Piacenza, 30 December 2025 – Two teams, one place and one match to continue the journey in the Del Monte® Italian Cup. And Gas Sales Bluenergy Volley Piacenza continues the journey, beating Modena in a festive PalabancaSport after almost two hours of play. Intense, beautiful, at times exciting. The red and whites enter the Final Four in Bologna on 7 and 8 February with strength and there they will find Trento who got rid of Monza in the quarter-finals.
A Gas Sales Bluenergy Volley Piacenza after winning the first two sets left the third set to their opponents but then in the fourth set they started making a loud statement right from the start and continued to do so until the end.
Seven blocks by Comparoni, twenty-one points by Mandiraci followed by Bovolenta with fifteen, Gutierrez (MVP of the match) with fourteen and Comparoni with Thirteen. Buchegger’s thirteen seals were not enough in Modena.
The match – It starts with “Teddy Bears Toss“, hundreds of soft toys flew onto the pitch from the stands, now they will be donated to the Red Cross and Casa del Fanciullo of Piacenza. At the start of the match coach Boninfante sends Porro and Bovolenta onto the pitch diagonally, Comparoni and Galassi in the centre, Mandiraci and Gutierrez at the band, Pace is the libero. Valsa Group Modena responds with Tizi-Oualou and Buchegger diagonally, Sanguinetti and Anzani in the centre, Luca Porro and Davyskiba at the band, Perry is the libero.
Modena gets off to a good start, Mandiraci’s ace is worth the tie at three, with Gas Sales Bluenergy Volley Piacenza’s decisive extension on eleven all with Comparoni’s block which is followed, in the space of a few exchanges, by two aces from Gutierrez which put his team at plus five (17-12) with Giuliani calling the second time out available. When the game resumes, an error in attack by the Canaries (18-12), Piacenza controls and keeps Modena at a distance, Galassi’s point says 21-15, new block in red and white (23-17), Bovolenta (71% in attack) delivers his six set points (24-18), Piacenza closes immediately.
Two consecutive aces from Buchegger give the Canaries the advantage (6-7), two great recoveries from Pace allow his team to close the point with nine all, two consecutive points from Mandiraci (86% in attack) and it’s overtaking (12-10) with Giuliani calling time out. At the restart of the point game by Bovolenta (13-10), Modena with Luca Porro gets closer (14-13) and immediately after with a block they find parity at fourteen with Boninfante calling time. Teams traveling arm in arm, at nineteen it is still tied, Gas Sales Bluenergy Volley Piacenza extends with Gutierrez and Galassi’s block (21-19), Gutierrez diagonally and there are two red and white set points (24-22), the same Cuban closes with an ace.
Piacenza starts well from the starting blocks with two blocks in (2-0), Modena scores at five and puts the arrow on Bovolenta’s attacking error (5-7) with Boninfante immediately calling a time out. Modena gets within three (8-11), Piacenza gets closer (10-11), Mandiraci’s ace is worth the tie at twelve, Modena’s lead (14-16), new parity with Comparoni at sixteen and a double overtaking with two blocks in by Comparoni (18-16) which force Giuliani to call time. Two points from Modena and it’s a draw at nineteen, a canary block and they’re overtaken (19-20) with Boninfante calling time and Buchegger’s ace restarting (19-21). Modena gets within three (20-23), there are three set points for the canaries (21-24) who immediately close.
Piacenza starts strong (4-0) with Giuliani immediately calling time, Modena chases but struggles to close the gap, point from Mandiraci (11-7), long millimeter line from Bovolenta and it’s 13-8. Mandiraci’s ace (14-8) forces Giuliani to call the second time out, a six-point lead that the red and whites first maintain (18-12, 19-13) and then increase with two consecutive shots from Mandiraci (22-13). Porro’s excellent serve continues, with an ace from the director (23-13), Modena’s long serve delivers ten match balls to the red and whites (24-14), Galassi closes with a block in, the twelfth of the day for Piacenza.
Dante Boninfante: “The boys were very good at interpreting the game well and remaining calm and united even in moments of difficulty. The change of ball this time was more fluid than on other occasions, we kept up well in reception even when Modena pushed a lot, really good. We knew that the club cared about this Final Four but they never made this weigh on us, I’m happy, now a day of rest as a reward for this victory and then head to the championship. We’ll think about the Final Four later.”
The scoreboard
Gas Sales Bluenergy Volley Piacenza – Valsa Group Modena 3-1
(25-18, 25-22, 21-25, 25-14)
Gas Sales Bluenergy Volley Piacenza: Comparoni 13, Porro P. 1, Mandiraci 21, Galassi 4, Bovolenta 15, Gutierrez 14, Pace (L), Leon, Seddik, Andringa. Ne: Travica, Bergmann, Loreti (L), Fraleone. All. Boninfante.
Valsa Group Modena: Anzani 5, Buchegger 13, Porro L. 7, Sanguinetti 11, Tizi-Oulaou 3, Davyskiba 5, Perry (L), Massari, Bento 10, Ikhbayri 3, Giraudo, Federici (L). Ne: Mati, Tauletta. All. Giuliani.
Referees: Puecher from Padua, Brancati from Città di Castello.
Note: set duration 24′, 29′, 31′ and 27′ for a total of 111′. 2576 spectators for a taking of 23,385 euros. MVP: Miguel Gutierrez. Gas Sales Bluenergy Volley Piacenza: wrong serves 15, aces 7, blocks point 12, errors in attack 5, reception 30% (15% perfect), attack 53%. Valsa Group Modena: wrong serves 19, aces 4, blocks point 6, errors in attack 7, reception 34% (12% perfect), attack 47%.
