A fifth match on Thursday will resolve the Italian men’s SuperLega Credem Banca semifinal playoff between Cucine Lube Civitanova and Sir Susa Vim Perugia, which is now tied at two wins each. On Sunday afternoon, Lube cruised to a straight-set home win over the mighty opponent and leveled the series, in which they were two wins behind just a few days ago.

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Lube’s outside hitter Aleksandar Nikolov was in charge on the court as he spearheaded his team to an emphatic 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-21) shutout of the defending champions from Perugia. The Bulgarian star spiked at an impressive 78% success rate and fired one ace to tally a match-high 15 points. His cross-court teammate Mattia Bottolo added 14 points, including two kill blocks and an ace. The Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the match award went to Lube’s 22-year-old libero Francesco Bisotto, who had a brilliant performance in defense. Polish outside Kamil Semeniuk and Tunisian opposite Wassim Ben Tara were Sir’s leading scorers with 11 points each. Semeniuk’s tally featured two aces and two blocks.

“The crowd gave us a huge help, and with their encouragement we were able to put a lot of pressure on the opponent right from the first actions of the match, bringing the game immediately on our track,” Bottolo said. “We knew it would be a battle and it was, so it was essential to approach the game in the right way and we succeeded. We were good. We will return to Perugia with the goal of repeating what we already did in game three.”

The deciding fifth game, which will determine who will take on Itas Trentino Trento in the championship series for the title, will be played in Perugia on Thursday, April 24, at 20:30 local time (18:30 UTC).

SuperLega Credem Banca 2024-2025 semifinal playoffs, 5th leg:
Apr 24, 20:30 local (18:30 UTC): Sir Susa Vim Perugia v Cucine Lube Civitanova

SuperLega Credem Banca 2024-2025 fifth place playoffs, 4th leg:
Apr 23, 20:00 local (18:00 UTC): Rana Verona v Valsa Group Modena
Apr 23, 20:30 local (18:30 UTC): Cisterna Volley v Sonepar Padova Padua
Apr 23, 20:30 local (18:30 UTC): Yuasa Battery Grottazzolina v Allianz Milan

SuperLega Credem Banca 2024-2025 schedule and results

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