Nikolov powers Lube to upsetting Trentino in first playoff

Spearheaded by 22-year-old Bulgarian star outside hitter Aleksandar Nikolov, Cucine Lube Civitanova produced the first upset of this year’s playoffs in the Italian men’s volleyball SuperLega Credem Banca by claiming a road win over defending champions Itas Trentino Trento on Sunday and gaining advantage in the best-of-five quarterfinal series. The hosts of the other three first-leg quarterfinals over the weekend – Valsa Group Modena, Rana Verona and Sir Susa Scai Perugia – lived up to the expectations and celebrated victories over their lower-ranked opponents.

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In a remake of last season’s championship playoff, Cucine Lube Civitanova, who finished this year’s regular season in sixth place, achieved a 3-1 (25-21, 27-25, 24-26, 25-17) away victory over Itas Trentino Trento, who entered the playoff bracket as number three in the table. Aleksandar Nikolov led the winners with a match-high 26 points, including three kill blocks and a serving ace, and earned the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. His cross-court teammate Mattia Bottolo added 16 points, including four stuffs and an ace. Canadian opposite Eric Loeppky put away two aces and a kill block to finish with 14 points. Middle blocker Giovannimaria Gargiulo also reached the double digits with three stuffs and seven spike kills at a 70% success rate in attack. In the absence of their injured star Alessandro Michieletto, Trentino were led by French opposite Theo Faure with 15 points, including two aces and two blocks.

“We are thrilled with this win, which marks a great start to our playoff journey,” Nikolov said. “It is never easy to win away in Trento. If I am not mistaken, this is only the second time it has happened to me since I have played in Italy. But we can't rest on our laurels now. We still have a long way to go, and our goal in game two can only be to make the most of our home-court advantage and take a 2-0 lead in the series.”

Table neighbors Valsa Group Modena and Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza lived up to the expectations of a tough battle and offered one, with the fourth-placed hosts from Modena achieving a nail-biting 3-2 (23-25, 22-25, 25-20, 25-16, 17-15) reverse sweep of their first quarterfinal against the fifth-placed visitors from Piacenza. In a clash between brothers, Modena’s 21-year-old outside Luca Porro led his team to victory over the squad conducted by 24-year-old setter Paolo Porro. Luca scored a team-high 20 points, including three aces and a block, and received the MVP honors. Austrian opposite Paul Buchegger hammered an impressive eight aces for the home team and finished with a total of 16 points. Belarusian outside Uladzislau Davyskiba and middle blocker Giovanni Sanguinetti (four stuffs) added 14 and 12 points, respectively. On Gas Sales’ side, Turkish outside Efe Mandiraci put away a match-high 22 points, supported by his Cuban cross-court teammate Jose Gutierrez with 17 points and Cuban star middle blocker Robertlandy Simon with 10.

Regular season runners-up Rana Verona handed their visitors Allianz Milan a 3-0 (25-16, 25-15, 25-21) shutout. Verona’s Malian outside Noumory Keita topped the match chart with 18 points, including three aces. Brazilian opposite Darlan Souza also fired three serving points and finished with a total of 16. The MVP nomination went to Slovenian outside Rok Mozic, who also produced three aces and spiked at a 61% success rate to sign off with 14 points.

In the only quarterfinal played on Saturday, regular season winners and reigning club world champions Sir Susa Scai Perugia celebrated a 3-1 (21-25, 25-20, 25-16, 25-17) home win over Vero Volley Monza after the visitors surprised them in the first set. Polish outside Kamil Semeniuk contributed a team-high 17 points, including two aces and a block, to the victory and received the MVP award. Tunisian opposite Wassim Ben Tara, Ukrainian outside Oleh Plotnytskyi and middle Roberto Russo chipped in with 15, 13 and 12 points, respectively. Vero Volley’s opposite Diego Frascio, with 19 points, and Bulgarian outside Martin Atanasov, with 18, were the best scorers of the match.

The second leg of the quarterfinal playoffs will be played on Saturday and Sunday, March 14 and 15.

SuperLega Credem Banca 2025-2026 quarterfinal playoffs, 2nd leg:
Mar 14, 18:00 local (17:00 UTC): Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza v Valsa Group Modena
Mar 15, 17:00 local (16:00 UTC): Vero Volley Monza v Sir Susa Scai Perugia
Mar 15, 18:00 local (17:00 UTC): Cucine Lube Civitanova v Itas Trentino Trento
Mar 15, 19:00 local (18:00 UTC): Allianz Milan v Rana Verona

SuperLega Credem Banca 2025-2026 schedule and results

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