Itas Trentino Trento and Allianz Milan engaged in a five-set battle on Wednesday evening to get the Italian SuperLega Credem Banca third-place playoff underway. The home side at the ilT quotidiano Arena came back from a set down twice during the game to eventually celebrate the victory. Also on Wednesday, the semifinal fixtures of the fifth-place playoffs were set, with Rana Verona hosting Valsa Group Modena and Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza entertaining Cucine Lube Civitanova as the quest for a spot in Europe’s CEV Challenge Cup continues on Monday.
Superlega 2023
Bronze-medal series starts with five-set battle
Bruno bids tearful farewell to the fans in Modena
Published 04:59, 18 Apr 2024
Kamil Rychlicki, Jan Kozamernik and Alessandro Michieletto on the block against Yuki Ishikawa
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Luxembourgish opposite Kamil Rychlicki led the way as Trentino persevered through a five-set duel with Allianz Milan to edge ahead in the best-of-five bronze medal series after a 3-2 (23-25, 25-18, 23-25, 25-19, 15-11) win. The block was Trentino’s strongest weapon in this match and Rychlicki raised four of the team’s 16 stuffs to finish with a total of 21 points and earn the Most Valuable Player award. He was supported by outside hitters Giulio Magalini, who replaced the injured Daniele Lavia on the court, with 19 points and Alessandro Michieletto with 17.
The serve, on the other hand, was Allianz’s advantage in this game and brought in eight direct points for the visiting team. With Bulgarian legend Matey Kaziyski also missing the match for medical reasons, Japanese outside Yuki Ishikawa and Argentinean middle blocker Agustin Loser aced three times each to finish with a total of 20 and 10 points, respectively, while Belgian opposite Ferre Reggers produced the match high of 24 points.
“We were always chasing Milan despite starting better than our opponents in every set. We prevailed in the tie-breaker and it was fundamental to do so, because now we will be able to go to Milan with greater conviction and with the desire to try and take a 2-0 lead,” Magalini commented. “It's difficult to suddenly enter such a difficult match, but the team gave me a great hand. I always try to give my best and it went well.”
“I think it was still a good match, even though it was full of ups and downs,” said Allianz’s libero Damiano Catania. “There are some great players on the other side too. We did better in the break phase, but struggled in the side-out instead. In the fourth set there were two questionable refereeing decisions that we got a little nervous about. This is something that should never be done. Then in the tie-breaker, we had the opportunities to come back, but we weren't able to and in the end that made the difference.”
Brazilian setter and captain Bruno Rezende’s last home match for Valsa Group Modena ended not only with a win, but also secured the team’s qualification for the fifth-place semifinals. Before bidding a tearful farewell to over three thousand fans on the stands in Modena, the phenomenal playmaker conducted the squad to a 3-1 (25-18, 25-16, 23-25, 25-17) victory over Pallavolo Padova Padua, which proved enough for a fourth place in the final standings, on 5 points and a 2-3 win-loss record. Modena’s Belarusian outside Uladzislau Davyskiba registered the match high of 22 points, while the MVP award went to Bruno, who scored two aces and two spikes himself. For Padova, it was the last match of the season. The team missed the opportunity to advance to the fifth-place semis and finished the round-robin phase in sixth place on 3 and 1-4.
Cucine Lube Civitanova scored an important 3-1 (25-14, 25-22, 20-25, 25-21) away win over Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza to secure the third place in the table on 9 and 3-2. After suffering their first loss of this round-robin phase, Gas Sales finished second on 11 and 4-1 to welcome Lube to Piacenza again for a semifinal clash on Monday. Lube’s Turkish opposite Adis Lagumdzija was the best scorer of the match with 23 points, including six aces and three kill blocks.
Rana Verona showed no mercy for Cisterna Volley and hammered out a 3-0 (25-23, 25-15, 27-25) sweep of their game to top the final standings on 13 and 4-1 and leave the opponents below the cut-off for the semifinals, in fifth place on 4 and 1-4. Iranian opposite Amin Esmaeilnezhad also scored 23 points for Verona, including three aces and three blocks, to top the charts of the match. Verona will host Modena in the other semifinal on Monday.
SuperLega Credem Banca 2023-2024 championship playoff – 1st leg:
Apr 18, 20:30 local (18:30 UTC): Sir Susa Vim Perugia v Mint Vero Volley Monza
SuperLega Credem Banca 2023-2024 third-place playoff – 2nd leg:
Apr 20, 20:30 local (18:30 UTC): Allianz Milan v Itas Trentino Trento
SuperLega Credem Banca 2023-2024 fifth-place playoffs – semifinals:
Apr 22, 20:30 local (18:30 UTC): Rana Verona v Valsa Group Modena
Apr 22, 20:30 local (18:30 UTC): Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza v Cucine Lube Civitanova
