Superlega 2023

Mercury rising with second leg of SuperLega quarterfinals coming up

Watch the quarterfinals of Italian SuperLega matches live on VBTV

Published 09:39, 08 Mar 2024

Modena’s star playmaker Bruno Rezende on the serve (source: legavolley.it)

Modena’s star playmaker Bruno Rezende on the serve

The first leg of Italy’s SuperLega Credem Banca best-of-five quarterfinal playoffs on Wednesday brought in a lot of excitement and now it is time for more as the second leg takes place on Sunday. Two of the favourites lived up to the expectations and won their home openers and now is the best moment for their opponents, placed lower in the final regular season standings, to show their worth and capitalize on the home-court advantage they have in the second leg. In the other two match-ups, the visiting teams broke the seeding with away upsets, thus raising the anticipation of how their rivals will react on the road.

  • Watch Italy’s SuperLega Credem Banca live and on demand on VBTV.
Valsa Group Modena v Itas Trentino Trento

Sunday’s competition day will open at 16:00 local time (15:00 UTC) with Valsa Group Modena, in position eight of the playoff bracket, welcoming heavy favourites Itas Trentino Trento on home ground. Trentino are the defending champions and regular season winners, and even though they are without their leading setter Riccardo Sbertoli, recovering from surgery, they mastered a solid 3-0 (25-23, 25-18, 25-18) sweep of the first match against Modena on Wednesday, widening their edge in the long-running head-to-head series to 50-35.

“It will be another match on Sunday and we will try to do better in many aspects. We will do the best we can. We want to express our best volleyball. Trento are the favourites in this series. The difference in ranking speaks for itself. But the play-offs are, in fact, a new championship, we need to try to erase what didn't happen in the regular season and start again. Every match is fundamental.” Alberto Giuliani, head coach of Valsa Group Modena
Mint Vero Volley Monza v Cucine Lube Civitanova

Mint Vero Volley Monza will host Cucine Lube Civitanova for the second game on Sunday’s programme, starting at 18:00 (17:00), after a 3-1 (28-26, 20-25, 25-11, 25-20) victory in Civitanova on Wednesday. It was only the sixth time in history they beat this opponent, and with the overall head-to-head standing at 20-6 in favour of Lube, the pressure for an adequate reaction away from home in the second match of the series lies upon the shoulders of coach Gianlorenzo Blengini’s squad.

“The last two matches played against Civitanova before the playoffs (both in Monza) were also hard-fought and exciting, so we expect it to continue to be like this. It is true that another tournament begins with the playoffs, but it is important to have awareness of one's qualities and the appropriate attitude for what awaits us.” Massimo Eccheli, head coach of Mint Vero Volley Monza
Allianz Milan v Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza

The third match of the day, starting at 19:00 (18:00), will offer Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza a chance to compensate for the five-set loss at home on Wednesday. The team finishing the regular season in third place were upset by their visitors Allianz Milan, sixth in the table, in a 3-2 (20-25, 25-21, 19-25, 25-22, 15-10) battle, the most exciting match of the first quarterfinal leg. It was only the fifth time the club from Milan celebrated victorious over their opponents from Piacenza, who are still well in the lead of the all-time head-to-head, 11-5.

“These playoffs are the only objective we have left for the season. In the regular season we suffered twice against Piacenza, while in the Italy Cup it went well for us. Piacenza are a very strong team and we must try to be strong too.” Osniel Mergarejo, outside hitter of Allianz Milan
Rana Verona v Sir Susa Vim Perugia

The second leg of the quarterfinals will be closed with another exciting encounter between Rana Verona and Sir Susa Vim Perugia at 20:30 (19:30) on Sunday evening. After a 3-1 (23-25, 25-16, 25-21, 25-19) win at home on Wednesday, the reigning club world champions, who finished the regular season in second place, further improved their head-to-head record against Verona to 31-7 to maintain the role of favourites in this series, but coach Radostin Stoytchev’s squad has shown multiple faces over the season and how they will react in the second match, with the home-court advantage on their side, remains unpredictable.

“Perugia are the team that can win the championship more than anyone else. Given how the season has developed, we have nothing to lose. We must try to be more relaxed on the court and seize every little opportunity that presents itself. Anything can happen and the only thing I want to avoid is someone entering the court already defeated. I won't allow this.” Radostin Stoytchev, head coach of Rana Verona

SuperLega Credem Banca 2023-2024 quarterfinals – 2nd leg:
Mar 10, 16:00 local (15:00 UTC): Valsa Group Modena v Itas Trentino Trento
Mar 10, 18:00 local (17:00 UTC): Mint Vero Volley Monza v Cucine Lube Civitanova
Mar 10, 19:00 local (18:00 UTC): Allianz Milan v Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza
Mar 10, 20:30 local (19:30 UTC): Rana Verona v Sir Susa Vim Perugia

SuperLega Credem Banca 2023-2024: full schedule and results

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