Superlega 2021

Modena walk the way from two sets down to victory

With seven aces from Nimir, Leo Shoes PerkinElmer Modena’s stars mount amazing comeback at Trento in weekend’s SuperLega highlight

Published 06:16, 07 Feb 2022

Ngapeth makes his emblematic windmill swing against Trentino (source: legavolley.it)

Ngapeth makes his emblematic windmill swing against Trentino (source: legavolley.it)

Almost a month after playing their previous SuperLega Credem Banca game and a period during which Leo Shoes PerkinElmer Modena were eliminated from both the CEV Cup tournament and the race for the Coppa Italia trophy, coach Andrea Giani's stellar squad achieved a heroic return to the path of success by mastering an amazing comeback from two sets down at Itas Trentino in the highlight of the weekend’s 20th leg of regular season action.

Just a day after celebrating his 30th birthday, Dutch opposite Nimir Abdel-Aziz led his team to a 3-2 (23-25, 22-25, 25-19, 25-18, 15-13) victory on Sunday evening in Trento. He hammered out a total of 28 points crowning his tally with an impressive seven serving aces. French star Earvin Ngapeth contributed another 21 points to the win, while Cuban-born Brazilian Yoandy Leal produced 19. Serbian middle blocker Dragan Stankovic stood out with five kill blocks towards a 14-point match total, while Bruno Rezende also did a solid job in conducting the spikers from Modena, himself hitting a point in attack in addition to his two aces from the serving line. Two Italians, receiving opposite Daniele Lavia (17 points) and outside hitter Alessandro Michieletto (16) were Trentino’s leading scorers in the match.

The distance between third-placed Trentino (12-6 win-loss record) and fourth-placed Leo Shoes (13-3) was narrowed down to four points (39 against 35), but the team from Modena have two games in hand.

“We believed in it until the end. After two defeats and 18 days without play, it was really tough. The game in Trento was a direct confrontation with the third place at stake. Although we were ahead in the first two sets, we made too many mistakes. We had the patience to resist, knowing that this was the match we needed to recover after the two heavy defeats.” Dragan Stankovic, middle blocker of Leo Shoes PerkinElmer Modena

In the other five-setter of the weekend, a tie-breaker pushed deep into overtime decided the outcome of Saturday’s match between Verona Volley and Allianz Milan. After coming back from a set down twice in the game, the home team celebrated with a 3-2 (17-25, 25-15, 19-25, 25-23, 23-21) win. Slovenia’s rising star Rok Mozic produced the match high of 26 points, including two aces, four blocks and 20 spikes at a 63% success rate in attack. His Verona teammates Anton Qafarena and Giulio Magalani, both subbing in halfway through the match, added another 15 and 12 points, respectively, towards the victory. American outside Thomas Jaeschke was Allianz’s most prolific player on 25 points, including three stuffs and an ace, against his previous club. He was well supported by French middle blocker Barthelemy Chinenyeze with 17 points, Japanese outside Yuki Ishikawa with 16 and Italian middle Mateo Piano with 14, including six kill blocks.

Mozic spikes past Chinenyeze’s block (source: legavolley.it)

Mozic spikes past Chinenyeze’s block (source: legavolley.it)

The two points helped Verona overtake Gioiella Prisma Taranto in the standings. Coach Radostin Stoytchev’s squad are now eighth on 21 points and an 8-10 win-loss record. Allianz are fifth on 27 and 9-8.

“It's continuity that we lacked today. They won 23-21 in the fifth set and it was a well deserved victory because they played well. It is quite tough to play at this arena and it was strange for me to come back because it was the first time I played here as an opponent. I was happy to be back, but it was very bad to lose here. Unfortunately, it happens and we have to immediately think about the next game.” Thomas Jaeschke, outside hitter of Allianz Milan

The two leaders faced few issues in hosting the bottom two teams in the table on Saturday. Sir Safety Conad Perugia mastered a 3-0 (25-18, 25-23, 25-16) shutout of Consar RCM Ravenna. Argentinean middle Sebastian Sole impressed with five kill blocks towards a match high of 15 points. His teammates Oleh Plotnytskyi (14 points), Thijs Ter Horst (12) and Kamil Rychlicki (11) also reached the double digits. So did Consar’s Marko Vukasinovic (11).

Cucine Lube Civitanova were even more emphatic on the way to a 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-12) clean slate against Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia. 20-year-old rising Cuban star Marlon Yant led the scorers with 14 points, followed by Lube teammates Ricardo Lucarelli with 13 and Robertlandy Simon with 12.

Perugia top the standings on 50 points and a 16-2 win-loss record. Civitanova are second on 42 and 14-3. Down south, Tonno Callipo are 12th on 12 and 4-12, and winless Consar are rock-bottom 13th on 2 and 0-16.

Vero Volley Monza climbed to the sixth place in the current standings after reaching 25 points upon claiming their ninth win in 19 matches played. At home at Arena di Monza, Czech outside Donovan Dzavoronok delivered the match high of 24 points for a hard-fought 3-1 (22-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-18) victory over 11th-placed Top Volley Cisterna.

The remaining 20th-leg fixture, between Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza and Kioene Padua, which was originally scheduled for Sunday, was postponed to an unspecified later date.

Next on the agenda are three matches postponed from earlier legs, set to be played on Wednesday, February 9: Gioiella Prisma Taranto at Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia, Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza at Top Volley Cisterna, and Kioene Padova at Consar RCM Ravenna.

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