Cucine Lube Civitanova completed a sensational comeback from two wins behind in the best-of-five semifinal playoff against defending champions Sir Susa Vim Perugia and advanced to the Italian men’s SuperLega Credem Banca final against regular season winners and reigning European champions Itas Trentino Trento, set to get underway this Sunday. In Thursday’s decider, Lube disappointed the majority of the five thousand fans on the stands at the Barton Energy hall in Perugia with a four-set victory to close the series at 3-2 in wins. Meanwhile on Wednesday, Rana Verona became the second team to secure advancement to the fifth-place playoff semifinals, with two more spots up for grabs during the last leg of the round-robin phase.
Superlega 2024/25
Lube aces into SuperLega final!
Recap of Italian SuperLega playoff matches on Thursday and Wednesday
Published 05:29, 25 Apr 2025
Lube celebrate advancement to the SuperLega final
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Cucine Lube Civitanova fired as many as 17 aces towards a 3-1 (27-29, 25-19, 25-17, 25-22) victory, which put an end to mighty Sir Susa Vim Perugia’s quest to defend the national title they claimed last year. Outside hitter Mattia Bottolo authored as many as seven of these aces. He also put away a kill block and eight successful swings towards a 16-point tally, earning the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. His Bulgarian cross-court teammate Aleksandar Nikolov also finished with 16 points, including three aces and a block, while Turkish opposite Adis Lagumdzija topped the charts with 18 points, including four blocks. Lube’s middle blocker Giovannimaria Gargiulo also reached the double digits with 11 points. With four aces and two kill blocks towards a 15-point total, Tunisian opposite Wassim Ben Tara led Sir’s scorers, followed by Japanese outside Yuki Ishikawa with 13 points and Argentinean middle Sebastian Sole with 10.
“We knew it would be a very difficult match and it was,” Gargiulo said. “Neither team gave up until the last ball. We always believed in it. The awareness of our means was and will continue to be our strength. Showing so much heart on the court, we deservedly achieved the victory.”
On Wednesday, Rana Verona achieved a 3-1 (25-23, 25-20, 16-25, 25-22) home victory over Valsa Group Modena and secured a spot in the fifth-place playoff semifinals with one leg to go in the round-robin phase of the race towards a spot in Europe’s CEV Challenge Cup tournament next season. Malian opposite Noumory Keita led the winners with 17 points, including three aces. Also with three aces (and three kill blocks) to his name, Modena’s Belarusian outside Uladzislau Davyskiba topped the charts with 22 points. Verona improved to 9 points and a 3-1 win-loss record in second place of the current standings. Also on 9 and 3-1, Modena, who had already reserved their ticket to the semis after the previous leg, still stand on top in first place.
Allianz Milan consolidated in third place on 6 and 2-2 with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-23) sweep of their game at Yuasa Battery Grottazzolina, who trail bottom, in sixth place on 3 and 1-3. Allianz’s Belgian opposite Ferre Reggers produced an impressive match high of 23 points.
Cisterna Volley persevered through a hard-fought rollercoaster home match with Sonepar Padova Padua to celebrate a 3-2 (31-29, 22-25, 25-21, 24-26, 15-12) victory and improve to 5 and 2-2 in fourth place, leaving the opponents in fifth, on 4 and 1-3. Cisterna’s French opposite Theo Faure piled up a match-high 32 points, including three aces and two blocks.
The remaining two semifinal vacancies, with four teams still in contention, will be decided at the end of the fifth leg on Sunday. On Tuesday, the best-of-three third-place playoff between Sir Susa Vim Perugia and Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza will get underway.
SuperLega Credem Banca 2024-2025 final playoff, 1st leg:
Apr 27, 18:30 local (16:30 UTC): Itas Trentino Trento v Cucine Lube Civitanova
SuperLega Credem Banca 2024-2025 third-place playoff, 1st leg:
Apr 29, 20:30 local (18:30 UTC): Sir Susa Vim Perugia v Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza
SuperLega Credem Banca 2024-2025 fifth-place playoffs, 5th leg:
Apr 27, 17:30 local (15:30 UTC): Sonepar Padova Padua v Rana Verona
Apr 27, 17:30 local (15:30 UTC): Valsa Group Modena v Yuasa Battery Grottazzolina
Apr 27, 19:30 local (17:30 UTC): Allianz Milan v Cisterna Volley
