ROVIGO – The Solmec Rhodigium Basketball is preparing to face the 26th and final day of the LBF Serie A2 championship before the upcoming playouts, which will begin in a week. The match against will start on Saturday at 8.30pm at Palamazzali Alperia Basket Club Bolzano: a match that has very little to say for the purposes of the ranking.
Bolzano, like Rovigo, is already sure of its position in the rankings. With the 24 points gained, the eighth position in Group B is now assured, given that Umbertide (with 22 points and sure of 9th place) has the head-to-head matches against them. There will be playoffs for the team coached by Roberto Sacchi, who will face the big favorite in Group A Derthona Basket. The period of form, however, is not the best: the South Tyrolean team have come from four consecutive defeats. This is given by the recent return of Lucia Missanelli in the rotations of the thirty-year-olds after the injury that kept her away from the field for six games. The guard is the brightest offensive talent on the roster, as demonstrated by his average of 15.2 points per game. The return after a long stop has upset the hierarchies of coach Sacchi, who is taking advantage of the last meetings to resume the automatisms. Special attention should also be given to the play-pivot couple formed by Licia Schwienbacher (12.5 points average) e Helena Kotnis (14.2 points average).
Compared to the fabulous upset of the first leg, in the match which ended 61-57 in favor of Rhodigium, many things have changed. The girls coached by Giulia Pegoraro are now confident of 11th place in the rankings and are waiting for their opponent for the playouts, which will be Carugate with a good probability (alternatively, there is the challenge against Moncalieri). Despite significantly better performances compared to the first round, Rovigo comes from five consecutive KOs, albeit against teams with very different ranking ambitions. Compared to the challenge with Alpo, Rovigo has fully recovered Silvia Viviani, recovering from an ankle problem over the past week. As already widely anticipated, a victory would not change anything in the standings, but it would boost morale before the most important matches of the season.
In recent days the Women’s Legabasket has announced the playout dates. Game 1 will be at the Palazzetto dello Sport in Rovigo on Saturday 27 April, while the second act of the series will be played away on Wednesday 1 May. The eventual and decisive Race 3 will always be in Polesine on Sunday 5 May.
The referees designated for the match are Davide Mariotti from Cascina (PI) and Simone Guerrera from Vigevano (PV).
Massimo Borghi, assistant coach Solmec Rhodigium Basket: “We are satisfied with the first half played with Alpo: when they raised the intensity in the second half we struggled more. It was a good training session, as it will be against Bolzano. A match that has nothing to say from a ranking point of view: I believe that we will both try new solutions in view of the decisive phase of the season. They have great offensive talent, even if they come from a difficult period: Lucia Missanelli missed several matches and now they have to get back into rhythm with an important player. We have fully recovered Silvia Viviani after last day’s absence, trying to manage those injured players.”
