Cucine Lube Civitanova reached the halfway point of their Italian SuperLega Credem Banca regular season campaign without losing a single match at home. In the big game of the 10th leg, outside hitter Aleksandar Nikolov inspired the team towards a four-set victory over reigning European champions Itas Trentino Trento in front of 3,500 fans at the Eurosuole Forum on Sunday evening. It was the last domestic match for the two European representatives ahead of next week’s FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship (December 10 to 15) in Brazil.
Superlega 2024/25
Aleks Nikolov flares up in Lube’s big win over Trentino
Recap of week’s Italian SuperLega matches
Published 06:41, 02 Dec 2024
Triumphant Aleks Nikolov
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The young Bulgarian star put away as many as 22 points towards Lube’s 3-1 (25-23, 18-25, 25-22, 25-23) home win over Trentino. He spiked at a 55% success rate, fired two aces and raised two kill blocks to earn the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. It was Nikolov’s best scoring record since his recent return to the court after a long recovery from herniated disc surgery. Croatian opposite Petar Dirlic, who came in as a substitution during the third set and found his place among the starters for the fourth, also reached the double digits with 10 points for Lube. Meanwhile, Trentino’s outside Alessandro Michieletto produced a match-high 26 points, while his teammates – Brazilian middle blocker Flavio Gualberto, Italian outside Daniele Lavia and Luxembourgish opposite Kamil Rychlicki – finished with 12 points each.
“I am very happy with this victory. It is the best gift I could have for my birthday, which was yesterday,” said Nikolov, who turned 21 on Saturday. “Here at the Eurosuole Forum, we always manage to play great matches. Even today, with a very strong opponent like Trento, tactically we managed to do what we had to do, winning at the end of each set, when we were neck and neck, also thanks to the support of our fantastic fans. This victory will weigh heavily from a mental point of view, also in terms of the Club World Championship.”
In view of their upcoming Club World Championship participation, both Lube and Trentino also played and won their 11th-leg games earlier in the week. On Wednesday, Lube finally scored their first away victory in the SuperLega this season, shutting out rookies Yuasa Battery Grottazzolina. Turkish opposite Adis Lagumdzija led the squad from Civitanova to a 3-0 (25-23, 25-18, 25-21) sweep of the regional derby with 16 points. At the same time, with Michieletto and Rychlicki contributing 21 points each, Trento claimed a 3-1 (25-19, 23-25, 25-23, 25-19) home victory over Sonepar Padova Padua. Ahead of the remaining 11th-leg matches, Trentino are in second place on 27 points and a 9-2 win-loss record, while Lube are third in the current standings on 23 and 7-4.
Reigning club world champions and defending Italian champions Sir Susa Vim Perugia maintained their undefeated status in the SuperLega, which puts them on top of the table on 28 and 10-0. In a remake of last season’s final, Sir delivered a 3-1 (25-27, 25-15, 25-17, 25-20) away victory over Mint Vero Volley Monza. The 2023-2024 runners-up are now still second from the bottom, in 11th place on 7 and 3-7. The Block Devils’ Ukrainian outside Oleh Plotnytskyi and Tunisian opposite Wassim Ben Tara shared the top scorer honours with 15 points apiece.
In the week’s only five-setter, Valsa Group Modena achieved a 3-2 (21-25, 25-23, 24-26, 25-17, 15-8) victory over Gioiella Prisma Taranto on the road and secured a spot in the Coppa Italia quarterfinals. Modena are in seventh place on 14 and 5-5 and can no longer be pushed below the eighth-place cut-off. Prisma stand 10th on 10 and 3-7, two points below the red line, and still have a distant shot at the national cup spots. Cisterna Volley are the only other candidate for the eighth place, which they are currently occupying on 12 and 4-6. Modena’s Austrian opposite Paul Buchegger fired five aces towards a 20-point match high and shared the top scorer honours with Prisma’s outside Filippo Lanza.
Sonepar Padova Padua are no longer in contention for Coppa Italia. After losing at Trentino earlier in the week, they also lost at home to Rana Verona and finished their half-season on 10 and 3-8, currently in ninth place without an option of moving up. Verona improved to 18 and 6-4 in fifth place after mastering a 3-0 (27-25, 25-20, 25-21) sweep with a 25-point match high from Malian opposite Noumory Keita.
In the only match on Saturday’s programme, Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza hammered out a 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-20) shutout of their visitors Yuasa Battery Grottazzolina, with opposite Yuri Romano leading the way with 13 points. Gas Sales are fourth on 20 and 7-3, three points below Lube, but with a game in hand. Winless Grottazzolina trail bottom on 2 and 0-11.
The remaining four matches of the 11th leg to complete the first half of the regular season will be played this week, one on Friday and three on Sunday.
SuperLega Credem Banca 2024-2025 11th leg:
Dec 06, 20:00 local (19:00 UTC): Rana Verona v Gioiella Prisma Taranto
Dec 08, 15:30 local (14:30 UTC): Sir Susa Vim Perugia v Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza
Dec 08, 18:00 local (17:00 UTC): Cisterna Volley v Mint Vero Volley Monza
Dec 08, 19:00 local (18:00 UTC): Valsa Group Modena v Allianz Milan
