Trento, 13 March 2021

Play Off, on Sunday in Piacenza match #2 of the quarter finals

Match 2 of the quarter-finals Play Off Scudetto SuperLega Credem Banca 2021 will be played on Sunday 14 March at PalaBanca in Piacenza. Itas Trentino will go to Emilia with the possibility, in case of victory, to gain access to the semifinals, being ahead 1-0 in the series that consists of the best of three matches. Kick-off scheduled for 6 pm: live news on Radio Dolomiti and live streaming on Lega Volley Channel at www.elevensports.it (paid service).
HERE ITAS TRENTINO The 3-2 victory obtained on Wednesday in the hard-fought match 1 gave the giallo-blù team the first of two match balls to reach the qualification for the semifinal for the twelfth time in the last thirteen editions of the Scudetto Play Offs. In Piacenza, therefore, Itas Trentino will try to get this over with, aware, however, of the value of the opponent who already made their stand in the first match of the series.
"The debut match of this series has shown what kind of quarter series we are going against - warns coach Angelo Lorenzetti - . On the other hand, this season's SuperLega is a truly top-level tournament and, as we had imagined on the eve, Piacenza is one of the best teams. We will then take the field with the functional attitude to play a game that we imagine can be fought again point-to-point. Our desire is to be protagonists in the decisive moments of the match to bring home the result once again".
The Trentino team will arrive in Piacenza today, after having had a training session with the ball at the BLM Group Arena in the early afternoon. Match 2 of the Play Off Scudetto quarter-finals will be the thirty-ninth match of the Trentino Volley season: the balance is 30 wins (three of these obtained against Piacenza) and 8 defeats. The one played at PalaBanca will then also be the 120th match in the giallo-blù history in the Scudetto Play Offs (71 wins and 48 defeats), the 54th ever in the quarterfinals. In the previous seventeen participations in the first round of the draw, Trentino Volley has won the second match of the series ten times, but in the last four editions it has struggled to express itself on away matches; the most recent external success in the Scudetto Play Offs dates back to more than four years ago: 8 March 2017, a 3-0 victory in Monza (match 2 of the quarter-finals).
THE OPPONENTS Gas Sales Bluenergy is preparing to experience the most important match of its season, having to win the match in order not to say goodbye to the Scudetto Play Offs on Sunday. This is in fact the first participation in the Play Off Scudetto for the new Emilian club, which brought the city of Piacenza back to play in the post-season phase three years after the last time. To try to return to the BLM Group Arena for Match 3, Lorenzo Bernardi's team will try to further improve their performance on Wednesday evening: brilliant in attack and on the block especially with the opposite spiker Grozer. The fortunes of the Emilians will probably still pass from the hands of the German opposite spiker and those of the spiker Russell, as well as from the expert setter of Baranowicz, the red and white player who has played the most Play Offs in his career (7 with the current one, distinguished from the victory of the 2014 Scudetto with the Lube shirt). Within the friendly walls of PalaBanca, Piacenza has not lost since January 12 (0-3 with Modena) and has won five of the last six games.
THE BACKGROUND The fifty-ninth official match in history between Trento and Piacenza will be played on Sunday, the fourth of the season; the balance is clearly in favor of the giallo-blù tesm, which won in forty-one circumstances, above all thanks to twenty-five victories in the last thirty direct clashes. The last home victory of the Emilians dates back to November 17, 2016; after that 3-1 in the regular season, only giallo-blù victories have arrived at PalaBanca (four, the last of which on 11 October 2020). In Piacenza, Trentino Volley has often won, putting together fifteen wins out of twenty-seven matches played overall; in the eight direct matches played in Piacenza in the Scudetto Play Offs, the home factor was worth six victories. The last victory of Trentino Volley dates back to 13 May 2009 (3-0 in Match 4 of the Final).
THE SERIES Itas Trentino ahead 1-0 in the quarter-final series which is played to the best of three matches, thanks to the 3-2 achieved at the BLM Group Arena on March 10 with partial scores of 25-18, 23-25, 22 -25, 25-20, 15-8 in Match 1. Sunday in Piacenza Match 2, which could be the last one, only in case of another giallo-blù victory. Match 3 will be held only if Gas Sales Bluenergy prevails and will be played in Trentino on Sunday 21 March starting at 6PM (time to be confirmed; for television needs it could be anticipated or postponed). Those who pass the round will find the winner of the fourth Civitanova-Modena, which begins on Sunday, in the semifinal (the series will be played to the best of the five matches and kicks off on Sunday 28 March). On March 14, the second match between Milan and Perugia (1-0) and between Vibo Valentia and Monza (0-1) will also be played.
THE REFEREES Match 2 will be directed by Stefano Cesare (from Rome - in Serie A since 1999 and international since 2010) and Ilaria Vagni (from Perugia, in role since 2003 and international since 2014), respectively in the twelfth and eleventh seasonal match in SuperLega Credem Banca. Cesare joins Itas Trentino after their 3-0 home win over Civitanova on 14 December, while Vagni recently refereed Milan-Trento 3-0 on 3 February.
RADIO, INTERNET AND TV The match will be broadcast directly and in its entirety by Radio Dolomiti, in conjunction with Piacenza starting at 6 pm. The frequencies to tune into the media partner are available on the website www.radiodolomiti.com, at which it will be possible to listen to the live streaming radio commentary.
There will also be live streaming video on the "Lega Volley Channel" web space, at the internet address www.elevensports.it (paid service).
The full deferred broadcast of the race will be broadcast on TV on Monday 15 March at 9 pm on RTTR, a TV partner of the Company in via Trener.
On the internet, point-to-point updates will be handled by the Lega Pallavolo Serie A website (www.legavolley.it) and by the same www.trentinovolley.it and will always be active on the giallo-blù Social Networks (www.trentinovolley.it/facebook, www.trentinovolley.it/instagram and www.trentinovolley.it/twitter).

Trentino Volley Srl
Press Office