On an Italian men’s volleyball SuperLega Credem Banca weekend sparkling with exciting five-setters, the most unexpected result was produced in Verona, where Valsa Group Modena delivered a four-set upset of hosts Rana Verona and deprived them of the opportunity to finish the first half of the regular season on top of the current standings and claim pole position for the upcoming Del Monte Coppa Italia national cup tournament. Instead, defending champions Itas Trentino Trento took that position and will have eighth-placed Vero Volley Monza, who booked the last vacancy in the cup bracket, as a quarterfinal opponent.

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On Sunday evening, Valsa Group Modena achieved a 3-1 (25-20, 26-24, 18-25, 25-23) away victory over Rana Verona, handing them only their second defeat since the start of the season. Modena’s Belarusian outside hitter Uladzislau Davyskiba and Verona’s Brazilian opposite Darlan Souza shared the match top scorer honors with 18 points, including two aces, each. Davyskiba’s tally also included two kill blocks. The Most Valuable Player (MVP) award went to Modena’s other outside Luca Porro, who finished with 11 points, including one kill block.

Modena improved to 22 points and a 7-4 win-loss record in fifth place. With the one set won, Verona managed to surpass Sir Susa Scai Perugia in the half-season standings. Sir, who are competing in this week’s FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship in Brazil and have already played 12 SuperLega matches, are still on top of the table on 29 and 10-2. However, excluding their advanced match of the second half of the season from the counts, they would be on 26 and 9-2, just like Verona, who have a better set ratio.

Defending champions Itas Trentino Trento, however, took advantage of the situation and even though they lost a point in their home game against Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza, they improved to 26 and 9-2 and surpassed Verona on set ratios, rising to second in the table and first in the final half-season standings to grab pole position in the Coppa Italia bracket. Trentino had to come back from a set down twice during their home match against Gas Sales to celebrate a 3-2 (22-25, 25-19, 15-25, 25-21, 15-9) win. Outside hitter Alessandro Michieletto led the way with a team-high 19 points for Trentino, including four blocks and an ace. His Cuban counterpart Jose Gutierrez fired four aces and raised three kill blocks for the visitors to top the match chart with a total of 20 points. Gas Sales kept their fourth place on 22 and 7-4, and a better set ratio than Modena. That means that they will have the home-court advantage in their Italy Cup quarterfinal against Valsa Group.

Cucine Lube Civitanova and Allianz Milan also put up a five-set battle on Sunday. Lube stayed true to the tradition of winning at home and claimed a 3-2 (22-25, 25-13, 25-15, 22-25, 15-7) victory. In the absence of Lube’s Bulgarian scoring machine Aleksandar Nikolov due to a one-match suspension, Canadian outside Eric Loeppky led the team with a match-high 23 points, including four aces and three blocks. He registered a 64% success rate in attack. Lube took sixth place in the half-season standings on 19 and 6-5, and will visit Sir in Perugia for their cup quarterfinal. Allianz are seventh on 17 and 6-5, and will travel to Verona for the quarterfinal stage of Coppa Italia.

In yet another five-setter over the weekend, Vero Volley Monza squeezed out a nail-biting 3-2 (20-25, 30-32, 25-21, 25-19, 18-16) home victory over Yuasa Battery Grottazzolina, after recovering from two sets down. They consolidated in eighth place on 12 and 4-8, booked the last vacancy in the cup tournament and will take a trip to Trento for their quarterfinal match. Grottazzolina earned their second point since the start of the season, but are still stuck at the bottom of the table, in 14^th place on 2 and 0-11. Vero Volley’s Hungarian opposite Krisztian Padar was the best scorer of Saturday’s game with 28 points, including four blocks and an ace.

In the scuffle in the lower half of the table, Sonepar Padova Padua achieved a 3-1 (25-27, 25-17, 25-19, 25-23) road victory over Cisterna Volley, with a match-high 22 points from Serbian opposite Veljko Masulovic, including two aces and a block. Padova improved to 11 and 4-7 in ninth place, while Cisterna stand second from the bottom, in 11^th place on 6 and 3-8.

The SuperLega continues next weekend, December 20 and 21, with the remaining five matches of the 12^th leg.

SuperLega Credem Banca 2025-2026 upcoming matches:
Dec 20, 18:00 local (17:00 UTC): Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza v Rana Verona
Dec 21, 17:00 local (16:00 UTC): MA Acqua San Bernardo Cuneo v Cucine Lube Civitanova
Dec 21, 18:00 local (17:00 UTC): Sonepar Padova Padua v Itas Trentino Trento
Dec 21, 18:00 local (17:00 UTC): Yuasa Battery Grottazzolina v Allianz Milan
Dec 21, 19:00 local (18:00 UTC): Valsa Group Modena v Cisterna Volley

SuperLega Credem Banca 2025-2026 schedule and results

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