Mattia Bottolo, MVP and top scorer from the Play Off Semifinal 5th Placecomments on the victory achieved in the tie break on the PalaBanca Sport pitch from his side Lube kitchens Civitanova against a fierce rival like the Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza. A success therefore arrived in an away match without the injured player Alex Nikolov and with only two central defenders available, given the absence of Enrico Diamantini (recurrence of a previous annoyance) and the convalescence of Jacopo Larizza, in the group but not yet at the best. On an evening in which all the red and whites who took to the pitch laid significant bricks to cement the feat, it was spiker Mattia Bottolo who carried the team on his shoulders in the key moments, scoring 25 personal points with 56% positivity, 3 consecutive aces and 4 winning blocks. In the Final of Saturday 27 April (6pm), al Shovel AIM Agsm against Verona, another test of character will be needed.
Mattia Bottolo: “We won a complex match by reaching the fifth set and this means we played a real marathon. Among the various key moments of the match I would like to underline the second set, we were good at recovering that partial because the possibility of taking us to 2-0 then allowed us to manage our energy against a team that was growing and this proved to be decisive given how it ended. Analyzing the match I must say that we were very skilled in recovering the 7 point deficit in the fourth act, even if we did not capitalize on the balls to end the match 3-1. In the final part I felt energetic and it went well. It’s a shame not to have closed the matter in four sets, but we won a beautiful and exciting tie break. Now down with the Final in Verona, another sporting battle awaits us away from friendly walls, so we have to recover our energy after a Semi-final with only 12 of us available. It will be important to maintain this mentality, which also allows us to recover from disadvantages, and we must continue to defend as many balls as possible. The call up to the national team? I hope so, but I’m focused on Lube and I want to give everything in the last match because a place in Europe is important for us and for the Club.”
