Sir Susa Vim Perugia won a hard-fought five-setter against Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza on Sunday, in one of the four 11th-leg Italian SuperLega Credem Banca matches over the weekend, to finish the first half of the regular season undefeated. Meanwhile Cisterna Volley booked the last available vacancy for the Coppa Italia competition and all the national cup quarterfinal match-ups have been set.
Superlega 2024/25
Sir finish half-season unbeaten; Cisterna book last cup vacancy
Recap of weekend’s Italian SuperLega matches
Published 02:21, 09 Dec 2024
Sir’s Oleh Plotnytskyi in attack
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In the highest-calibre game of the weekend, Sir Susa Vim Perugia squeezed out a 3-2 (25-19, 25-23, 22-25, 17-25, 15-9) home win over Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza and continued their undefeated journey through the season so far. Sir stand on top of the current standings on 30 points and an 11-0 win-loss record, three points clear of second-placed Itas Trentino Trento. Gas Sales have now dropped to fifth place on 21 and 7-4 and lost the opportunity to host their Coppa Italia quarterfinal match.
Ukrainian outside hitter Oleh Plotnytskyi led the Block Devils with 16 points, including four aces, and earned the Most Valuable Player (MVP) nomination. Tunisian opposite Wassim Ben Tara and Polish outside Kamil Semeniuk added 13 points each, while Japanese outside Yuki Ishikawa, who entered as a substitution for the second half of the match, piled up 12 points towards the victory. Gas Sales’ sub-in opposite Alessandro Bovolenta was the best scorer of the match with 18 points. His Canadian teammate Stephen Maar put away another 16.
The SuperLega weekend started on Friday with Rana Verona’s 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-15) sweep of their home match against Gioiella Prisma Taranto, a result that put an end to Prisma’s aspirations to make it among the Coppa Italia quarterfinalists as the team from Taranto remained in 10th place on 10 and 3-8. Rana Verona, on the other hand, managed to overtake Gas Sales for the fourth place in the table, on 21, 7-4 and a better set ratio, and gain the home-court advantage for their cup quarterfinal against the team from Piacenza on December 29. The winners’ Malian opposite Noumory Keita put away a 17-point match high towards the victory over Prisma.
Already qualified for the Coppa Italia after Prisma’s fallout, Cisterna Volley made sure they improved their position in the starting grid for the cup with a 3-1 (25-20, 21-25, 25-21, 30-28) home victory over Mint Vero Volley Monza. Cisterna were spearheaded by Spanish outside Jordi Ramon with a match-high 20 points. They rose to seventh place on 15 and 5-6 and will visit reigning European champions Trentino on December 29 for their cup fixture. Last season’s silver medallists Vero Volley remain second from the bottom in the current standings, in 11th place on 7 and 3-8.
Valsa Group Modena dropped to eighth place (on 14 and 5-6) after losing at home to sixth-placed Allianz Milan. Belgian rising star Ferre Reggers scored 18 times to power last season’s bronze medallists to a 3-1 (25-20, 25-18, 21-25, 25-20) victory and shared the top scorer honours with Modena’s Austrian opposite Paul Buchegger. Allianz improved to 18 and 6-5. For their cup quarterfinal on December 29, they will travel to third-placed Cucine Lube Civitanova, while Valsa Group will pay a visit to Perugia on December 30.
Meanwhile, SuperLega action continues with the second half of the regular season. The 12th-leg matches are scheduled on December 13 and 15.
SuperLega Credem Banca 2024-2025 12th leg:
Dec 13, 20:00 local (19:00 UTC): Mint Vero Volley Monza v Yuasa Battery Grottazzolina
Dec 15, 16:00 local (15:00 UTC): Allianz Milan v Gioiella Prisma Taranto
Dec 15, 18:00 local (17:00 UTC): Itas Trentino Trento v Cisterna Volley
Dec 15, 18:00 local (17:00 UTC): Sonepar Padova Padua v Cucine Lube Civitanova
Dec 15, 18:00 local (17:00 UTC): Rana Verona v Sir Susa Vim Perugia
Dec 15, 20:30 local (19:30 UTC): Valsa Group Modena v Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza
