5th Place Play Off Group: the verdicts of the last round

Play Off 5th Place Credem Banca
5th day Group: the verdicts of the last round give two semi-finals not to be missed. Verona finishes in the lead and challenges Modena, Piacenza loses the top spot and finds Civitanova again

Results of last day Play Off Group 5th place:
Valsa Group Modena – Volleyball Padova 3-1 (25-18, 25-16, 23-25, 25-17)

Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza – Cucine Lube Civitanova 1-3 (14-25, 22-25, 25-20, 21-25)

Rana Verona – Cisterna Volley 3-0 (25-23, 25-15, 27-25)

Valsa Group Modena – Volleyball Padova 3-1 (25-18, 25-16, 23-25, 25-17) – Valsa Group Modena: Mossa De Rezende 4, Davyskiba 22, Brehme 7, Sapozhkov 13, Rinaldi 19, Sanguinetti 8 , Gollini (L), Boninfante 0, Pinali G. 1, Federici (L), Sighinolfi 0. NE Juantorena, Stankovic, Pinali R.. All. Giuliani. Padua Volleyball: Zoppellari 2, Gardini 11, Plak 4, Guzzo 4, Porro 9, Truocchio 5, Beccaro (L), Stefani 3, Zenger 0, Falaschi 1, Desmet 0, Taniguchi (L), Crosato 3, Fusaro 2. NE All. Cuttini. REFEREES: Brancati, Prati. NOTES – set duration: 29′, 24′, 28′, 27′; total: 108′.

Fourth victory in the group for Rana Verona, who also defeats Cisterna Volley in the last match of this first phase of the 5th Place Play Offs, overtakes Piacenza and finishes in first place. The match proved to be balanced right from the start, with the home team trying to break away with two shots from the returning captain Mozic. The visiting team does not give up, shortens and gets back into the game, but Keita puts an end to the first set and unlocks the match. After a slow start in the second set, Verona found rhythm and brilliance again, with Spirito rewarding the first half of the central defenders. The gap created is too wide for the Lazio team to make up ground and Verona easily leads to 2-0. Verona’s strong start also in the third half, but a good series of serves by Baranowicz puts Falasca’s team back on track. The match becomes close in the subsequent phases and when Verona seems to close it out, the guests rise again and take the lead, before Mozic adds his signature at the end of the match. Amin took the lead with 23 points scored, including 3 from nine meters and the same number from blocks, which were worth the MVP award. On the other side of the net, Faure closes in double figures with 12 seals.

MVP: Amin Esmaeilnezhad (Rana Verona)
SPECTATORS: 1,568

Radostin Stoytchev (coach Rana Verona): “It was a very important match, but also complicated because they had nothing to lose and played relaxed. In the first set we interpreted the match well in attack, the second went smoothly, in the third we started well, then towards the end a bit of nervousness brought them closer, but Amin raised his level and closed the match alone . I’m also happy with the return of Mozic, who hadn’t played for a few games. Now we have to stay calm and work well, because the semi-final is always difficult, even at home.”
Andrea Rossi (Cisterna Volleyball): “Certainly in the third set we managed to express our game better and we fought in a more concrete way than in the first two sets and in the second we came up a bit empty. If we look at this season we can say that we achieved safety very early and we are satisfied for this, while in the second part we could certainly have done better: this final period will help us to try to improve in the future”.

Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza – Cucine Lube Civitanova 1-3 (14-25, 22-25, 25-20, 21-25) – Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza: Brizard 4, Santos De Souza 14, Ricci 9, Romanò 17, Recine 7 , Simon 8, Hoffer (L), Leal 1, Scanferla (L), Andringa 2, Dias 0. NE Gironi, Alonso, Caneschi. All. Anastasi. Cucine Lube Civitanova: De Cecco 4, Yant Herrera 11, Anzani 7, Lagumdzija 23, Nikolov 8, Diamantini 3, Bisotto (L), Chinenyeze 4, Thelle 0, Motzo 0, Balaso (L), Zaytsev 0, Bottolo 9. NE Larizza. All. Giannini. REFEREES: Saltalippi, Salvati. NOTES – set duration: 23′, 30′, 29′, 26′; total: 108′.

Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza loses to Cucine Lube Civitanova for the first time in this round of the 5th Place Play Offs and also leaves the top of the rankings. The Emilian team finishes in second place in the ranking and in the Semifinal on Monday 22 April (8.30 pm) at PalabancaSport they will meet the Cucineri again, capable of consolidating third place. The other Semi-final will be between Verona, first in the standings, and Modena, fourth with a final result. Just over an hour and a half of play was enough for Cucine Lube Civitanova to conquer PalabancaSport and obtain their third victory in this group. A Gas Sales Bluenergy team with too many fouls, not on its best evening, struggled a lot against the Marche team in all fundamentals. Having lost the first set, Piacenza found itself five points ahead in the second set (15-10 and 19-14) before turning off the lights and giving the opponents the green light. The hosts return to the match with a good third set, while the fourth set is dominated by Civitanova. Only towards the end did Piacenza react by canceling three match balls for their opponents, who ended with De Cecco MVP and Lagumdzija top scorer (23 points).

