Cucine Lube Civitanova have been having a shaky season so far, unlike trending Rana Verona, who have been running neck and neck with the big guys in the Italian men’s volleyball SuperLega Credem Banca. However, when it comes to the head-to-head collisions between the two teams, Verona have not been able to win a set against Lube yet this season, even on their own ground on Sunday evening, when a crowd of over 5,100 at the Agsm AIM hall saw the home team being shut out by Aleksandar Nikolov and his teammates in one of the big matches of the 19^th leg.

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The Bulgarian star outside hitter spiked 17 points at a 63% success rate, raised two kill blocks and produced an ace towards a match-high 20 points in Cucine Lube Civitanova’s 3-0 (27-25, 25-21, 25-17) sweep of the match at Rana Verona, claiming the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. Canadian opposite Eric Loeppky also showed a strong performance – a 68% success rate in attack, three aces and two kill blocks – to contribute a total of 18 points towards the victory. The other outside, Mattia Bottolo, chipped in with 10 points, including three stuffs and two aces. His Verona counterparts Noumory Keita of Mali and Rok Mozic of Slovenia delivered 13 and 10 points, respectively.

With this, sixth-placed Lube improved to 34 points and an 11-8 win-loss record to widen the distance to seventh-placed Allianz Milan back to five points in the current standings, while Rana Verona fell further behind to five points from leaders Sir Susa Scai Perugia – on 45 and 16-3 in second place.

“We were coming off some very heavy defeats in the league,” Aleks Nikolov said after the match. “The imperative for all of us was to turn things around and being able to do so against a strong team like Verona, especially away from home, gives us immense satisfaction.”

In another big match of the 19^th leg, Valsa Group Modena downed visitors Allianz Milan in straight sets, 3-0 (25-18, 26-24, 25-22), to stay in fourth place on 39 and 13-6. Allianz are firmly in seventh place on 29 and 10-9. Swinging with above 70% success, Austrian opposite Paul Buchegger and outside Luca Porro led the winners with 17 and 16 points, respectively. The latter fired an impressive five serving aces. Belarusian outside Uladzislau Davyskiba added another 11 points, while Belgian opposite Ferre Reggers was Allianz’s leading scorer with 13.

Reigning club world and European champions Sir Susa Scai Perugia consolidated in first place on 50 and 17-2 after a 3-1 (28-26, 25-19, 24-26, 25-22) road win at Sonepar Padova Padua, who stayed put in ninth place on 15 and 6-13, now four points away from the playoff zone. Sir’s Tunisian opposite Wassim Ben Tara was the best scorer of the match with 17 points, including three blocks and an ace.

Third-placed Itas Trentino Trento narrowed the gap to Rana Verona to two points after sweeping their home match against MA Acqua San Bernardo Cuneo, 3-0 (25-16, 26-24, 25-20). In the absence of star Alessandro Michieletto, Spanish outside Jordi Ramon led the winners with 16 points and shared the match top scorer honors with Cuneo’s 22-year-old French opposite Nathan Feral. Trentino improved to 42 and 14-5. Cuneo remained in 10^th place on 14 and 4-15.

Another playoffs-bound team, Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza, put together a 3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 27-25) home victory over Cisterna Volley with a match-high 19 points each from opposites Alessandro Bovolenta of Gas Sales and Tommaso Barotto of Cisterna. The team from Piacenza stayed in fifth place on 39 and 12-7. Cisterna are second from the bottom, in 11^th place on 11 and 4-15, still not completely safe for their spot in the SuperLega next season.

Still, Yuasa Battery Grottazzolina, trailing bottom in 12^th place on 5 and 1-18, are the team most likely to be facing relegation at the end of the season. In Saturday’s only SuperLega match, they were shut out at home by Vero Volley Monza, who made a solid step in the race for the last remaining quarterfinal vacancy and now stand on 19 and 6-13 in eighth place, four points clear of the next closest contender. German outside Erik Rohrs contributed a match-high 15 points towards Vero Volley’s 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-19) away victory.

Next weekend is reserved for the Del Monte Coppa Italia SuperLega national cup final-four tournament in Casalecchio di Reno. The SuperLega regular season will resume with the 20^th-leg matches on the following weekend, February 14 and 15.

SuperLega Credem Banca 2025-2026 20th-leg schedule:
Feb 14, 18:00 local (17:00 UTC): Vero Volley Monza v Sonepar Padova Padua
Feb 14, 18:00 local (17:00 UTC): Cucine Lube Civitanova v Valsa Group Modena
Feb 15, 17:00 local (16:00 UTC): Itas Trentino Trento v Yuasa Battery Grottazzolina
Feb 15, 17:00 local (16:00 UTC): Cisterna Volley v MA Acqua San Bernardo Cuneo
Feb 15, 18:00 local (17:00 UTC): Allianz Milan v Rana Verona
Feb 15, 18:00 local (17:00 UTC): Sir Susa Scai Perugia v Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza

SuperLega Credem Banca 2025-2026 schedule and results

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