20-year-old Tommaso Rinaldi was the man of the weekend in Italy’s SuperLega Credem Banca. The rising Italian star took charge in Top Volley Cisterna’s visit to his previous club, Leo Shoes PerkinElmer Modena, on Saturday, and led them to a surprising 3-2 (33-31, 25-12, 19-25, 17-25, 15-8) victory, hammering out six aces along the way.

Rinaldi, a two-time world champion with Italy at the youth and the junior levels, and the MVP of the 2019 FIVB Volleyball Boys’ U19 World Championship and a Dream Teamer of the 2021 U21 World Championship, produced a match total of 24 points, matched only by Modena’s Dutch opposite Nimir Abdel-Aziz, whose tally included three direct serving points. In addition to his six aces, the young Italian outside delivered a kill block and 17 spiking points at a 59% success rate and earned the MVP of the match award.

His more experienced teammate, Canadian international outside Stephen Maar, added another 21 points towards Top Volley’s memorable victory. His record also included 17 kills and a block, but ‘only’ three points from the serving line. Maar fired the match winner with an ace, after a series of serves that helped his team make a victorious run from 7-8 to 15-8 in the tie-breaker.

The two points gained gave the team from Cisterna a breather in the five-team scuffle to avoid relegation. They are now ninth in the standings on 24 points, three clear of the danger zone and a game in hand, while Modena remain fourth on 42 points and a 15-5 win-loss record.

Another 20-year-old Italian talent shone from the serving line while his team, Itas Trentino, took advantage of Leo Shoes’ loss to widen the gap between themselves and the team from Modena. Alessandro Michieletto, Rinaldi’s teammate on Italy’s two-time world champ junior squad and the MVP of last year’s U21 World Championship, contributed five serving aces towards Trentino’s 3-1 (23-25, 25-15, 25-17, 25-14) away win over Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza on Sunday. The young outside added two stuffs and 12 spiking points for a match total of 19 points, while his teammate, 22-year-old Italian opposite Daniele Lavia, produced a match-high 22 points.

Trentino improved to 15-6 and 48 points in the third place of the standings. Piacenza have lost five of their last six matches and, while they are still seventh on 9-12 and 28 points, their spot in the playoffs is increasingly in danger as they are now only four points above the cut-off.

Yet another 20-year-old hopeful, Slovenian international outside Rok Mozic, led Verona Volley to an important three-point win upon their visit to already-doomed Consar RCM Ravenna. Mozic was the best scorer in his team’s 3-1 (25-21, 25-15, 24-26, 25-20) victory with 24 points to his name, including 23 spikes at a 59% success rate and a block. Verona, who are one of the five teams in the race to avoid joining Ravenna in the relegation group, are now above the cut-off line for the quarterfinals, in eighth place on 24 points and a 9-12 win-loss record.

There were no surprises in the remaining three 23rd-leg games of the weekend, with the favourites taking away straight-set victories from their visits to endangered opponents.

Table leaders Sir Safety Conad Perugia improved to 20-2 and 61 points upon a 3-0 (27-25, 25-21, 25-23) shutout of Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia, with an 18-point contribution from Luxembourgish opposite Kamil Rychlicki and despite a 20-point match high from his Japanese counterpart Yuji Nishida.

Second-placed Cucine Lube Civitanova defeated Gioiella Prisma Taranto by 3-0 (28-26, 25-19, 25-23) with Italian star Ivan Zaytsev leading the way with 16 points. It was Lube’s 16th win in 19 matches and they have now collected 48 points towards the ranking.

Allianz Milano consolidated their fifth place in the table with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-22) victory over Kioene Padua. French opposite Jean Patry and American outside Thomas Jaeschke contributed 14 and 13 points, respectively, to their team’s 12th win in 21 matches, which brought their points up to 37.

Kioene Padova are now in the red zone. They are 12th on 8-14 and 21 points. Vibo Valentia are just above them on 7-14 and 22, while Taranto are in 10th place on 7-15 and 23.

This week, the SuperLega schedule will catch up with four matches postponed from previous legs of the regular season. On Wednesday, Cucine Lube Civitanova host Top Volley Cisterna and Itas Trentino welcome Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia, while Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza travel to Consar RCM Ravenna. On Saturday, Leo Shoes PerkinElmer Modena will entertain Lube at the PalaPanini.

The weekend’s programme will also offer the deciding battles for the national cup trophy. In Saturday’s semifinals, Piacenza will challenge Perugia and Trentino will take on Allianz Milan to set the opponents in Sunday’s big final at the Unipol Arena in Casalecchio di Reno.

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