Allianz Milan dethroned Del Monte Coppa Italia champions Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza in a thrilling quarterfinal on Wednesday and advanced to the Final Four to be played in Bologna on January 27 and 28. In one of the semifinals, Allianz will take on reigning club world champions and Supercoppa Italiana laureates Sir Susa Vim Perugia. In the other, Mint Vero Volley Monza will challenge national champions Itas Trentino Trento.
Del Monte Coppa Italia SuperLega
Allianz dethrone Gas Sales with Porro and Ishikawa shining
A recap of the Italian national cup quarterfinals
Published 06:51, 05 Jan 2024
Allianz Milan’s players celebrate in Piacenza
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A five-set saga in Piacenza determined the winner between Gas Sales and the visitors from Milan. At the end of an extended tie-breaker, two consecutive kill blocks, one by middle blocker Matteo Piano and a double wall by Piano and Bulgarian star outside hitter Matey Kaziyski, gave Allianz the edge towards a victory. While setter Paolo Porro earned a well-deserved Most Valuable Player nomination, Japanese outside Yuki Ishikawa led the winners with 19 points, including two aces and two blocks. Young Belgian opposite Ferre Reggers added another 18 points. Argentinean middle Agustin Loser impressed with four of Allianz’s 12 kill blocks towards a 16-point tally, while Kaziyski finished with 13 points.
YUKI ISHIKAWA 🇯🇵
— Volleyball World (@volleyballworld) January 4, 2024
The outside hitter scored 19 points in @PowerVolleyMI's 3-2 win 🆚 @GasSalesVolley. They advanced to the Final 4 of the Coppa Italia that will be held on January 27-28.
📺 Watch the matches LIVE on https://t.co/Rb6x7u4lH9.
🏐 #volleyball #pallavolo pic.twitter.com/l5Thu46Bht
Gas Sales’ Brazilian outside Ricardo Lucarelli produced the match high of 23 points. Another three of the home team’s players reached the double digits: opposite Fabrizio Gironi with 18 points, outside Francesco Recine with 14 and Cuban middle Robertlandy Simon with 11.
“It was a very difficult match and we found ourselves going up and down,” said Kaziyski. “It was a battle from start to finish and I am really happy with how our team kept the pace. We achieved the goal of advancing to the Final Four. Now we must certainly prepare well. I am very confident and, as I said even before this match, we are growing, we are doing very well and we play volleyball that is annoying for others and good for us.”
Piacenza vs. Milano | Highlights | Coppa Italia | Quarterfinals
In another exciting quarterfinal on Wednesday, Vero Volley got back at Cucine Lube Civitanova for the defeat in Saturday’s SuperLega Credem Banca fixture. The home team delivered a victory and advanced to the semifinals. Two Canadians led the Vero Volley scoring in the match. Opposite Arthur Szwarc raised five kill blocks towards a match-high 24 points and got the MVP nomination, while outside Stephen Maar added another 18 points. Japanese star Ran Takahashi excelled from the serving line with three aces towards a 15-point tally, while middle Gianluca Galassi also put away five stuffs to finish with 12 points. Turkish opposite Adis Lagumdzija was Lube’s best scorer with 19 points, followed by Bulgarian outside Aleksandar Nikolov with 16 and Cuban outside Marlon Yant with 11.
“The games against Civitanova were two very different matches,” Galassi commented. “It's very nice for me, who have been here for five years, to reach such a milestone - an achievement that this club was missing, and it's nice to have that satisfaction. Playing in front of this crowd, knowing that a victory could lead to the Final Four of the Italy Cup is an indescribable emotion.”
The other two quarterfinals were quite straightforward, with the favourites scoring straight-set victories at home. Trentino mastered a shutout of Rana Verona and advanced to the Coppa Italia Final Four for the 15th consecutive time. Outside Alessandro Michieletto led the way with 16 points and claimed the MVP award. His cross-court teammate Daniele Lavia added another 14 points (three aces), while Luxembourgish opposite Kamil Rychlicki scored 10 times, as many as Rana Verona’s top scorer, Czech outside Donovan Dzavoronok.
The last quarterfinal was played on Thursday in Perugia. Sir hammered out a sweep of their game against Valsa Group Modena with Kamil Rychlicki contributing 14 points to top the scorers’ chart of the match. The Polish outside was named MVP. Sir’s Cuban opposite Jesus Herrera added another 13 points, while his Russian counterpart Maksim Sapozkov and outside Tommaso Rinaldi finished with 10 points each on Modena’s side.
