Lagumdzija erupts as Lube hand Sir first defeat of the season

Two hours and 39 minutes! That’s how long it took Cucine Lube Civitanova and Sir Susa Vim Perugia to determine the winner of their third-leg clash in the Italian men’s SuperLega Credem Banca on Sunday. With Lube’s new Turkish opposite Adis Lagumdzija on fire, Lube handed Sir their first defeat of the season and, after a nail-biting tie-breaker extended deep into overtime, got back at their opponents from Perugia for losing the Supercoppa Italiana final in five sets four days earlier. Meanwhile, Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza and defending champions Itas Trentino Trento scored their third wins to remain the only two still unbeaten teams in SuperLega 2023-2024.

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Lagumdzija produced a match-high 32 points towards Lube’s 3-2 (20-25, 35-33, 25-21, 16-25, 22-20) rollercoaster victory. He spiked at a 60% success rate and added three kill blocks and two aces to his tally to earn the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the match nomination. 19-year-old Bulgarian outside Aleksandar Nikolov added another 16 points, including two aces and a block. His cross-court teammate, Italian star Ivan Zaytsev, and French middle blocker Barthelemy Chinenyeze finished with 13 and 10 points, respectively. Four players reached the double digits on the other side of the net too. Tunisian opposite Wassim Ben Tara led Sir’s scorers with 28 points, including four blocks and an ace. Outsides Kamil Semeniuk of Poland and Oleh Plotnytskyi of Ukraine added 21 and 16 points, respectively, while Brazilian middle Flavio Gualberto put away 15.

In the dramatic tie-breaker, the hosts denied as many as seven match points for the visitors from Perugia before turning things around and closing the match at their first opportunity to do so with a kill block by Chinenyeze. After the third leg, both teams stand at a 2-1 win-loss record. Sir are third in the current regular season table with seven points, while Lube are fifth with five.

“It was difficult to play this match a few days after the efforts in the super cup,” Lagumdzija commented. “We tried hard and in the end we brought home these two points thanks also to the warm support of our fans, who came to cheer for us. With Perugia it's always the details that make the difference and this time the details rewarded us. For us, it is an important victory from all points of view.”

“It was an endless match, a bit like the one we experienced four days ago in the super cup final,” said Sir’s Argentinean middle Sebastian Sole. “In my opinion, both teams had a few more ups and downs that are appropriate at this stage. It was a very hard-fought match. Perhaps with a little more balance we would have won it, but we were still in the game for the whole match and gave everything.”

The SuperLega weekend offered one more thrilling five-setter. Pallavolo Padova Padua managed a tight 3-2 (25-22, 15-25, 20-25, 25-18, 18-16) win at Gioiella Prisma Taranto to register their first victory of the season and climb to 10^th in the standings on 1-2 and two points, leaving the team from Taranto winless in 11^th, also on two points. Outside hitters Mathijs Desmet of Belgium and match MVP Davide Gardini of Italy led the winners with 16 points each, while Prisma’s Cuban outside Jose Gutierrez delivered a match-high 21 points.

“The opponents have a much more structured team than last year, and we approached them with a very aggressive attitude at times, even when Taranto raised the level during the match,” said Padova’s coach Jacopo Cuttini. “Even in that phase the boys were good at staying on track and grinding out the game until things started to turn in our favour again.”

Gas Sales continued their perfect run and hammered out their third straight-set win of the season, a 3-0 (25-17, 33-31, 25-17) shutout of SuperLega newcomers Farmitalia Catania, with a 13-point match high by Brazilian star Ricardo Lucarelli. The club from Piacenza tops the table on nine points, a 3-0 win-loss record and 9-0 in sets.

Just below them, also unbeaten, but with seven points, stand Trentino. Led by 21-year-old Italian outside Alessandro Michieletto with 14 points, they mastered a 3-0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-15) away win over Rana Verona.

Meanwhile, Valsa Group Modena failed to capitalize on the home-court advantage and extend their winning streak to three as their visitors Mint Vero Volley Monza beat them in straight sets, 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-19). Canadian opposite Arthur Szwarc contributed a match-high 18 points, including three aces and three blocks. His Japanese teammate Ran Takahashi impressed with four aces towards a 13-point tally. Vero Volley improved to 2-1 and six points in fourth place, while Valsa Group are down to sixth on 2-1 and four points.

In Saturday’s only game, Cisterna Volley managed their first win of the season, downing winless Allianz Milan by 3-0 (25-14, 25-15, 25-23) at home. French opposite Theo Faure was the best scorer of the match with 18 points for the winners.

This week, Rana Verona will host Vero Volley for an advanced fifth-leg fixture on Wednesday, while the six matches of the fourth leg will take place on Saturday and Sunday.

SuperLega Credem Banca 2023-2024 advanced 5th leg fixture: 
Nov 8, 20:30 local (19:30 UTC): Rana Verona v Mint Vero Volley Monza

SuperLega Credem Banca 2023-2024 4th leg schedule:
Nov 11, 20:30 local (19:30 UTC): Itas Trentino Trento v Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza
Nov 12, 16:00 local (15:00 UTC): Pallavolo Padova Padua v Cisterna Volley
Nov 12, 17:00 local (16:00 UTC): Mint Vero Volley Monza v Gioiella Prisma Taranto
Nov 12, 18:00 local (17:00 UTC): Allianz Milan v Cucine Lube Civitanova
Nov 12, 18:00 local (17:00 UTC): Sir Susa Vim Perugia v Valsa Group Modena
Nov 12, 20:00 local (19:00 UTC): Farmitalia Catania v Rana Verona

SuperLega Credem Banca 2023-2024: full schedule and results

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