Italy: an outstanding Milano and Piacenza last semifinalists! PERUGIA and Modena eliminated!

The exciting quarterfinals series of 2022/23 Superlega Credem Banca came into an end with last two outstanding games and, after Cucine Lube Civitanova claimed semifinals ticket after completing comeback over WithU Verona on Saturday, Allianz Powervolley Milano and Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza join them (and Itas Trentino, who ended the series against Vero Volley Monza in Game 4, a couple of weeks ago).

Well, Allianz Powervolley Milano secured a spot in the Semifinals after a decisive victory over regular season absolute leader (and undefeated in Superlega at least,
until these playoffs!) Sir Safety Susa Perugia in Game 5.
Coach Piazza’s team emerged victorious with a score of 1-3 (25:18, 21:25, 27:29, 23:25), having already won Game 2 and Game 4.
Perugia, who had a successful regular season without a single defeat, has now lost three crucial games in just over a month: the Italian Cup, Champions League, and now the championship.
Allianz Powervolley Milano will now face Civitanova in the semifinals, while Perugia will have to win a playoff for fifth place to stay in European competition also next season.
This is a historic achievement for Allianz Powervolley Milano, marking their first ever qualification for the semifinals in the Italian Volleyball top division!

Yuki Ishikawa from Allianz Powervolley Milano expressed his joy and satisfaction with the team’s performance, describing it as an incredible and beautiful game, and he highlighted their progress over the past three years, from winning the CEV Challenge Cup in his first season to reaching the Italian Cup semifinals for two years in a row and now even the Scudetto semifinals. According to the Japanese superstar, they are writing the history of the club every year!

With the only exception from the service line, with 1 ace to 8, all other numbers are in favor of the winners (44% to 42% in reception, 50% to 38% in attack, 10 winning blocks to 6).
20 punti for Herrera, 15 for Semeniuk on the losing side, four players in double digit for Milano: MVP Ishikawa with 18 points, 14 for Mergarejo, 10 each for Loser and Patry.

____

Also Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza has achieved a historic milestone, by securing their first-ever pass to the Superlega Credem Banca Playoff Semifinals.
They emerged victorious over Valsa Group Modena in a thrilling tie-break (25:19, 25:17, 20:25, 21:25, 12:15) after more than two hours of play at PalaPanini.
Despite losing the first two sets, Piacenza made a remarkable comeback and leveled the sets before taking the lead in the tie-break, ultimately denying CEV Cup
winners’ attempts to regain the control of the game and clinching the win 15-12.
The match’s top scorers were Adis Lagumdzija and Ricardo Lucarelli, who scored 19 points each. Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza is now guaranteed to compete in Europe next year, either in the Champions League or the Cev Cup, depending on the final ranking in the second playoffs phase.

“Getting this far was a really important step. We had the strength to start off vigorously, but then we lacked something, perhaps due to inexperience,” said Andrea Giani, the coach of Valsa Group Modena.

Massimo Botti, the coach of Gas Sales Bluenergy Volley Piacenza, on the other hand, expressed his pride in the team: “I am proud of this group, of these guys. It wasn’t easy to win three consecutive matches against Modena, but we did a great thing. In the first two sets, we played with tension and made too many mistakes, but then we relaxed and played volleyball properly. Although it was a strange match that went to a tie-break again, with one team leading 2-0 this time, the team’s personality was decisive in winning this match.”

Game 1 Semifinals – April 13, 2023
• Cucine Lube Civitanova vs Allianz Milano
• Itas Trentino – Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza

Game 2 – April 16, 2023
• Allianz Milano – Cucine Lube Civitanova
• Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza vs Itas Trentino

Game 3 – April 19, 2023
• Cucine Lube Civitanova – Allianz Milano
• Itas Trentino – Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza

____________________

🇮🇹| 2022/23 Superlega CredemBanca | Playoffs Quarterfinals

—GAME 1—
| Saturday | March 18, 2023
• 18.00 (Local Time) | Sir Safety Susa Perugia – Allianz Milano 3-0 (25:22, 25:15, 25:18)
| Sunday | March 19, 2023
• 18.00 (Local Time) | Valsa Group Modena – Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza 3-2 (25:19, 23:25, 25:19, 20:25, 15:11)
| PHOTOGALLERY OF THE MATCH
• 18.00 (Local Time) | Cucine Lube Civitanova – WithU Verona 0-3 (24:26, 29:31, 24:26)
• 18.00 (Local Time) | Itas Trentino – Vero Volley Monza 3-2 (25:16, 25:21, 13:25, 18:25, 15:13)

