It’s now or never for Piacenza and Lube in the SuperLega quarterfinals

There’s no more room for errors for Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza and Cucine Lube Civitanova in the quarterfinals of the 2022-2023 SuperLega Credem Banca as the Italian giants enter the third round of their best-of-five series in a ‘win or go home’ situation on Sunday.

Reigning Coppa Italia winners Piacenza and defending Italian League champions Lube have dropped their first two matches against Valsa Group Modena and WithU Verona respectively and will both need to win the third encounter, on Sunday, in order to avoid being eliminated with a sweep and extend the series for at least another few days.

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Coppa Italia winners Piacenza were only a few points away from topping Modena in each of their first two encounters, with both matches being decided in the tie-breaker. Their situation in the series, however, is very delicate as Sunday’s match, which is set to begin at 17:00 local time (16:00 UTC), will be played in Modena.

“I feel that our main issue was not being lucid in the key moments of the match,” outside hitter Fabrizio Gironi commented after Wednesday’s encounter. “We made good comebacks, but at this level, if you’re not lucid in the big moments, it’s hard to win. Our only option now is going to Modena and extending the series. We know how strong we are as a team and we need to give everything from the first to the last point.”

Another important thing for Piacenza will be finding a way to control Modena’s high-scoring duo of French outside hitter Earvin Ngapeth and Turkish opposite Adis Lagumdzija. The two have combined for 40 or more points in the first two matches and were responsible for most of their team’s production in the series so far.

Also on Sunday, at 18:00 local time (17:00 UTC), Lube will host Verona with their backs against the wall after losing the first two duels 3-0 and 3-2. The defending champions are at risk of missing the SuperLega semifinals for the first time since 2009-2010 and now need to beat Verona three times in a row in order to advance.

“We feel that we got less than we deserved so far in the series,” middle blocker Bartélémy Chinenyeze reflected. “These were two very difficult matches and we showed we can face Verona. Beating Verona three times in a row won’t be an easy task, but the series is not over and we count on the support of our fans to make history.”

Lube have lost their last three matches against Verona, also dropping a SuperLega regular season encounter in January, but before that, have won 17 straight duels with their opponents.

The third leg of the quarterfinals begins on Saturday, with Itas Trentino returning home to face Vero Volley Monza at 20:30 local time (19:30 UTC). The series is tied after the silver medallists of the 2022 FIVB Men’s Club World Championship won the opening leg at home 3-2 and Monza bounced back with a 3-1 victory in front of their home fans on Wednesday.

For the third match, the hosts should have outside hitter Alessandro Michieletto and middle blocker Marko Podraščanin, who both missed Wednesday’s match, and outside hitter Daniele Lavia, who played limited minutes, all available for selection.

“We had to enter the last match with an entirely different formation and the series is totally open,” Trentino’s head coach Angelo Lorenzetti said. “I hope we can recover some players and be more competitive in match three.”

Also looking to win at home and secure a 2-1 lead in the series will be regular season leaders Sir Safety Susa Perugia. After going undefeated in the entire regular season and opening their quarterfinal series against Allianz Milano with a sweep, the reigning world champions were upset in a dramatic tie-breaker on Wednesday and are on equal footing entering Sunday’s match, which will begin at 17:00 local time (16:00 UTC).

“These are the playoffs and we need to know how to suffer because that’s going to happen,” said Perugia’s head coach Andrea Anastasi. “To be strong and tough in important matches we need to understand our limits and know what to do in moments of pressure. We’ll be ready for match three and will be very motivated to play in front of our fans again.”

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