In two of the matches the Italian SuperLega Credem Banca offered on the day after the southern European country celebrates Christmas, teams from the very bottom of the table put up tough fights against top-five opponents, pushed them to five-set battles, and one of them even celebrated victorious. Mint Vero Volley Monza, who dropped to the last place in the current standings after the previous leg, reacted immediately, stunned Cucine Lube Civitanova and climbed back up out of the relegation zone. Despite a valiant effort at Rana Verona, rookies Yuasa Battery Grottazzolina lost the tie-breaker and fell back down to the bottom of the table.
Superlega 2024/25
Vero Volley bounce back, beat Lube in five-setter
Recap of Thursday’s Italian SuperLega matches
Published 06:46, 27 Dec 2024
Vero Volley’s Taylor Averill celebrates
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In a rollercoaster match, last season’s silver medallists Mint Vero Volley Monza snatched a 3-2 (25-13, 22-25, 17-25, 31-29, 15-12) home victory over Cucine Lube Civitanova. As many as five Vero Volley players reached the double digits in scoring. Canadian opposite Arthur Szwarc led the way with 24 points. Outside hitters Erik Rohrs of Germany and Ivan Zaytsev (three aces) added 17 and 14 points, respectively. American middle blocker Taylor Averill earned the Most Valuable Player award after spiking 10 points at an 83% success rate, raising two kill blocks and firing an ace. His cross-court teammate Thomas Beretta impressed with five kill blocks towards an 11-point tally. Bulgarian outside Aleksandar Nikolov led Lube with 19 points, while French middle Barthelemy Chinenyeze, Turkish opposite Adis Lagumdzija and outside hitter Mattia Bottolo finished with 16 point apiece.
“This victory is fundamental for the standings, but above all for the group,” said Thomas Beretta. “We managed to fight until the end against a team that is having a great season. I hope that this match will serve as a lesson to show us that we have the strength to get back up and react in difficult matches. I am proud of all the guys.”
In another five-setter on Thursday, Rana Verona squeezed out a tough 3-2 (25-17, 25-16, 23-25, 17-25, 15-13) home win over Yuasa Battery Grottazzolina. Malian opposite Noumory Keita was the best scorer of the match with 20 points, including three aces and two blocks, towards the victory. The MVP award went to Slovenian outside Rok Mozic, who added 18 points. Verona’s middles Aidan Zingel and Lorenzo Cortesia scored 10 points each. Bulgarian outside Georgi Tatarov led Grottazzolina’s valiant effort with 19 points. His cross-court teammate Michele Fedrizzi delivered 17, Canadian middle Danny Demyanenko put away 13, while Croatian opposite Gabrijel Cvanciger finished with 10 points.
Following these results, Vero Volley and Grottazzolina changed back their places at the bottom of the table. The team from Monza climbed back up to 11th on 9 points and a 4-10 win-loss record, while Yuasa Battery dropped back to 12th on 9 and 2-12. Rana and Lube also swapped their positions. The squad from Verona is now in fourth place on 27 and 9-5, while the team from Civitanova is fifth on 27 and 8-5, with a game in hand.
The 14th leg did not produce any other unexpected results or movements in the standings.
Table leaders Sir Susa Vim Perugia coped with their visitors Valsa Group Modena in straight sets, 3-0 (25-22, 27-25, 25-21), with Ukrainian outside Oleh Plotnytskyi leading the team with 14 points. Modena’s Austrian opposite Paul Buchegger topped the charts with 17 points. Sir improved to 38 and 14-0, while Modena stayed in eighth place on 15 and 5-9.
Itas Trentino Trento hammered out a 3-0 (25-18, 25-23, 25-19) home win over Allianz Milan and stand on 33 and 11-2 in second place, leaving Allianz in sixth on 21 and 7-7. Trentino’s outside Alessandro Michieletto fired five aces towards a match-high 17 points.
Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza consolidated their third place on 29 and 10-4, after a 3-1 (25-21, 22-25, 25-23, 27-25) home win over Cisterna Volley, who stayed in seventh place on 15 and 5-8. Cisterna’s French opposite Theo Faure produced 20 points and won the scoring battle with Gas Sales counterpart Alessandro Bovolenta, who finished with 19.
In a duel between close neighbours in the table, Sonepar Padova Padua beat their visitors Gioiella Prisma Taranto by 3-1 (25-20, 25-21, 24-26, 25-19) and opened a three-point gap between them in the standings. Padova are ninth on 13 and 4-9, while Prisma are 10th on 10 and 3-11. Serbian opposite Veljko Masulovic contributed a match-high 20 points towards the victory.
Next on some of the teams’ agenda are the Del Monte Coppa Italia quarterfinals to be played on Sunday and Monday. The 15th-leg SuperLega games will be played on January 5 and 6.
Del Monte Coppa Italia 2024-2025 quarterfinals:
Dec 29, 16:00 local (15:00 UTC): Itas Trentino Trento v Cisterna Volley
Dec 29, 18:00 local (17:00 UTC): Cucine Lube Civitanova v Allianz Milan
Dec 29, 18:30 local (17:30 UTC): Rana Verona v Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza
Dec 30, 20:30 local (19:30 UTC): Sir Susa Vim Perugia v Valsa Group Modena
SuperLega Credem Banca 2024-2025 15th leg:
Jan 05, 15:20 local (14:20 UTC): Cucine Lube Civitanova v Rana Verona
Jan 05, 15:30 local (14:30 UTC): Gioiella Prisma Taranto v Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza
Jan 05, 17:00 local (16:00 UTC): Sonepar Padova Padua v Yuasa Battery Grottazzolina
Jan 05, 18:30 local (17:30 UTC): Cisterna Volley v Sir Susa Vim Perugia
Jan 06, 17:00 local (16:00 UTC): Allianz Milan v Mint Vero Volley Monza
Jan 06, 18:30 local (17:30 UTC): Valsa Group Modena v Itas Trentino Trento
