Superlega 2023

SuperLega quarterfinals: two down, two to go

Watch the Italian quarterfinals live on VBTV

Published 12:25, 22 Mar 2024

Allianz v Gas Sales (source: legavolley.it)

Two of the semifinalists in the Italian 2023-2024 SuperLega Credem Banca – defending champions Itas Trentino Trento and reigning world champions Sir Susa Vim Perugia – were known last weekend after three legs of play in the quarterfinal playoffs. The other two may (or may not) become known on Sunday, when the fourth-leg matches of the other two quarterfinal series take place. Mint Vero Volley Monza and Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza are just a win away from the semis, while their opponents, Cucine Lube Civitanova and Allianz Milan, respectively, will do their best to level things up and push these playoffs to deciding duels on Wednesday.

  • Watch Italy’s SuperLega Credem Banca live and on demand on VBTV.
Mint Vero Volley Monza v Cucine Lube Civitanova

Mint Vero Volley Monza and Cucine Lube Civitanova will open Sunday’s competition day at 18:00 local time (17:00 UTC). Vero Volley have a 2-1 advantage in match wins, and the home-court advantage in the fourth game at the Opiquad Arena. They started the series with a 3-1 (28-26, 20-25, 25-11, 25-20) away victory in the first leg and followed up with a 3-1 (24-26, 25-18, 25-21, 25-20) home win in the second. In the third leg, however, Lube recovered partially with a narrow 3-2 (21-25, 30-28, 21-25, 25-22, 15-11) comeback at home to stay alive. Historically, he club from Civitanova leads the head-to-head against Vero Volley by 21 wins to seven.

While the squad from Monza was preparing for the important fourth-leg duel on Sunday, Lube had to go through another five-set battle on Thursday, as they hosted Italian champions Trentino for a deciding fixture of the CEV Champions League semifinals. Aleksandar Nikolov, top scorer with 15 points, and his teammates won the match, but only after the visitors had taken the two sets needed to advance to the final in May.

“On Sunday in Monza, there will be another match, against another team. We will have to be good at keeping our heads clean and going there knowing that it is a ‘final’ like all playoff matches.” Gianlorenzo Blengini, head coach of Cucine Lube Civitanova
Allianz Milan v Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza

Also on Sunday, but starting at 20:30 local time (19:30 UTC), Allianz Milan will welcome Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza to the Allianz Cloud for the fourth quarterfinal encounter between the two teams. Allianz started the series with a 3-2 (20-25, 25-21, 19-25, 25-22, 15-10) upset in Piacenza, but then Gas Sales bounced back and took the lead after a 3-1 (22-25, 25-20, 25-21, 25-14) victory in Milan and a 3-2 (25-22, 23-25, 17-25, 31-29, 15-12) win back at home last weekend, extending their lead in the all-time head-to-head to 13-5.

“Perhaps Sunday's match will be the most important match of the year - certainly another final, as all these quarterfinals have been. This time, however, we will have to make fewer mistakes, because if we lose, we are out. We have to be very good and concentrated at all moments of the match and be able to play better than them and win. We really hope to go to game five. We trained very well this week. It will be nice to play in front of our fans, in our home in Milan. It will definitely be a good match.” Agustin Loser, middle blocker of Allianz Milan
“We have already played six games against Milan this season and four ended in tie-breakers, so I expect a very complicated and tight match on Sunday too. For us, it will be very important to give everything to have no regrets, try to close the series and reach the semifinals. As a team, we are improving more and more and it is very nice to see that none of us want to drop a ball on the ground. We can and want to give everyone a hard time in these playoffs.” Edoardo Caneschi, middle blocker of Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza

SuperLega Credem Banca 2023-2024 quarterfinals – 4th leg:
Mar 24, 18:00 local (17:00 UTC): Mint Vero Volley Monza v Cucine Lube Civitanova
Mar 24, 20:30 local (19:30 UTC): Allianz Milan v Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza

SuperLega Credem Banca 2023-2024: full schedule and results

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