Perugia and Trentino start SuperLega semifinals ahead

Sir Susa Vim Perugia and Itas Trentino got one step closer to the 2023-2024 SuperLega Credem Banca Finals on Sunday, when they emerged victorious in the opening leg of their best-of-five semifinal series in Italy.

With victories over Allianz Milano and Mint Vero Volley Monza respectively, the reigning world champions and the defending Italian champions made good use of their homecourt advantage to get the first of three victories they need to earn the right to appear in the Italian League Finals in a few weeks.

• Watch Italy’s SuperLega Credem Banca live and on demand on VBTV.

Playing at the Pala Barton, Perugia scored their fourth-straight victory in the Italian postseason, following up on a three-match quarterfinal series against Rana Verona with a 3-1 (25-17, 25-23, 23-25, 25-22) triumph over Milano.

The second-best team in the regular season, Perugia got 21 points (18 kills, three aces) from the match’s top scorer and MVP, Tunisian opposite Wassim Ben Tara, and another 18 (13 kills, three blocks, two aces) from Ukrainian outside hitter Oleh Plotnytskyi.

"All four teams still standing are very strong and the playoffs are always very tough," middle blocker Roberto Russo remarked. "Milano created a lot of problems for us and we can expect the same in the second match. Leon and Solé came in very well for us and that also contributed to our victory."

Milano had Belgian opposite Ferre Reggers as their main scorer with 13 points, followed by star outside hitters Matey Kaziyski and Yuki Ishikawa, who contributed ten points apiece.

SuperLega Credem Banca 2023-2024: full schedule and results

Trentino start with a sweep

Earlier on Sunday, defending champions Trentino were dominant against Monza, starting their semifinal series in a strong way, with a 3-0 (27-25, 25-20, 25-22) victory at the ilT quotidiano Arena in Trento.

The top team in the regular season, Trentino relied on their pin hitters to secure the win as outside hitter Alessandro Michieletto led the team’s offense with 17 points (11 kills, four blocks, two aces) and took home the match’s MVP award, while opposite Kamil Rychlicki and outside hitter Daniele Lavia added 15 each.

"Winning the first set was pivotal for our victory," Michieletto reflected. "We did a great job in those final points and were able to carry that momentum into the rest of the match and keep control of it. We can expect the second match to be even more complicated."

The match’s top scorer, Canadian outside hitter Eric Loeppky tallied 20 points (18 kills, two blocks) and was the only Monza player to get to double digits in scoring.

The second leg for both series will take place on Wednesday, at 20:30 local time (19:30 GMT), now with Milano and Monza at home.

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