____________________

—GAME 2—
| Wednesday | March 22, 2023
• 20.30 (Local Time) | Allianz Milano – Sir Safety Susa Perugia 3-2 (27:25, 25:21, 21:25, 18:25, 15:13) Serie: 1-1
| PHOTOGALLERY OF THE MATCH
• 20.30 (Local Time) | WithU Verona – Cucine Lube Civitanova 3-2 (24:26, 25:20, 20:25, 25:23, 15:11) Serie: 2-0
• 20.30 (Local Time) | Vero Volley Monza – Itas Trentino 3-1 (25:21, 25:16, 23:25, 25:18) Serie: 1-1
• 20.30 (Local Time) | Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza – Valsa Group Modena 2-3 (25:19, 21:25, 25:22, 21:25, 13:15) Serie: 0-2

____________________

—GAME 3—

| Saturday | March 25, 2023
• 20.30 (Local Time) | Itas Trentino – Vero Volley Monza 3-1 (22:25, 25:18, 25:19, 25:18) Serie: 2-1
| PHOTOGALLERY OF THE MATCH

| Sunday | March 26, 2023
• 17.00 (Local Time) | Valsa Group Modena – Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza 0-3 (21:25, 22:25, 23:25) Serie: 2-1
| PHOTOGALLERY OF THE MATCH
• 17.00 (Local Time) | Sir Safety Susa Perugia – Allianz Milano 3-1 (22:25, 30:28, 25:18, 25:20) Serie: 2-1
• 18.00 (Local Time) | Cucine Lube Civitanova – WithU Verona 3-0 (25:17, 25:22, 28:26) Serie: 1-2

____________________

—GAME 4—
| Saturday | April 1, 2023
• 20.30 (Local Time) | WithU Verona – Cucine Lube Civitanova 1-3 (25:20, 23:25, 26:28, 24:26) Serie: 2-2

| Sunday | April 2, 2023
• 18.00 (Local Time) | Allianz Milano – Sir Safety Susa Perugia 3-2 (25:15, 19:25, 19:25, 28:26, 15:13) Serie: 2-2
• 18.00 (Local Time) | Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza – Valsa Group Modena 3-0 (25:20, 25:21, 25:20) Serie: 2-2
• 20.30 (Local Time) | Vero Volley Monza – Itas Trentino 0-3 (22:25, 20:25, 19:25) Serie: 1-3

____________________

—GAME 5—

| Saturday | April 8, 2023
• 18.00 (Local Time) | Cucine Lube Civitanova – WithU Verona 3-0 (25:19, 25:23, 25:23) Serie: 3-2

👉🏼 Monday | April 10, 2023

• 18.00 (Local Time) | Sir Safety Susa Perugia – Allianz Milano 1-3 (25:18, 21:25, 27:29, 23:25) Serie: 2-3
Sir Safety Susa Perugia: Giannelli 4, Herrera 20, Rychlicki, Leon 3, Piccinelli (L), Solè 2, Russo 3, Colaci (L), Flavio 8, Semeniuk 15, Plotnytskyi 8, Ropret, Cardenas, Mengozzi, Coach: Anastasi
Allianz Powervolley Milano: Mergarejo 14, Lawrence, Bonacchi, Vitelli, Fusaro, Loser 10, Patry 10, Piano 4, Ishikawa 18, Porro 3, Pesaresi (L), Ebadipour 4, Colombo (L), Coach: Piazza

• 18.00 (Local Time) | Valsa Group Modena-Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza 2-3 (25:19, 25:17, 20:25, 21:25, 12:15) Serie: 2-3
Valsa Group Modena: Mossa De Rezende 1, Ngapeth 18, Sanguinetti 8, Lagumdzija 19, Rinaldi 15, Stankovic 6, Rousseaux, Gollini (L), Rossini (L), Marechal, Sala 1, Bossi, Krick, Salsi, Coach: Giani
Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza: Brizard 2, Lucarelli 19, Simon 13, Romanò 12, Leal 11, Caneschi 8, Hoffer (L), Scanferla (L), Basic, Recine, Gironi 1, Alonso, Cester, De Weijer, Coach: Botti

____________________

Formula: best-of-five

____________________

👀|QUICK LINKS
• Superlega 2022/23 CALENDAR
• All news from Italy 🇮🇹
• Multimedia
• Facebook
• Instagram

____________________