Italy: exciting kickoff of Italian Superlega CredemBanca! All results of Round 1

Today marked the exciting start of the Italian men’s SuperLega Credem Banca regular season, with all six opening matches lined up, significant surprises and memorable performances to talk about.

The day’s most unexpected result emerged from Civitanova: the visiting side, MINT Vero Volley Monza, despite being the underdogs, at least on paper, delivered a stunning straight-set win against the Italian runners-up Cucine Lube Civitanova.
The final scores read a clear 0-3 (23:25, 21:25, 22:25) for Monza, led by top scorer MVP Arthur Szwarc, well supported by Stephen Maar and Ran Takahashi, above all from the service line with 10 aces in two, 5 each, and 15 points apiece.
Among the hosts, only Aleksandar Nikolov reached a double digit, 13 points.

“Our unity during the match was what stood out. Winning 3-0 away against a team like Lube is a significant accomplishment,” said Monza’s setter Fernando Kreling.

In the very first match of the day, Valsa Group Modena, in front of their home fans (4200 volleball enthusiasts!) secured the clash 3-2 after an intense tie-break (25:19, 12:25, 21:25, 26:24, 15:12).
MVP honors went to Vlad Davyskiba from the hosts, decisive in the key moments of the game above all in serving and in attack.
Without starting setter Paolo Porro, out at least for other two games, Milano have to count on young Nicola Zonta, 23 year old, last season in italian Serie A3. Coincidence or not, Modena had a terrible performance in blocking,
only 3, against 21 of Milano, 9 only from captain Matteo Piano!
In a nail-biting match, Itas Trentino struggled more than expected, and overcame a 2-1 deficit to finally prevail over Cisterna Volley in a tie-break, winning 2-3 (18:25, 25:15, 28:26, 17:25, 8:15).
After a first set dominated by the visiting side, and 6 errors from Cisterna, the hosts’ trio Faure-Ramon-Peric (62 punti in three at the end of the game, led trascina them at the 2-1 in set count.
The fourth set seems to be the last one, after a super start of Cisterna, 4-1, Trento react and easily level the score by winning 25-17, and then also the tie break, 15-8, with good performances by Alessandro Michieletto (21 points with 2 blocks, 3 aces and 59% in attack), MVP Daniele Lavia (18 points through 57% in attack) and Kamik Rychlicki (16).

Predictions more or less respected in the other games.
Perugia showcased dominance over the newly-promoted Farmitalia Catania, sealing a 3-0 (25:15, 25:18, 25:22) victory. Herrera topped the scoreboard with 11 points all in attack for Perugia, followed by middleblockers Solè and MVP Flavio, with 10 points each. The latter had 100% in attack and 3 winning blocks.
Debut in Superlega for Sir Susa Vim per Ben Tara, on the field for a couple of points, and for Held, who close the game with 3 aces!
On the other side of the net, 12 points for Randazzo and 9 for Buchegger.
The winners, who simply did their homework, played a good performance in the second line, with 60% of positive reception and 60% in attack. Farmitalia, on the other hand, at thier Superlega debut, try it, above all in third set, but to condemn them is the bad day from the service line, with 0 aces and 17 errors, as many as in attack (39%).
All easy also for Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza who, despite the absencese of Leal and Caneschi, sweep Pallavolo Padova in a clear 3-0 (25:21, 25:19, 25:16).
If the winners closed the game with 52% in attack, Padova suffered a series of errors (27 and 16 only from the service line).
Three points also for Rana Verona, who win in four sets on the field of Gioiella Prisma Taranto – 1-3 (22:25, 22:25, 28:26, 16:25).
The hosts trying, but it wasn’t enough despite the good performances of Jendryk, top scorer with 16 punti, Sala and Lanza con 14 e 13 respectively.
On the winning side it was a great start for Amin, top scorer with 22 points to his name and named MVP of the clash. Double digit also for Mozic, with 16, and Dzavoronok (10) but, eventually, it was a good game for Verona in attack with 59% of team performance, also seasoned with 9 winning blocks.

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🇮🇹| 2023/24 Superlega CredemBanca | 1ª Giornata Andata – Round 1 of First Leg

👉🏼Sunday October 22, 2023

• 15.45 (Local Time) | Valsa Group Modena – Allianz Milano 3-2 (25:19, 12:25, 21:25, 26:24, 15:12)
| PHOTOGALLERY OF THE MATCH
Valsa Group Modena: Mossa De Rezende 0, Juantorena 14, Stankovic 7, Sapozhkov 21, Rinaldi 11, Sanguinetti 8, Boninfante 0, Gollini (L), Davyskiba 1, Federici (L). N.E. Pinali G., Pinali R., Sighinolfi. Coach. Petrella.
Allianz Milano: Zonta 2, Ishikawa 19, Loser 9, Dirlic 6, Kaziyski 12, Piano 15, Colombo (L), Mergarejo Hernandez 3, Catania (L), Vitelli 0, Reggers 3. N.E. Innocenzi. Coach. Piazza.

