Italy: Straight sets win for Piacenza and Verona in advances of Round 13

Round 17 of 2024/25 Superlega CredemBanca started today with first two games, in which Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza and Rana Verona celebrated straight sets wins.
Piacenza needed just over an hour to trample over Mint Vero Volley Monza by 3-0 (25:21; 25:17; 25:19) without leaving any sets to their opponents and scoring their second consecutive victory.
A match that was never in doubt, with the hosts always good to keep control of the whole game. Great performance by Stephen Maar, top scorer of the match with 15 points to his name followed by Uros Kovacevic who, after a first set of study, grew visibly, contributeing with 13 points followed by Yuri Romanò who added 12.
For Monza, the good performances by Arthur Szwarc and Erik Röhrs were not enough to make Piacenza’s path more difficult, as they closed with 55% in attack and nine blocks against the four of the rivals, as well as four aces from Maar, including the one that closed first set, and three from Simon.
Moreover, a long round of applause to commemorate the historic supporter Manuela Mezzadri who passed away a few hours earlier, with the laying of a bouquet of flowers by President Elisabetta Curti, General Manager Hristo Zlatanov and Simon in the place usually occupied by Manuela among the Lupi Biancorossi, a tribute to the new doctor Gianluca Galassi delivered by Vice President Giuseppe Bongiorni and then the game began.

Reflecting on the victory, Stephen Maar said: “It was a great match for us. We approached it the right way, worked hard in training, and the results showed. We just need to keep building on this momentum.”

In another impressive display, Rana Verona overcame Cisterna Volley in a straight-set away win (25:23, 25:18, 25:23).
Cisterna showed a good volleyball, particularly from Jordi Ramon, top scorer of his team with 13 points to his name and Theo Faure, who added 10, but costly errors and inconsistency left them unable to capitalize on important moments.
Captain Rok Mozic led the winners with 14 points as well as MVP title, and praised his team’s composure in tough situations.
“It was a tight match, but we stayed focused and executed when it mattered most,” he said.

For Cisterna, the loss is a wake-up call. “We need to work on the little details,” stated outside hitter Jordi Ramon. “Against top teams, you can’t afford mistakes like the ones we made today.”

Round 17 or, if you prefer, Round 2 of second leg, will close tomorrow with other four games: Gioiella Prisma Taranto will welcome Itas Trentino, Cucine Lube Civitanova will face Allianz Milano, Susa Vim Perugia will welcome Sonepar Padova, while Yuasa Battery Grottazzolina will have a very important home game (and a chance to surpass Monza in the standings to stay in Superlega) against Valsa Group Modena.

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🏐| Superlega CredemBanca 2024/25 | 2ª Giornata Ritorno – Round 2 of Second Leg

👉🏼Saturday December 21, 2024

• 18.00 (Local Time) | Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza – Vero Volley Monza 3-0 (25:21, 25:17, 25:19)
Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza: Brizard 1, Kovacevic 13, Simon 9, Romanò 12, Maar 15, Galassi 8, Loreti (L), Mandiraci 0, Scanferla (L), Bovolenta 0. N.E. Salsi, Ricci, Andringa, Gueye. Coach. Anastasi.
Mint Vero Volley Monza: Kreling 0, Zaytsev 0, Averill 2, Szwarc 14, Rohrs 12, Beretta 5, Marttila 1, Mancini 0, Picchio (L), Di Martino 2, Gaggini (L). N.E. Lee, Frascio, Mosca. Coach. Eccheli.

• 20.30 (Local Time) | Cisterna Volley – Rana Verona 0-3 (23:25, 18:25, 23:25)
Cisterna Volley: Baranowicz 0, Bayram 9, Nedeljkovic 7, Faure 10, Ramon 13, Diamantini 1, Finauri (L), Fanizza 0, Pace (L), Czerwinski 1, Mazzone 2, Rivas 2. N.E. Tarumi, Tosti. Coach. Falasca.
Rana Verona: Abaev 2, Sani 7, Vitelli 0, Keita 19, Mozic 14, Zingel 3, Bonisoli (L), Cortesia 5, D’Amico (L), Spirito 0. N.E. Chevalier, Jensen, Zanotti. Coach. Stoytchev.

Sunday December 22, 2024
• 17.00 (Local Time) | Gioiella Prisma Taranto – Itas Trentino 1-3 (30:32, 25:19, 20:25, 15:25)
• 18.00 (Local Time) | Cucine Lube Civitanova – Allianz Milano 3-0 (25:18, 25:20, 25:23)
• 18.00 (Local Time) | Susa Vim Perugia – Sonepar Padova 3-1 (23:25, 25:21, 25:19, 25:21)
• 19.00 (Local Time) | Yuasa Battery Grottazzolina – Valsa Group Modena 3-1 (27:25, 25:23, 23:25, 28:26)

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🏐| STANDINGS (updated on this day)
1. Sir Susa Vim Perugia 32
2. Itas Trentino 27
3. Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza 26
4. Rana Verona 25
5. Cucine Lube Civitanova 23
6. Allianz Milano 21
7. Cisterna Volley 15
8. Valsa Group Modena 15
9. Sonepar Padova 10
10. Gioiella Prisma Taranto 10
11. Vero Volley Monza 7
12. Yuasa Battery Grottazzolina 5

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🏐| NEXT GAMES | 3ª Giornata Ritorno – Round 3 of Second Leg

Thursday December 26, 2024
• 17.00 (Local Time) | Vero Volley Monza – Cucine Lube Civitanova
• 17.00 (Local Time) | Sonepar Padova – Gioiella Prisma Taranto
• 18.00 (Local Time) | Itas Trentino – Allianz Milano
• 18.00 (Local Time) | Sir Susa Vim Perugia – Valsa Group Modena
• 18.00 (Local Time) | Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza – Cisterna Volley
• 18.00 (Local Time) | Rana Verona – Yuasa Battery Grottazzolina

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