Sonepar Padova Padua survived a five-set battle with Cucine Lube Civitanova to celebrate their second consecutive 3-2 victory at home, which pushed them up to within a point from survival in the SuperLega and kept them within reach of the playoff spots. In the other midweek game, postponed from the 12th leg of the Italian men’s SuperLega Credem Banca regular season, Itas Trentino Trento shut out Cisterna Volley.
Superlega 2024/25
Padova upset Lube, stand a point away from salvation
Recap of Italian SuperLega midweek matches
Published 09:59, 21 Feb 2025
Luca Porro overcomes Lube’s three-man block
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On Thursday evening, Sonepar Padova Padua delighted the home crowd at the Kioene Arena with a hard-fought 3-2 (18-25, 25-20, 25-19, 23-25, 15-8) victory over Cucine Lube Civitanova to rise to ninth place in the current standings on 19 points and a 6-14 win-loss record, overtaking rookies Yuasa Battery Grottazzolina by a point. With two legs to go to the end of the regular season, Padova still have a distant shot at the playoff spots located four points above them, and at the same time, they distanced themselves six points away from the relegation zone, which means that earning one point in the remaining two matches would guarantee them salvation. Meanwhile, Lube’s mathematical chances of moving up among the top two in the table are gone completely. They will finish the regular season in third place, where they currently stand on 43 and 13-7, eight points behind second-placed Trentino and seven points above fourth-placed Rana Verona.
Outside hitter Luca Porro contributed a match-high 24 points to Padova’s success, earning a well-deserved Most Valuable Player (MVP) nomination. He aced twice from the serving line and raised two kill blocks, while spiking at a 61% success rate. Serbian opposite Veljko Masulovic delivered another 21 points, including two aces and three blocks. Croatian outside Marco Sedlacek added 12 points, while middle blocker Federico Crosato finished with 10 (two aces, three blocks). Four players reached the double digits on Lube’s side as well: outside hitters Mattia Bottolo with 17 and Bulgarian Aleksandar Nikolov with 13 (three aces), Croatian opposite Petar Dirlic with 12 and French middle Barthelemy Chinenyeze with 10.
“The last two games have been full of emotion. We faced two high-level teams and we showed that we too are an important team,” said Padova’s setter and captain Marco Falaschi. “Our game has always been there and the daily work is finally bearing fruit. These were two battles won in the tie-breaker, the last one against an opponent like Civitanova, who recently won the Italy Cup and are in great shape. I can only congratulate everyone: the team, the staff, the physiotherapists…, really everyone, because what we did in these two matches was exceptional.”
In Wednesday’s match, in front of over three thousand spectators, hosts Itas Trentino Trento allowed no room for surprises at home and swept their encounter with Cisterna Volley. The club world silver medallists and reigning European champions mastered an emphatic 3-0 (25-17, 25-15, 25-19) victory and improved to 51 and 18-2, just a set won behind defending champions and table leaders Sir Susa Vim Perugia. Cisterna remained in seventh place on 23 and 9-11, still without a playoff spot guaranteed.
Outside hitter Alessandro Michieletto put away a match-high 18 points, including four kill blocks and an ace. His cross-court teammate Daniele Lavia added 13 points, including three blocks, while Romanian middle blocker Bela Bartha earned the MVP award by firing three aces, raising three kill blocks and spiking at an 83% success rate to shape up an 11-point tally. Cisterna’s most prolific player, Turkish outside Efe Bayram, scored eight points.
“It was a very effective match in all the fundamentals,” commented Bartha. “We were good at continuing along the same line as against Monza and earning three important points to get closer to the top of the standings. For me it is the second MVP award of my Italian career and I am obviously very happy.”
SuperLega action resumes on Saturday, February 22, with two matches of the 21st leg. The other four will be played on Sunday.
SuperLega Credem Banca 2024-2025 21st leg:
Feb 22, 20:30 local (19:30 UTC): Cisterna Volley v Allianz Milan
Feb 22, 20:30 local (19:30 UTC): Itas Trentino Trento v Cucine Lube Civitanova
Feb 23, 15:30 local (14:30 UTC): Valsa Group Modena v Gioiella Prisma Taranto
Feb 23, 18:00 local (17:00 UTC): Sir Susa Vim Perugia v Mint Vero Volley Monza
Feb 23, 19:30 local (18:30 UTC): Yuasa Battery Grottazzolina v Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza
Feb 23, 20:30 local (19:30 UTC): Rana Verona v Sonepar Padova Padua