• 16.00 (Local Time) | Gioiella Prisma Taranto – Rana Verona 1-3 (22:25, 22:25, 28:26, 16:25)
Gioiella Prisma Taranto: Trinidad De Haro 2, Lanza 13, Alletti 2, Sala 14, Gutierrez 9, Jendryk 16, Luzzi (L), Gargiulo 5, Rizzo (L), Russell 4, Bonacchi 0, Raffaelli 2. N.E. Ekstrand, Paglialunga. Coach. Mastrangelo.
Rana Verona: Spirito 2, Truhtchev 6, Grozdanov 6, Esmaeilnezhad 22, Mozic 16, Mosca 7, Cortesia 4, Dzavoronok 10, D’Amico (L), Bonisoli (L). N.E. Jovovic, Zanotti. Coach. Stoytchev.

• 18.00 (Local Time) | Cisterna Volley – Itas Trentino 2-3 (18:25, 25:15, 28:26, 17:25, 8:15)
Cisterna Volley: Saitta 0, Ramon 21, Mazzone 6, Faure 22, Peric 19, Nedeljkovic 5, De Santis (L), Piccinelli (L), Czerwinski 0, Bayram 0. N.E. Finauri, Rossi. Coach. Falasca.
Itas Trentino: Sbertoli 2, Lavia 18, Kozamernik 9, Rychlicki 16, Michieletto 21, Podrascanin 4, Nelli 6, D’Heer 0, Pace (L), Magalini 1, Laurenzano (L), Acquarone 0. N.E. Cavuto, Berger. Coach. Soli.

• 18.00 (Local Time) | Cucine Lube Civitanova – Vero Volley Monza 0-3 (23:25, 21:25, 22:25)
Cucine Lube Civitanova: De Cecco 1, Zaytsev 6, Chinenyeze 7, Lagumdzija 6, Nikolov 13, Diamantini 6, Bisotto (L), Thelle 1, Motzo 2, Balaso (L), Bottolo 1, Larizza 0, Yant Herrera 2. N.E. Anzani. Coach. Blengini.
Mint Vero Volley Monza: Takahashi 15, Di Martino 3, Szwarc 17, Maar 15, Galassi 8, Kreling 1, Morazzini (L), Visic 0, Loeppky 0, Beretta 0, Gaggini (L). N.E. Comparoni, Lawani. Coach. Eccheli.

• 18.00 (Local Time) | Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza – Pallavolo Padova 3-0 (25:21, 25:19, 25:16)
Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza: Brizard 3, Santos De Souza 9, Ricci 6, Romanò 12, Recine 8, Simon 10, Hoffer (L), Scanferla (L), Andringa 0. N.E. Gironi, Alonso, Leal, Caneschi, Dias. Coach. Anastasi.
Pallavolo Padova: Falaschi 0, Gardini 13, Plak 5, Garcia Fernandez 11, Cardenas Morales 9, Truocchio 2, Taniguchi (L), Zoppellari 0, Guzzo 0, Zenger (L), Desmet 1, Porro 0, Crosato 1. N.E. Fusaro. Coach. Cuttini.

• 20.00 (Local Time) | Sir Susa Vim Perugia – Farmitalia Catania 3-0 (25:15, 25:18, 25:22)
Sir Susa Vim Perugia: Giannelli 5, Semeniuk 8, Resende Gualberto 10, Herrera Jaime 11, Leon Venero 4, Solé 10, Toscani (L), Held 3, Ben Tara 0, Colaci (L), Plotnytskyi 3. N.E. Candellaro, Russo, Ropret. Coach. Lorenzetti.
Farmitalia Catania: Orduna 0, Manavinezhad 1, Tondo 2, Buchegger 9, Randazzo 12, Masulovic 5, Pierri (L), Basic 3, Cavaccini (L), Bossi 0. N.E. Frumuselu, Baldi, Santambrogio. Coach. Douglas.

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🏐| STANDINGS (updated on this day)
1.Sir Susa Vim Perugia 3
2.Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza 3
3.Mint Vero Volley Monza 3
4.Rana Verona 3
5.Itas Trentino 2
6.Valsa Group Modena 2
7.Allianz Milano 1
8.Cisterna Volley 1
9.Gioiella Prisma Taranto 0
10.Cucine Lube Civitanova 0
11.Pallavolo Padova 0
12.Farmitalia Catania 0.

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🇮🇹| NEXT GAMES| 2ª Giornata Andata – Round 2 of First Leg

Saturday October 28, 2023
• 18.00 (Local Time) | Rana Verona – Valsa Group Modena
• 20.30 (Local Time) | Itas Trentino – Gioiella Prisma Taranto

Sunday October 29, 2023
• 15.00 (Local Time) | Pallavolo Padova – Cucine Lube
Civitanova
• 16.30 (Local Time) | Allianz Milano – Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza
• 19.30 (Local Time) | Vero Volley Monza – Sir Susa Vim Perugia
• 21.00 (Local Time) | Farmitalia Catania – Cisterna Volley

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Cover photo: Stefania Marone / Volleytimes.com official photographer