21-year-old Bulgarian outside hitter Aleksandar Nikolov led his Cucine Lube Civitanova to a big win over defending champions Itas Trentino Trento as the Wednesday matches of the third leg in the Italian men’s volleyball SuperLega Credem Banca unfolded.

• Watch the SuperLega on VBTV

In a remake of last year’s final playoff, Lube put together a 3-1 (25-23, 25-23, 22-25, 25-22) home win over Trentino in front of well over three thousand spectators at the Eurosuole Forum in Civitanova Marche, handing the reigning champions not only their first defeat, but also their first set losses of the new season. A brilliant Aleks Nikolov spiked at a 59% success rate, fired four aces (including the match winner) and put up a kill block towards a match-high 29 points. He also excelled in processing the opponents’ serves with an 80% good reception and earned the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. Receiving opposite Eric Loeppky of Canada put away three aces and a block towards a 14-point tally. Outside Mattia Bottolo finished with 12 points for Lube. His counterpart Alessandro Micchieletto was Trentino’s most prolific scorer with 22 points, including three aces and two blocks. Lube rose to third place in the current standings with 7 points and a 2-1 win-loss record, while Trentino dropped to fifth on 6 and 2-1.

“I'm happy with the win. We've performed pretty well at home so far,” Nikolov commented after the match. “I think we could have even won 3-0, because Trento were not playing at their usual level on the other side of the net. We weren't able to fully capitalize on it, but it still went well, thanks largely to our serving. I think that's what made the difference in our favor.”

Sir Susa Scai Perugia took over the top of the table on 8 and 3-0 after scoring their third victory of the season. They mastered a 3-0 (25-15, 25-16, 25-21) sweep of their home game against Sonepar Padova Padua, with Ukrainian star outside Oleh Plotnytskyi leading the way with 19 points, including a fantastic 10 serving aces. Plotnytskyi’s tally also included three kill blocks. Padova fell to second from the bottom, 11^th place on 3 and 1-2.

Valsa Group Modena scored the only away win on Wednesday. They achieved an important 3-1 (25-23, 25-17, 23-25, 25-23) victory at Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza and climbed to second place on 7 and 2-1, above Lube on set ratios. Gas Sales stayed in seventh place, on 3 and 1-2. Three players shared the top scorer honors of the match with 15 points each – Modena’s Austrian opposite Paul Buchegger, his Gas Sales counterpart Alessandro Bovolenta and the home team’s Turkish outside Efe Mandiraci, who impressed with four aces.

Vero Volley Monza achieved their first win of the season, a 3-1 (22-25, 25-20, 25-22, 27-25) home victory over rookies MA Acqua San Bernardo Cuneo, with Bulgarian outside Martin Atanasov emerging as the best scorer of the match with 20 points, including two blocks and an ace, towards Vero Volley’s success. The team from Monza improved to 3 and 1-2 in eighth place, while Cuneo fell to sixth on 4 and 1-2.

In a clash at the bottom of the table, Cisterna Volley and Yuasa Battery Grottazzolina put up a five-set battle. Cisterna celebrated their first win of the season and rose to 10^th place on 1 and 1-2, leaving Grottazzolina in 12^th as the only winless team so far in the league, on 1 and 0-3. Cisterna’s opposite Tommaso Guzzo was the best scorer of the match with 25 points, including three blocks, towards his team’s hard-fought 3-2 (25-22, 22-25, 25-21, 22-25, 15-13) victory.

The third leg will offer one more game – Rana Verona against Allianz Milan – on Thursday, October 30.

SuperLega Credem Banca 2025-2026 3rd leg:
Oct 30, 20:30 local (19:30 UTC): Rana Verona v Allianz Milan

SuperLega Credem Banca 2025-2026 schedule and results

Quick links:
SuperLega Credem Banca
VBTV
Volleyball World Facebook
Volleyball World X
Volleyball World Instagram
Volleyball World YouTube
Subscribe to Volleyball World's Newsletter