The first semifinal matches in Serie A1 behind us, the decisive ones still ahead. Cuneo had its chances, but it is Trento which will fight for the promotion on Sunday.
Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo – Itas Diatec Trentino 2-3 (19-25, 29-27, 25-13, 20-25, 16-18)
General score: 0-2
Osmany Juantorena said: “The result matters more than any other aspect and it is like this because it is the play-off phase. Our game was negative in many elements, however, we were able to work it out and, in my opinion, it was an important demonstration of strength. Sunday’s match in PalaTrento will be more difficult, but, obviously, it is better to be 2-0 ahead”.
The key to the win was the team spirit and team game. Trento’s attack was divided into five players: Jan Stokr (16 points in attack, 18 in general), Osmany Juantorena (12 in attack, 14 in general), Mitar Djuric (9 in attack, 11 in general), Matey Kaziyski (8 in attack, 11 in general) and Emanuele Birarelli (4 in attack and 11 in general). Good form of the players allowed Raphael to choose the best option. On the other side of the net the best scorer was of course Tsvetan Sokolov, who got 26 points, including 22 from attack. Good game also for Earvin Ngapeth (17). The game was very tied, but in several moments not so beautiful. According to statistics it is Cuneo that should have won. They dominated in block (13 – 11), attack (51% – 49%), reception (57% – 51%) and in serve (11 – 6), but we all know that general statistics don’t count, but results in sets.
Copra Elior Piacenza – Cucine Lube Banca Marche Macerata 3-1 (17-25, 25-20, 25-27, 29-27)
General score: 1-1
After a bad first set, Piacenza was able to raise up and fight out the battle. Great cooperation between the setters and the spikers, a perfect number of 13 scored points for: Hristo Zlatanov, Alessandro Fei and two middle-blockers, Simon and Philip Maxwell Holt. Good grade also for Samuele Papi, who scored 11 points and had 71% in reception. On the other side of the net, Dragan Travica focused on Ivan Zaytsev and set too many ball to him (19 points from attack, 21 in general). The best from the middle-blokers, Marko Podrascanin, made 9 points (6 from attack). The key to the victory was an equal division of the balls between all the players on court and better reception than the opponents – 56%(35%) to 48%(21%) of Macerata.
During all the semifinal and final matches will be used the Video Check system in order to help the referees make a decision in ambiguous situations. A similar system, however more developed, effectively works in Polish PlusLiga. In Italy the debut of Video Check was during the Italian Cup. The players can call a Video Check twice in one set in two cases: to verify if the ball was “in” or “out” and if some player made a mistake of crossing the line of 3rd or 9th meter.
The next matches
13 April 2013 h. 17.30 Cucine Lube Banca Macerata – Copra Elior Piacenza (3rd match)
14 April 2013 h. 17.30 Itas Diatec Trentino – Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo (3rd match)
(photo: trentinovolley.it)
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