Valsa Group Modena finally snapped out of a four-game losing streak and produced a five-set victory on the road against Mint Vero Volley Monza in the 14th leg of Italy’s SuperLega Credem Banca regular season. In another five-set away success on Sunday, Gioiella Prisma Taranto finally won a tie-breaker this season, after losing all previous six, to mark their second victory and catch up with Pallavolo Padova Padua on points.
Superlega 2023
Bruno conducts Modena to tie-breaker win in Monza
A recap of Italian SuperLega’s 14th-leg matches
Published 06:33, 15 Jan 2024
Valsa Group Modena’s Bruno Rezende celebrates in Monza
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Modena’s Brazilian playmaker Bruno Rezende conducted the team to a victory at Mint Vero Volley Monza and earned the Most Valuable Player award. In addition to pushing two of his attackers to 20+ points, Bruno himself put his name among the scorers with an ace and a kill block. Belarusian outside hitter Uladzislau Davyskiba produced 23 points, all in offence, while Russian opposite Maksim Sapozhkov added another 20, including one ace. Outside Osmany Juantorena also reached the double digits with 13 points to his name, while middle blocker Dragan Stankovic impressed with five stuffs. Vero Volley’s Canadian opposite Arthur Szwarc delivered a match-high 26 points, including four blocks and an ace. His compatriots Eric Loeppky and Stephen Maar, and middle blocker Gianluca Galassi followed with 18, 16 and 11 points, respectively, on the home team’s side.
Modena did not win a single set over their previous four matches, three in the SuperLega and one in Coppa Italia, but that negative series is now over. The team is still eighth in the current standings, now on 19 points and an 8-6 win-loss record, two spots below Vero Volley, who are on 21 and 7-7.
“It was a very long and two-sided match. In some moments, we were a little tense and the high level doesn't forgive: they make you pay for everything you do wrong,” said Vero Volley’s middle Gabriele Di Martino. “However, we were good at uniting as a team and we turned the game around. It's a shame about the defeat, but we'll move on from here with two sets played at a very high level.”
Monza vs. Modena | Highlights | Superlega | 14a Giornata
Another five-set saga unfolded in Padua. Outside hitter Filippo Lanza put away 23 points towards Gioiella Prisma Taranto’s victory over Padova. It was already the seventh tie-breaker Gioiella Prisma reached this season, but only the first one they managed to win. They caught up with Padova on 11 points each, but are still behind on number of wins. The team from Padua are in 10th place on 4-10, while the squad from Taranto are 11th on 2-12.
Lanza earned the MVP nomination. His match-high tally included one ace and one kill block. American opposite Kyle Russell fired four aces to finish a close second with 22 points, while middle blocker Giovannimaria Gargiulo added another 15 towards Gioiella Prisma’s success. Davide Gardini was Padova’s top scorer with 18 points.
“It was a match with a thousand faces, with pressure and tension on both sides,” the winners’ outside Giacomo Raffaelli commented. “It was good for them to believe in the fourth set when they were down, while we have a lot to complain about, because we did and undid everything ourselves. It's not easy to lose a fourth set like that and go on to win the tie-breaker, so we're very happy. We felt strongly about this match. We knew that it could be an important step towards salvation and so it was.”
Padova vs. Taranto | Highlights | Superlega | 14a Giornata
The 14th leg’s highest-level clash, between Sir Susa Vim Perugia and Cucine Lube Civitanova proved to be quite one-sided. The reigning club world champions and Supercoppa Italiana trophy holders mastered an emphatic shutout of last season’s SuperLega runners-up. Sir’s Ukrainian outside Oleh Plotnytskyi (three aces) and Tunisian opposite Wassim Ben Tara (two aces, one kill block) shared the top-scorer honours with 13 points each towards the home team’s success. The two teams kept their places in the table. Sir are second on 34 and 11-3, while Lube are fourth on 25 and 9-5.
Defending champions Itas Trentino Trento did not miss the opportunity to add another three points to their record as they hosted Rana Verona on Sunday. After a win, the table leaders improved to 37 and 13-1, while Verona stayed in seventh place on 20 and 7-7. Trentino’s Luxembourgish outside Kamil Rychlicki topped the scorers’ chart with 25 points, including three blocks.
Third-placed Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza also lost a set, but took home the three points as they visited bottom-of-the-table Farmitalia Catania. With 20 points to his name, outside Francesco Recine led Gas Sales to a victory. Farmitalia’s Austrian opposite Paul Buchegger was the best scorer of the game with 28 points. The team from Piacenza improved to 32 and 10-4, while the squad from Catania dropped to 4 and 1-13.
Fifth-placed Allianz Milan caught up with Lube on 25 points after a home win over Cisterna Volley, but are still behind, on an 8-6 win-loss record. Cisterna are ninth on 13 and 4-10. The winners’ Belgian opposite Ferre Reggers produced a match-high 14 points.
The 15th leg next weekend will offer one game on Saturday and another five on Sunday.
SuperLega Credem Banca 2023-2024 15th leg:
Jan 20, 18:00 local (17:00 UTC): Valsa Group Modena v Sir Susa Vim Perugia
Jan 21, 16:00 local (15:00 UTC): Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza v Itas Trentino Trento
Jan 21, 16:30 local (15:30 UTC): Gioiella Prisma Taranto v Mint Vero Volley Monza
Jan 21, 18:00 local (17:00 UTC): Rana Verona v Farmitalia Catania
Jan 21, 18:00 local (17:00 UTC): Cucine Lube Civitanova v Allianz Milan
Jan 21, 19:00 local (18:00 UTC): Cisterna Volley v Pallavolo Padova Padua
