Maar powers Vero Volley to success in historic home match

In their first-ever SuperLega Credem Banca championship playoff home match, Mint Vero Volley Monza delighted the four thousand fans on the packed stands at the Opiquad Arena with a five-set victory over reigning club world champions Sir Susa Vim Perugia on Sunday evening. Canadian outside hitter Stephen Maar engaged in a scoring race with Sir’s Cuban star Wilfredo Leon to power his team to success and earn the Most Valuable Player award. The best-of-five series is now levelled at one all and will need at least two more games to determine the 2024 Italian champions.

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Maar contributed a match-high 28 points towards Vero Volley’s rollercoaster 3-2 (25-20, 23-25, 21-25, 25-19, 15-11) victory. His tally included four kill blocks and an ace and his success rate in attack was 68%. His Japanese cross-court teammate Ran Takahashi added another 14 points, including a couple of aces and an off-the-block hit for the match winner. Another Canadian, Vero Volley’s opposite Eric Loeppky finished with 13 points, also including two direct serving points.

Cuban-born Polish outside Leon entered the match as a substitution during the first set and started in the next four to lead Sir’s scoring with 24 points, registering two aces and a 76% success rate in attack. Tunisian opposite Wassim Ben Tara added another 20 points, including two blocks. Polish outside Kamil Semeniuk also reached the double digits with 10 points.

“Playing with this team makes you want to play together,” Maar told Volleyball World after the game. “For us, it’s about winning, but it’s also about extending the time that we have to play together. Obviously, this team is coming apart after the season, and I’m just so excited to continue playing high-level volleyball with these guys. And you can see it on the court. We’re so excited to play together and that’s our best aspect.”

“It was a very tough match. I felt that we improved a lot from match one by working on some areas where we didn’t do well, such as covering our hitters, blocking and defence,” Vero Volley’s Brazilian setter Fernando Kreling added. “Our energy was different today too. We wanted very much to win in front of our fans and I feel that our team deserved it after a great season.”

The series returns to Perugia for game three on Thursday. The new week will start with Monday’s semifinals for the fifth place. Then, on Wednesday, the third match of the third-place playoff will be played.

SuperLega Credem Banca 2023-2024 championship playoff – 3rd leg:
Apr 25, 18:00 local (16:00 UTC): Sir Susa Vim Perugia v Mint Vero Volley Monza

SuperLega Credem Banca 2023-2024 third place playoff – 3rd leg:
Apr 24, 20:30 local (18:30 UTC): Itas Trentino Trento v Allianz Milan

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

SuperLega Credem Banca 2023-2024: full schedule and results

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