MVP: Luciano De Cecco (Cucine Lube Civitanova)
SPECTATORS: 1,847

Andrea Anastasi (Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza coach): “We played badly, the impact wasn’t the best, but in general I didn’t like our volleyball. Maybe already being sure of playing in the Semi-final has relaxed some people, with Civitanova you can also lose, but not like we did. Now in a few days this challenge will be repeated in the Semifinal. One thing is certain, we have to increase our level of play if we want to get to the bottom of this Play Off.”
Romano Giannini (coach): “We played well, very strong, especially when we had to make up the score like in the second set when we were down by 4 points. The boys, despite knowing that the ranking would take us back to Piacenza, continued to play and this counts a lot for the mentality. I’m happy because a good performance came out. We are looking for consistency and we are managing to honor this 5th Place Play Off.”

Rana Verona – Cisterna Volley 3-0 (25-23, 25-15, 27-25) – Rana Verona: Spirito 2, Mozic 11, Grozdanov 2, Esmaeilnezhad 23, Keita 9, Cortesia 6, Zingel 0, Dzavoronok 0, D ‘Amico (L), Bonisoli (L), Sani 0, Mosca 2. NE Jovovic, Zanotti. All. Stoytchev. Cisterna Volley: Baranowicz 4, Bayram 4, Mazzone 5, Faure 12, Ramon 9, Nedeljkovic 5, Piccinelli (L), Finauri (L), Giani 0, Rossi 3, Czerwinski 1, Peric 4. NE De Santis. All. Falasca. REFEREES: Papadopol, Rossi, Lorenzin. NOTES – set duration: 31′, 26′, 32′; total: 89′.

In front of over 3,000 fans at the PalaPanini, Valsa Group Modena beat Pallavolo Padova 3-1 in the last round of the 5th Place Play Off Group. The Canaries gain the last useful pass for the Semi-final. Modena starts with the sextet composed of Bruno-Sapozhkov in the main diagonal, Davyskiba-Rinaldi on the flank, Sanguinetti-Brehme in the center with Federici libero. The guests respond with Zoppellari-Guzzo, Porro-Gardini hammers, Truocchio-Plak central defenders and Taniguchi libero. Before the match, applause from the Modenese public and a banner with the words “Our captain forever” for Bruno Mossa de Rezende in his last match at the PalaPanini as a yellow-blue player. Balanced start. The visiting team fights (ace by Zoppellari for 13-11). The Canaries react and increase their lead, Rinaldi blocks for 22-16. Sapozhkov’s winning attack seals the first set, 25-18. The yellow-blues also start strong in the second set (18-11). Rinaldi’s ace gives Giuliani’s team the second set (25-16). Padova takes advantage of the gialloblù’s errors in the third and extends 14-17 with Gardini’s attack. Modena gets closer to their opponents with two consecutive aces from Bruno, 21-22. The tie reaches 23-23 with Davyskiba’s ace, but the Venetians sprint past (missed serve by Davyskiba himself and out attack by Rinaldi) and reopen the match (23-25). Modena starts strong in the fourth set (block by Davyskiba and 14-6). Giuliani’s team maintains its large lead without problems, with an ace from Sanguinetti and 20-14. Modena wins 25-17 with a final point from Rinaldi and, thanks to Verona’s simultaneous success over Cisterna, they reach the Semifinal where they will face the Venetians on Monday 22 April (8.30 pm) away. At the end of the match, the celebration and the emotional greeting from PalaPanini addressed to captain Bruno Mossa de Rezende.

MVP: Bruno Mossa de Rezende (Valsa Group Modena)
SPECTATORS: 3,191

Bruno Mossa de Rezende (Valsa Group Modena): “We are happy to have brought joy to PalaPanini on such a special evening. Now we will go to Verona to play our cards and try to get to the final”.
Jacopo Cuttini, coach (Padova Volleyball coach): “Even in this evening’s match, as in the other Play Offs, we experimented with a new set-up. I’m particularly happy because we gave Taniguchi the opportunity to play as a starter in the libero role. It was a very challenging test for him, but I was impressed by the way he faced the difficulties. We tried to change the setup a bit between the second and third sets. I was satisfied with the response of the boys who entered the field. Each of them gave their best. In the fourth set we were not able to compete at the necessary level, but the main objective of this group was to let everyone play and give them responsibility. We have fully succeeded in this.”

Final Standings Play Off Group 5th Place Credem Banca
Rana Verona 13, Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza 11, Cucine Lube Civitanova 9, Valsa Group Modena 5, Cisterna Volley 4, Pallavolo Padova 3.

Play Off Semifinals 5th Place Credem Banca

Monday 22 April 2024, 8.30 pm
Rana Verona (1st Group) – Valsa Group Modena (4th Group)

Monday 22 April 2024, 8.30 pm
Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza (2nd Group) – Cucine Lube Civitanova (3rd Group)

Play Off Final 5th Place Credem Banca

Saturday 27 April 2024, 6.00 pm
Best Semifinalist – Worst Semifinalist

Play Off 5th Place – The formula

The four losing teams in the Scudetto Play Off Quarter Finals and the 9th and 10th ranked teams at the end of the Regular Season play a one-way round-robin tournament which includes 5 matches for each team. The 4 best teams play in the Semifinals and Final in a single match at the home of the best ranked team at the end of the tournament. The winner is qualified for the 2024/25 Challenge Cup.

Semifinals and Finals dates: 22 and 27 April 2024