While Sir Sicoma Perugia defended their club world title in India, back at home in Italy, magical playmaker Bruno Rezende and his Valsa Group Modena teammates made sure Sir stayed on top of the current domestic SuperLega Credem Banca standings as well by handing defending champions Itas Trentino Trento their first defeat of the season.
Superlega 2023
Bruno on fire as Modena hand Trentino first defeat
A recap of Italian SuperLega’s ninth-leg matches
Published 08:33, 11 Dec 2023
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In front of over 4,600 fans at the PalaPanini on Sunday evening, Modena produced a 3-1 (21-25, 27-25, 25-22, 25-16) home victory over Trentino and improved to a 6-3 win-loss record and 15 points, climbing back up to sixth place in the table. The defending champions suffered their first defeat of the SuperLega season and failed to return to the top of the standings, staying in second place on 8-1 and 22, two points short of leaders Sir Susa Vim Perugia.
Modena’s Brazilian playmaker Bruno Rezende was on fire and claimed a well-deserved Most Valuable Player nomination. While scoring an ace himself, he steered three of his attackers to double digits during the game. Belarusian outside Uladzislau Davyskiba (three aces, one kill block), his cross-court teammate Tommaso Rinaldi (three kill blocks, one ace) and Russian opposite Maksim Sapozhkov (two aces, on kill block) all finished with 17 points each and shared the top scorer honours. On Trentino’s side, Allesandro Michieletto led the scorers with 15 points.
“I'm happy for this victory. These are the best matches to play and the full hall makes the difference,” said Bruno. “We didn't do well with Lube and today we wanted to redeem ourselves in front of our fans. We saw a team that grew during the match both from a character and from a technical point of view. Playing at a PalaPanini like this is wonderful. For many young players on our team it is something new and we know that this is our strength.”
“We knew that sooner or later the defeat in the championship would come,” Trentino’s coach Fabio Soli commented. “It arrived this evening thanks to Modena, who grew a lot during the match. Initially we were the ones who did very well, but then Valsa Group took over. We weren't invincible before, but we're not that bad now either. It is a defeat that must teach us something.”
Modena vs. Trentino | Highlights | Superlega | 9a Giornata
In the ninth leg’s only five-setter, Rana Verona came back from a set down twice during the match against Allianz Milan to please their fans at home with a 3-2 (23-25, 25-21, 23-25, 25-21, 15-11) victory, their third since the start of the season and first at home in Verona. Rana rose to ninth place on 3-6 and 9, a point below eighth-placed Pallavolo Padova Padua and well within reach of the qualifying spots for Coppa Italia, while Allianz dropped to seventh on 4-5 and 14.
Slovenian outside Rok Mozic delivered a match-high 21 points, including three blocks and two aces. Iranian opposite Amin Esmaeilnezhad with 20 points, outside Francesco Sani with 16 and middle blocker Aidan Zingled with 11 also reached the double digits, but it was Malian opposite Noumory Keita, who earned the MVP award after stepping in as a substitution during the fourth set and staying on for the tie-breaker to help the turnaround with seven points. Four players reached the double digits on Allianz’s side as well. Cuban outside Osniel Mergarejo led the team with 20 points, including three aces and a block. Belgian opposite Ferre Reggers added another 18, while Bulgarian outside Matey Kaziyski and Argentinean middle Agustin Loser finished with 16 each, the latter shining with as many as seven kill blocks.
Verona vs. Milano | Highlights | Superlega | 9a Giornata
In another Sunday fixture, Mint Vero Volley Monza managed a 3-1 (25-16, 22-25, 25-12, 25-18) win at bottom-of-the-table Farmitalia Catania (1-8, 3) on a 19-point match high, including three blocks, from Japanese outside Ran Takahashi and improved to 6-3 and 17 in fourth place.
Two ninth-leg games were played on Friday. Third-placed Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza claimed a 3-1 (19-25, 25-20, 25-18, 25-16) away victory over still winless Gioiella Prisma Taranto, as Brazilian outside Ricardo Lucarelli led the way with 19 points, and upped their record to 6-3 and 20, leaving the opponents in 11th place on 0-9 and 5.
Fifth-placed Cucine Lube Civitanova also defeated their hosts Cisterna Volley by 3-1 (25-14, 25-21, 22-25, 25-19) to improve to 6-3 and 16 and push the opponents down to 10th place on 2-7 and 7. While Bulgarian outside Aleksandar Nikolov and his cross-court teammate, Italian star Ivan Zaytsev, led the winners with 16 points apiece, Cisterna’s French opposite Theo Faure topped the scorers’ chart with 18.
SuperLega action is set to resume with the 10th-leg fixtures next weekend, with one game scheduled on Saturday and another five – on Sunday.
SuperLega Credem Banca 2023-2024 10th leg:
Dec 16, 18:00 local (17:00 UTC): Farmitalia Catania v Valsa Group Modena
Dec 17, 15:45 local (14:45 UTC): Itas Trentino Trento v Sir Susa Vim Perugia
Dec 17, 16:00 local (15:00 UTC): Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza v Cucine Lube Civitanova
Dec 17, 16:30 local (15:30 UTC): Allianz Milan v Gioiella Prisma Taranto
Dec 17, 18:00 local (17:00 UTC): Mint Vero Volley Monza v Pallavolo Padova Padua
Dec 17, 18:00 local (17:00 UTC): Rana Verona v Cisterna Volley
