Trento, 15 March 2021

Play Offs, giallo-blù notes and statistical curiosities after match 2 of the quarter-final

Some notes and statistical curiosities emerged after match 2 of the quarter-finals of the Play Off SuperLega Credem Banca 2021, won 3-1 by Itas Trentino at the venue of Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza.

TRENTO-PIACENZA, FIRST TIME WITHOUT TIEBREAKER MATCH. For the first time since Trentino Volley and Piacenza compete in the Scudetto Play Offs, a tiebreaker match will not be necessary. Previously in all the other four matches in the draw (quarter 2005, 2008 final, 2009 final, 2013 final) the so-called “bella” was always needed to decide which of the two teams would win the contest. The 2-0 obtained by the Gialloblù in the 2021 series is a first time, also from this point of view.

THE DOUBLE EXTERNAL TABOO DEBUNKED. The success in four sets at PalaBanca allowed Trentino Volley to debunk a double negative trend, referring to away games during the Scudetto Play Offs. In fact, with Sunday's 3-1 in Emilia, Itas Trentino returned to achieving a positive result during the post-season phase that had been missing since 8 March 2017 (3-0 in Monza in the quarter-finals) and from a total of eleven consecutive games. It is not enough, because the success in the Play Off Scudetto at Piacenza had not come for almost twelve years; the last time was on May 13, 2009 (in three sets for Game 4 of the Final).

SERIES CONCLUDED WITHOUT DEFEATS, AS IN TWELVE OTHER OCCASIONS. The double success in four days over Piacenza ended the quarter-final series immediately on 2-0, allowing Itas Trentino to close the series without defeats. In the previous seventeen participations in the Play Off Scudetto, it had already happened on other twelve occasions to finish a match without giving a single victory the opponent: in the quarter-finals and semifinals of the 2008 edition with Modena and Roma (2-0), in the quarterfinals and semifinal 2009 with Vibo and Cuneo (3-0), in the quarterfinals in 2010 with Verona (3-0), in the quarterfinals in 2011 with San Giustino (3-0), in the quarterfinals in 2012 with San Giustino and Roma (1-0), in 2012 semifinal with Latina (2-0), in the quarterfinals and in the 2013 semifinal with Vibo and Cuneo (3-0), in the 2014 quarterfinals with Molfetta (2-0) and in the 2017 quarterfinals with Monza (2-0).

28. The 28 points scored by Nimir Abdel-Aziz in Match 2 at PalaBanca represent the best personal score in a single match by a giallo-blù player in the last eleven editions of the Play Off Scudetto, but they are not an absolute record. Leandro Vissotto (31 points in match 1 of the 2009 semifinal against Cuneo and 29 points in match 3 of the 2009 quarters with Vibo) and Matey Kaziyski (30 points in match 2 of 2008 final in Piacenza and 29 points in match 1 of the 2009 quarters with Vibo).

SUMMARY OF MATCH 1 AND MATCH 2. 18 winning blocks (7 by Podrascanin alone), 15 aces (including 5 by Nimir) with 33 service errors, 54% (124 out of 226) in attack with just 14 errors, 65 breaks point out of a total of 210 points scored. These are the most interesting numbers obtained by Itas Trentino by adding the scores of the two matches of the quarter-final series. The statistics show well how the giallo-blù team has been very efficient at the net in every type of fundamental. The best scorer could only be Nimir Abdel-Aziz, which scored 49 times in nine sets (21 in match 1, 28 in match 2); the Dutch opposite spiker precedes Grozer (36 - best blocker together with Podrascanin) by thirteen lengths. The second scorers of Trento are ex aequo Lisinac and Lucarelli (27).

Trentino Volley Srl
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