Abba Pineto shifts into fourth gear and, also conquering the Romeo Sorrento field, rises to third place in the A2 series standings. A very positive day for coach Di Tommaso’s men, given that the Pineto team are now three points behind leaders Tinet Prata di Pordenone, beaten in the meantime in Cantù, in a round in which Ravenna also falls against Fano (3-2) and Aversa away to Taranto (3-1). On Sunday (6pm) the biancazzurri will close the first round at home at Pala Santa Maria against Ravenna for a real high-flying clash and with the possibility of finishing in second position.
At the start, Di Tommaso does not change the structure of his team, immediately ready to set the offensive pace, thanks to an always fearsome Matheus Krauchuk (he will attack with 75%): the Brazilian opposite hands out at 6-2 which forces Sorrento into the first time-out. At 11-4 Abba runs away, reaching a maximum advantage that was only partially reduced in the following exchanges (12-6 and 14-8), before a hands-off by Krauchuk to achieve the set point (25-20). Second set still dominated by Pineta and, in just 24 minutes, the guests sent their opponents into a tailspin, unable to respond to the stinging attacks of Stefano Trillini and Paolo Di Silvestre with four points each. Romeo, now with her back against the wall, feels a reaction of pride.
The Campanians are growing above all thanks to the initiatives of the Bulgarian central defender Preslav Petkov (five points, an ace and a block) and the opposite Davide Brignach (six points). Sorrento takes the lead at 10-7. Pineto tries to shake itself off: it does so with a 5-1 run which is worth overtaking at 12-11. The final points are balanced: Krauchuk scores 23-23, Brignach scores +1; on the next attack, the Sorrento wall stops Zamagni. It’s 25-23. Game reopened. But the inertia is all to the advantage of Abba who, driven by its Brazilian jewel Krauchuk (21 personal points), finds the decisive thrust and three vitally important points.
«Anyone who really understands volleyball knows well that you don’t come to Sorrento and win easily, you don’t go to Cantù and win easily, you don’t go to Taranto, you play against these teams and win easily», comments a beaming Simone Di Tommaso, who continues. «The results have said it, I hope this helps to understand the difficulty of the championship, the difficulty that these guys encounter every Sunday. They know it well and I hope that everyone can understand how important it is to be close to these guys every Sunday. I am satisfied because we have collected three very precious points and because Pineto has shown that it accepts the difficulties, reacts and helps itself. We managed, even without playing volleyball at the highest level, to bring everything at stake, despite a match that was on the perfect track for us and which then became difficult: in the third set we were unable to be cynical and immediately get the match on our side.”
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