a road win and took a 2-1 lead in their best-of-five series.

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Cucine Lube Civitanova, who finished sixth in the final regular season standings, delivered another upset of third-placed defending champions Itas Trentino Trento and closed their quarterfinal playoff at 3-0 in wins. In front of over 3,300 fans at the BTS Arena in Trento, Lube celebrated a 3-1 (25-22, 25-27, 25-17, 26-24) victory. For the third time in the series, Bulgarian star outside hitter Aleksandar Nikolov topped the match scorer chart, contributing 25 points to Lube’s success and claiming the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. He registered a 54% success rate in attack, two serving aces and two kill blocks. His cross-court teammate Mattia Bottolo added 16 points, Canadian opposite Eric Loeppky finished with 13, while middle blocker Giovanni Garguilo also reached the double digits with 10. Outside Alessandro Bristot was Trentino’s leading scorer with 17 points.

“The result is what counts, even if we weren't perfect,” Aleks Nikolov stated. “We knew Trento would fight until the end, but we're in the semifinals, and that's what we wanted. I'm proud to have won another MVP award at a difficult and challenging venue as the BTS Arena.”

The hit of the league Rana Verona, runners-up in the regular season, were also expected to close their quarterfinal series on Wednesday evening at home, but their visitors Allianz Milan had a different plan. The seventh-placed team surprised its hosts and the four thousand in the stands in an epic 3-2 (26-24, 26-24, 22-25, 23-25, 15-10) battle to stay alive, trailing by 2-1 in wins, and bring the series back home to Milan for a fourth match. Allianz’s Belgian opposite Ferre Reggers led the way with a team-high 24 points, supported by Japanese outside Tatsunori Otsuka, match MVP with 17 points, including three aces, and his cross-court teammate Tommaso Ichino with 16. Serbian middle blocker Nemanja Masulovic raised an impressive eight kill blocks and fired two aces to finish with a total of 14 points. Verona’s Malian outside Noumory Keita emerged as the best scorer of the match with 29 points, including three aces.

In Tuesday’s only match, fifth-placed Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza also managed a 3-1 (25-17, 17-25, 25-20, 30-28) upset of fourth-placed Valsa Group Modena and gained a 2-1 lead in this hard-fought series. In front of over 3,600 spectators in Modena, Turkish outside Efe Mandiraci led Gas Sales with 19 points, spiking 17 at a 68% success rate and firing two aces, and earned the MVP honors. Cuban outside Jose Guitierrez chipped in with another 13 points, while another Cuban, middle blocker Robertlandy Simon (three aces, three kill blocks), and opposite Alessandro Bovolenta added 12 points each. Modena’s outside Luca Porro hammered five aces and shared the top scorer honors with Mandiraci with 19 points.

Regular season winners and reigning club world and European champions Sir Susa Scai Perugia did not allow any surprises at home against Vero Volley Monza on Wednesday, beat them in straight sets, 3-0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-20), and closed the series in three games. Middle blocker Roberto Russo reached an 82% success rate in attack and scored a total of 12 points for Sir to claim the MVP recognition. Tunisian opposite Wassim Ben Tara (four kill blocks) and Ukrainian outside Oleh Plotnytskyi led the winners with 13 points each. Polish outside Kamil Semeniuk added another 10. German outside Erik Rohrs topped the match chart with 15 points for Vero Volley.

The fourth leg of the quarterfinal playoffs will be played on Saturday and Sunday, March 21 and 22.

SuperLega Credem Banca 2025-2026 quarterfinal playoffs, 4th leg:
Mar 21, 20:30 local (19:30 UTC): Allianz Milan v Rana Verona
Mar 22, 18:00 local (17:00 UTC): Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza v Valsa Group Modena

SuperLega Credem Banca 2025-2026 schedule and results

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