Sir Susa Vim Perugia remained the only unbeaten team in the Italian SuperLega Credem Banca this season and returned to the top of the current standings after previous leaders Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza suffered their first defeat as the matches of the seventh leg unfolded over the weekend.
Superlega 2024/25
Lube stun Gas Sales with first defeat, Sir back to top
Recap of Italian SuperLega’s seventh-leg matches
Published 07:25, 11 Nov 2024
Lube’s Mattia Bottolo on the serve
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In Sunday’s opening match, Cucine Lube Civitanova shocked Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-20) shutout. Outside hitter Mattia Bottolo fired four aces towards Lube’s success and topped the scorers’ chart with 13 points. Turkish opposite Adis Lagumdzija added another 11. Bulgarian outside Aleksandar Nikolov was among Lube’s starters for the first time after his surgery this summer, replacing his Canadian teammate Eric Loeppky, out for medical reasons. The Most Valuable Player award went to Lube’s 20-year-old setter Mattia Boninfante. On the other side of the net, Turkish outside Ramazan Efe Mandiraci produced 13 points, while opposite Yuri Romano scored 12 times. The two teams are now new neighbours in the table. Gas Sales dropped to third place on 17 points and a 6-1 win-loss record, while Lube climbed to fourth on 13 and 4-3, remaining undefeated at home so far this season.
“We were good at imposing ourselves, despite Eric’s absence. Actually, very good!” Boninfante commented. “We played a good team match. Winning by 3-0 against Piacenza, who had never lost until now, means we were on top of things. The push from our fans was very important. For me it is a bit strange to play a main role against players of this calibre as up until two years ago I watched them on television. Competing with them now is a great privilege. I try to take advantage of opportunities like this and enjoy them every time.”
Reigning club world champions and defending Italian champions Sir Susa Vim Perugia took advantage of Gas Sales’ setback to regain the first place by hammering out a 3-0 (25-18, 25-14, 31-29) away victory over Gioiella Prisma Taranto, with Tunisian opposite Wassim Ben Tara leading the way with 15 points. The Block Devils improved to 19 and 7-0, while Prisma occupy ninth place on 7 and 2-5.
Itas Trentino Trento also surpassed Gas Sales in the table, rising to second place on 18 and 6-1 after a 3-1 (20-25, 27-25, 25-20, 25-22) home victory over Rana Verona who, on the other hand, descended to fifth place on 12 and 4-3. Outside Alessandro Michieletto led the winners with 19 points, while Verona’s Malian scoring machine Noumory Keita flew high with 27 points.
Last season’s bronze medallists Allianz Milan hosted the two bottom-placed teams on Thursday and Saturday and collected two four-set victories to rise to sixth place on 12 and 4-4. Belgian opposite Ferre Reggers fired 33 points towards Allianz’s 3-1 (29-27, 27-29, 25-17, 28-26) win over Cisterna Volley in an advanced 10th-leg game, while outside Davide Gardini delivered a match-high 23 points towards a 3-1 (25-18, 25-20, 25-27, 25-19) win over Yuasa Battery Grottazzolina in the seventh-leg opener.
While the winless SuperLega newcomers remained firmly stuck to the bottom of the table on 2 and 0-7, Cisterna bounced back with a surprising 3-2 (26-28, 17-25, 25-20, 25-23, 15-11) away victory over Valsa Group Modena, coming back from two sets down. Their French opposite Theo Faure led the way with 28 points. Modena dropped to eighth place on 9 and 3-4, while Cisterna surged to 10th on 6 and 2-6, taking advantage of Mint Vero Volley Monza’s loss at Sonepar Padova Padua. Last season’s SuperLega runners-up fell to 11th place, second from the bottom, on 4 and 2-5 after Padova defeated them in a 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-21) shutout. Serbian opposite Veljko Masulovic led the winners with 15 points, while his Vero Volley counterpart Arthur Szwarc of Canada topped the chart with 19. Padova stayed in seventh place, now on 10 and 3-4.
Next weekend’s eighth leg will feature two games on Saturday, November 16, and another four on Sunday, November 17.
SuperLega Credem Banca 2024-2025 8th leg:
Nov 16, 19:30 local (18:30 UTC): Sir Susa Vim Perugia v Yuasa Battery Grottazzolina
Nov 16, 20:30 local (19:30 UTC): Cisterna Volley v Gioiella Prisma Taranto
Nov 17, 15:30 local (14:30 UTC): Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza v Itas Trentino Trento
Nov 17, 17:00 local (16:00 UTC): Sonepar Padova Padua v Allianz Milan
Nov 17, 17:00 local (16:00 UTC): Mint Vero Volley Monza v Rana Verona
Nov 17, 18:00 local (17:00 UTC): Cucine Lube Civitanova v Valsa Group Modena
