Last season’s silver medallists Mint Vero Volley Monza’s venture above the relegation zone in the Italian SuperLega Credem Banca lasted only a week. Their main rival in the race for survival Gioiella Prisma Taranto earned a point in their 19th-leg game and overtook them into the much wanted 11th place in the current standings. In other 19th-leg matches, reigning European champions Itas Trentino Trento mounted a huge comeback from two sets down to defeat Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza, while Valsa Group Modena stunned Cucine Lube Civitanova to put an end to their impressive winning streak.
Superlega 2024/25
Prisma surpass Vero Volley in scuffle for survival again
Recap of Italian SuperLega 19th-leg matches
Published 08:00, 10 Feb 2025
Prisma’s Belgian middle blocker Wout D'Heer in attack against Cisterna
- Watch the SuperLega on VBTV.
There has been another switch in the 12th place in the SuperLega table, which dooms to relegation at the end of the regular season. Last year’s runners-up fell back into it after leaving it for a week only. After a five-set battle, Gioiella Prisma Taranto earned a point from their home game against Cisterna Volley and managed to climb back up above the relegation spot, 11th place on 14 points and a 4-15 win-loss record. Cisterna celebrated a 3-2 (23-25, 25-23, 25-23, 22-25, 15-11) victory, but the point lost cost them one position in the table. They are still in the playoff zone though, in eighth place on 21 and 8-10. Cisterna’s French opposite Theo Faure led the way with 24 points, including two aces and three kill blocks, and earned the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. His Prisma counterpart Fabrizio Gironi was his team’s most prolific scorer with 19 points.
“We wanted to win this match, but in the end we took home a point,” commented Prisma’s outside hitter Tim Held, who scored 18 points, including three aces. “We are a bit sad, and that's normal, because losing such an important match generates anger and frustration. However, we'll start again from the good things shown to face the next three matches with more aggression and greater awareness.”
Mint Vero Volley Monza failed to surprise their hosts Rana Verona, who beat them in straight sets, 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-21), to push them back down to the bottom of the table on 13 and 5-14. Verona stayed in fifth place, now on 33 and 11-8. Slovenian outside Rok Mozic led the winners with 13 points, while his Finnish counterpart Luka Marttila scored a match-high 14 for Vero Volley.
Sonepar Padova Padua are another team under an imminent threat of relegation. Losing at Allianz Milan in four sets, they failed to improve their standing in 10th place on 15 and 4-14, just two points above the red zone. Allianz celebrated a 3-1 (27-25, 22-25, 25-22, 27-25) home win to stay in sixth place on 33 and 11-8, separated from Verona on set ratio. Their Belgian opposite Ferre Reggers contributed a match-high 23 points to the victory.
Ninth-placed Yuasa Battery Grottazzolina also failed to narrow the distance to the playoff spots or break further away from the relegation zone after losing at home to defending champions Sir Susa Vim Perugia. Sir claimed a 3-1 (25-17, 23-25, 25-16, 25-23) victory to improve to 48 and 17-2 on top of the table. The SuperLega rookies stand on 17 and 5-14 in ninth place, four points away from both cut-offs, for the playoffs and for survival. Tunisian opposite Wassim Ben Tara led Sir with 21 points, including five blocks, while Grottazzolina’s Serbian opposite Dusan Petkovic topped the match charts with 26 points.
Valsa Group Modena managed to surpass Cisterna into seventh place on 22 and 7-12 after achieving a big upset, 3-1 (25-20, 25-21, 22-25, 25-19) at home against Cucine Lube Civitanova, thus interrupting Lube’s nine-match winning streak across all competitions. The squad from Civitanova is still in third place, on 39 and 12-6. Modena’s Belarusian outside Uladzislau Davyskiba was the best scorer of the match with 16 points.
The weekend’s only match played on Saturday offered a five-set drama, in which hosts Itas Trentino Trento mounted a furious comeback from two sets down to snatch a 3-2 (19-25, 25-27, 25-17, 25-20, 15-9) victory over Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza. Trentino’s outside Daniele Lavia and Luxembourgish opposite Kamil Rychlicki shared the top scorer honours of the match with 22 points each. The European champions are second in the standings on 45 and 16-2. The point they lost on Saturday, however, meant that even though they have a game in hand, now finishing the regular season on top of the standings is out of their hands and they have to rely on Sir losing points or at least two sets in the upcoming three legs to have a shot at surpassing them. Gas Sales remained in fourth place, now on 36 and 12-7.
The 20th leg will be played next weekend with two matches on Saturday, February 15, and another four on Sunday, February 16.
SuperLega Credem Banca 2024-2025 19th leg:
Feb 08, 20:30 local (19:30 UTC): Itas Trentino Trento v Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza
Feb 09, 16:00 local (15:00 UTC): Yuasa Battery Grottazzolina v Sir Susa Vim Perugia
Feb 09, 16:00 local (15:00 UTC): Rana Verona v Mint Vero Volley Monza
Feb 09, 18:00 local (17:00 UTC): Gioiella Prisma Taranto v Cisterna Volley
Feb 09, 18:00 local (17:00 UTC): Valsa Group Modena v Cucine Lube Civitanova
Feb 09, 19:00 local (18:00 UTC): Allianz Milan v Sonepar Padova Padua
