Superlega 2021

Zaytsev, Lucarelli, Simon score away as Lube edge Trentino in tough five-setter

Perugia extend their lead in the Italian SuperLega

Published 06:58, 03 Feb 2022

Lube players celebrate a point (source: legavolley.it)

Lube players celebrate a point (source: legavolley.it)

A five-set clash for the second place in the current SuperLega Credem Banca standings in Italy ended with a 3-2 (20-25, 25-20, 17-25, 25-22, 15-13) victory for Cucine Lube Civitanova over Itas Trentino Trento at the Eurosuole Forum in Civitanova Marche on Wednesday, with international stars Ivan Zaytsev, Ricardo Lucarelli and Robertlandy Simon leading the way in scoring.

In a postponed fixture of the 16th leg in the Italian league, Lube came back from a set down twice in the match before edging forward in a tight tie-breaker to register their 13th win in 16 matches since the start of the season. Cuban middle blocker Simon impressed with a 70% success rate in attack, adding three aces and a kill block towards a total match tally of 18 points. His Brazilian teammate Lucarelli finished with 19, while Italian opposite Zaytsev topped the charts with 20 points to his name, including two aces. Libero Fabio Balaso also had a great match and was named MVP. Bulgarian star Matey Kaziyski was Trentino’s best scorer with 18 points, followed by his Italian teammates Alessandro Michieletto with 17 and Daniele Lavia with 16.

Lucarelli spikes (source: legavolley.it)

Lucarelli spikes (source: legavolley.it)

“Trentino have a great team and a nice game system, so it will always be difficult against them. It was very important to win because now we are a point ahead with a game in hand. Watching the game it seems that we are at 100% of our potential, but we have problems with some players who are playing with some pain. This is why I am very happy - because we are overcoming these critical issues, thinking only of playing to win and feeling good.” Ricardo Lucarelli, outside hitter of Cucine Lube Civitanova

Coach Gianlorenzo Blengini’s squad have now accumulated 39 points, one clear of third-placed Trentino who have 12 wins in 17 matches, but still eight behind leaders Sir Safety Conad Perugia who achieved their 15th victory in 17 matches.

SirSafetyConadPerugia_GioiellaPrismaTaranto_01

Rychlicki in attack (source: legavolley.it)

In another postponed game (from the 17th leg) on Wednesday evening, Sir produced a 3-0 (25-17, 25-23, 25-23) shutout of visiting Gioiella Prisma Taranto, although in set two they had to battle it back from a four-point deficit. After losing to Trentino exactly a month ago, the team from Perugia are now on a five-game winning streak in all competitions.

Luxembourgish international Kamil Rychlicki delivered the match high of 17 points towards the victory and took the MVP nomination. Giulio Sabbi scored 16 for Gioiella while Poland’s Wilfredo Leon added 14 for Sir. The team from Taranto stand eighth in the table on 20 points and a 6-12 win-loss record.

The SuperLega regular season continues this weekend with five matches of the 20th leg, three on Saturday and two on Sunday.

  • Watch all the matches of the Italian men's and women's top-division leagues live or on demand on VolleyballWorld.tv.

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