Superlega playoffs, Milan wins in Civitanova. Piacenza remains in the running

Skip the field factor in the championship semi-final series: Milan plays an orderly and aggressive match, conquers Civitanova and gives itself the first home match ball to reach the final. Lube now backed to the wall, will be forced to win in Lombardy to bring Allianz back to the Marche on April 25th. In the other evening challenge, Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza wins race-3 in Trento and reopens the semi-final series.

Trento – Piacenza 0-3 (23-25, 22-25, 20-25)

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No coat in three races and all the contention that passes in race-4, in Emilia, after the 3-0 with which Brizard and company overwhelmingly took away the final success at the foot of the Dolomites. Above all, an excellent Piacenza raises its block: 20 direct blocks and an infinite number of balls touched that put a muzzle on the Trentino attack. In an almost sold out Blm Group Arena, Trento is bitter about a poor performance in several fundamentals, against a Piacenza team that has found in Lucarelli the absolute driver of this third semifinal match. The start of the Dolomites is lightning-fast: 5-3 with a good serving turn by Sbertoli, in a game-4 that repeats the same sextets seen at work in the previous two matches of this series. A break ahead (10-7) that the hosts defended with nails, despite Gas Sales immediately finding a good rhythm in attack in the center with Caneschi and Simon (12-10). To restore parity are two blazes by Lucarelli, who first attacks on the baseline and then blocks Lavia for 12-12. Before the former fourth place of Modena and Ravenna fails to find the ace at 14-12, the gap increasing to 17-14 with Kazisyski’s ace which pushes Botti to call a discretionary time-out. Sbertoli has so far bet a lot on the high ball, the first point in his center comes on 19-17 with the first half from Podrascanin. Erroraccio in Piacenza’s second line, with Lucarelli and Scanferla looking at each other and a reception in the middle of the field from Recine falls to the ground giving the 21-18 to Itas, with Botti immediately playing the second discretionary time-out. The move works because Lorenzetti has to call his first time-out at 22-21 when Lucarelli, the best of him by gap in this first set, doesn’t find the consecutive points that are worth almost parity. Which becomes such with the disputed ball won by Simon (22-22), Lucarelli however attacks out immediately making up for it by blocking Kaziyski for 23 all. In the final, the definitive overtaking operation by Gas Sales succeeds again thanks to its Brazilian spiker: two aces in a row and it’s final 23-25. The second partial opens in the sign of balance: 8-8. The block is the fundamental one that most clearly in the first set, 6 to 1 the direct confrontation in this fundamental one, was in favor of Piacenza. So it is also in the second set (10-10), with Lorenzetti who stops everything as soon as Lucarelli puts the ball on the ground even in the pipe (10-12). Trento struggles to be fluid as at the start of the match, Piacenza wins a couple of dirty balls (12-15) and manages to keep its nose ahead. A thousandth point for Podrascanin thanks to the block on Romanò which brings the Trentino team closer together, who grab the tie on 15-15 thanks to Leal’s out attack. The fuse of a hard-fought final part of the second set lights up, in which Sbertoli finds the ace of 19-17 in favor of Itas before Romanò brings his team back together (21-20) forcing the Dolomite bench to spend the last time-out available. The tie returns one point later, with Leal’s block on Kaziyski, before a touch of second by Brizard does not send the Emilians ahead again (21-22). Inside for Dzavornok’s service that makes a mistake and it’s 22-24 for Piacenza, which then also seals the second set thanks to Podrascanin’s out attack. At the start of the third set, Leal and Romanò immediately take over the reins of hostilities, 4-7 and Lorenzetti forced by some mistakes from Trentino to stop the game. The Trentino ball exchange struggles a lot (6-12) and crashes against the excellent Piacenza block, inside Dzavoronok for Lavia but Piacenza holds the helm of hostilities: 10-17 and new Lorenzetti time-out. But the set is now a monochromatic red and white: Romanò’s hands out 13-20 and, in the final, by now the gap (15-23 aces from Brizard) was too big to reopen the games despite the good serving turn of the new Oreste Cavuto (as opposed to Kaziyski) tried to revive Trento. We then return to Emilia for race-4. (Nicholas Baldo)

Allianz dragged by Loser (mvp and absolute protagonist with 83% in attack) together with Patry and Ishikawa infallible snipers from nine meters. Own service and attack were the strengths of the Lombards. Civitanova after a good start suffered the return of Milan and in the final the entry of Garcia had fueled the hopes of extending the challenge, extinguished by Ishikawa. Teams in the field in the best sextets and aggressive start by Lube who with Yant’s serve, De Cecco and Zaytsev’s plays quickly flies to 7-3. Elastic race, with Lube ‘hare’ and Allianz chasing relying above all on an inspired Ishikawa (20-19). Final with many errors in service on both fronts: Mergarejo signs the Lombard hook, it is a battle for the last decisive points where Patry takes the chair in service and the Cuban spiker who gives the set ball to his team, before the ace of French opposite ends the games. Milan flies on the enthusiasm of the success in the previous partial and Civitanova which instead is in confusion (2-6). The Allianz serve hurts Lube very badly as she sinks below 5-11, with Patry putting ace in series. Zaytsev tries to revive a Civitanova in clear difficulty, but it is a flash because the Lombards return to hammering on service (5 aces) and in the attacking game by extending again, curbing the residual chances of Blengini’s team to get back into the game in great difficulty in all fundamentals. In the third, Garcia’s entry for Zaytsev revives the tricolors who play it point by point and in the final Allianz makes the difference again in service with Ishikawa and then with Margarejo who closes the match on the second ball. (Mauro Giustozzi)

Gazzetta dello Sport