Cuba's Robertlandy Simon served six aces, stuffed his opponents twice and attacked for 59% (10/17) to lead defending champions Cucine Lube Civitanova to yet another win in Round 6 of the Italian league, Sunday evening - a thrilling cliffhanger of 3-1 (22-25, 29-27, 25-19, 30-28) over Leo Shoes PerkinElmer Modena.
Superlega 2021
Simon fires Lube to top of standings in Italy league
But Perugia are inspired by Plotnytskyi and Leon to remain the only undefeated side
Published 10:24, 14 Nov 2021
Gabi Fernandez and Robertlandy Simon stuff Earvin Ngapeth as Lube take down Modena in the Italian league.
In combination with a midweek sweep on the road of Vero Volley Monza 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-16) - in an 11th round match brought forward - Lube extended their winning streak to four and sit at the top of the standings on 16 points.
It wasn't an easy ride for Lube, though on Sunday.
After finding themselves a set down, it took Lube five set points in the second to deny Modena a two-set lead. And in the fourth, Lube had to cancel five set points of Modena to avoid a tie-break.
- Watch all matches of the Italian men's and women's leagues, live or on demand, on VolleyballWorld.tv.
But Sir Safety Conad Perugia are still in control, remaining the only undefeated side of the league following an emphatic 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-12) sweep of Allianz Milan before some 2,000 fans at home in the PalaBarton.
Perugia were inspired by Wilfredo Leon's match high of 21 points, as the Cuba-born Pole bagged five blocks and served three aces - though the MVP of the match award was handed to Ukraine's Oleh Plotnytskyi who came on off the bench midway through the second set (to replace USA's Matt Anderson) and finished with a perfect performance that included five aces.
Back-to-back wins, midweek 3-0 (25-16, 25-23, 25-12) over Consar RCM Ravenna and on Sunday 3-1 (19-25, 25-16, 27-25, 25-23) over Monza have brough Itas Trentino back on track and on par with Lube at the top of the table.
Fifteen points by Bulgaria's Matey Kaziyski and another twelve each by Giulio Pinali and Serbia's Srecko Lisinac were key for Trentino, who saw the return to action of Alessandro Michieltto - even if briefly as a sub.
Trentino denied Monza a second lead, as they rallied from 22-24 down in the third set to go ahead themselves.
Perugia are a point behind the leaders of the standings, but both Lube and Trentino have played two matches more.
Elsewhere, Japan's Yuji Nishida scored a match high of 16 points, including five aces, and led Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia to a 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-21) sweep of Ravenna who remain winless after seven matches.
In other weekend action, Gioiella Prisma Taranto claimed their second win of the season after shutting out Kioene Padova 3-0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-20), taking advantage of their opponents' 30 unforced errors.
And Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza continue to chace the table leaders, extending their record to 5-1, after a 3-1 (23-25, 25-22, 25-23, 25-21) win at home over Top Volley Cisterna.
Slovenia's Toncek Stern of Piacenza and Canada's Arthur Swarc of Cisterna shared the match high of 16 points.
Get all the details from all the matches of the Italian League here.
The League continues next weekend with Round 7 of the Regular Season (though Trentino host Piacenza on Thursday for a Round 10 match that has been brought forward), with all matches streamed live on VolleyballWorld.tv.
