Sir’s Oleh Plotnytskyi on the block against Vero Volley’s Arthur Szwarc during game one of the final (source: legavolley.it)

Sir’s Oleh Plotnytskyi on the block against Vero Volley’s Arthur Szwarc during game one of the final

After the exciting midweek first-leg matches in Italy’s 2023-2024 SuperLega Credem Banca’s championship and third place playoffs, the second encounters between the league’s best teams are coming up this weekend, with Allianz Milan hosting Itas Trentino Trento in the bronze medal series on Saturday and Mint Vero Volley Monza entertaining Sir Susa Vim Perugia in the gold medal series on Sunday. SuperLega action will continue on Monday with the semifinals of the fifth place playoffs.

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Mint Vero Volley Monza v Sir Susa Vim Perugia

Mint Vero Volley Monza will host reigning club world champions and Supercoppa Italiana and Coppa Italia winners Sir Susa Vim Perugia on Sunday, April 21, at 15:15 local time (13:15 UTC). In what will be the club’s first-ever home game in a SuperLega championship final, Vero Volley will try to recover from the 3-1 (27-25, 25-18, 23-25, 25-23) loss they suffered at the hands of Sir on Thursday after a high-level battle. After taking a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series, the club from Perugia now leads the overall head-to-head against their opponents from Monza by 25-5. It was Sir’s fourth victory over Vero Volley this season alone.

“It's a final and Monza have already demonstrated all their value in these playoffs. We certainly won't discover them now. We're talking about a team made up of great players, who have been playing at an international level for years and who, like us, never give up. We've been training all year to play point-for-point and these matches will be like this, this series will be like this. We know that everyone will be needed in this final. As always in the playoffs, now here's game two and game one doesn't count for anything anymore.” Simone Giannelli, setter of Sir Susa Vim Perugia
Allianz Milan v Itas Trentino Trento

Allianz Milan will take their turn in hosting their opponents from Itas Trentino Trento for the second match of their best-of-five bronze medal playoff on Saturday, April 20, at 20:30 local time (18:30 UTC). Last year’s champions edged ahead in the series with a hard-fought 3-2 (23-25, 25-18, 23-25, 25-19, 15-11) win in the first game on Wednesday, their third victory over the squad from Milan this season, and improved their advantage in the all-time head-to-head record to 22-3.

“We still had fun in game one. There was a balanced fight and great entertainment. We hope to at least repeat our performance at the Allianz Cloud, which is a magical place for us. We want to get the pass to the Champions League. I have never played it and it would really be a dream-come-true for me to play it next year with Allianz Milan. We hope that the audience will give us the needed push.” Damiano Catania, libero of Allianz Milan
“The success achieved on Wednesday evening was very important, because it was the start of turning the page after the elimination from the race for the title in game five of the semifinal. We managed to move on. We suffered through it, not always playing good volleyball, but putting everything we had on the court. This makes me proud of my team and also confident ahead of game two that will certainly be another battle, which we want to win.” Fabio Soli, head coach of Itas Trentino Trento

Trentino vs. Milano | Highlights | Superlega | Playoff 3 Posto

Fifth place semifinals

The penultimate step towards securing the fifth place in the final SuperLega standings and hence a ticket to Europe’s third-tier club competition, the CEV Challenge Cup, will take place on Monday, April 22. Starting at 20:30 local time (18:30 UTC), the two single-match semifinals will determine the two teams that will engage in a direct final battle on April 26.

Rana Verona, who topped the final standings in the round-robin phase of the fifth place playoffs on 13 points and a 4-1 win-loss record, will host fourth-placed Valsa Group Modena (5, 2-3) in one of the two semifinals. The other will offer a remake of Wednesday’s match, with Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza welcoming Cucine Lube Civitanova to the Pala Banca again. In the last leg of the round-robin, Lube defeated Gas Sales in Piacenza in four sets to finish third on 9 and 3-2 and pull the opponents down to second place on 11 and 4-1.

SuperLega Credem Banca 2023-2024 championship playoff – 2nd leg:
Apr 21, 15:15 local (13:15 UTC): Mint Vero Volley Monza v Sir Susa Vim Perugia

SuperLega Credem Banca 2023-2024 third place playoff – 2nd leg:
Apr 20, 20:30 local (18:30 UTC): Allianz Milan v Itas Trentino Trento

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