Betim (Brasile), 10 December 2021

Cucine Lube-Itas Trentino 3-2, match report

Match report. Trentino Itas took to the court with the same starting six seen in the last three matches: Sbertoli at set, Lavia opposite, Kaziyski and Michieletto as setters, Lisinac and Podrascanin as middle hitters, Zenger as libero; Cucine Lube responded with De Cecco at direction, Gabi Garcia opposite, Yant and Lucarelli as setters, Anzani and Simon as middle hitters, Balaso as libero. Civitanova was strong at the start of the match, with Yant converting a couple of break point opportunities to make it 3-6. He is also lucky when he scores an ace for a 4-0 lead (5-9), a margin that Lube hold on to in the middle of the set (8-12). After the technical timeout, Trentino Itas got closer with a Lisinac one-on-one on Anzani (12-14), but it was just a flash, as Lucarelli then widened the gap (12-16, Lorenzetti timeout). A break point by Lavia brought Trento back to within two (15-17). This was the last gasp of the first set for the yellow-blue team, as the red and white team pushed hard with serve and block (15-20, 18-23) and went to 0-1 at 20-25 (Sbertoli service error).
The second half got off to a balanced start (4-4), which was broken by a Gabi Garcia error and a Lavia block-out on a rebuild (8-5). Cucine Lube became nervous and unsuccessful on serve, and Trento took advantage of the situation to hold on to the advantage they had gained (10-7). Lucarelli's profitable rotation from the nine-metre line and an ace on Zenger made it 10-10. From then on, the two teams scored the same points (14-14, 16-16 and 19-19), with breaks and counter-breaks. The point-to-point was interrupted only by a Gabi Garcia error (23-21); Kaziyski and his teammates made the most of it to tie the score at 25-22, taking advantage of a De Cecco net invasion. The tight battle resumed in the third set; Trento and Civitanova fought from the very first exchanges on every ball, putting on a show and alternating leads (4-3 and 8-7). Michieletto (attack and block on Gabi Garcia) put the yellow-blue team up by 2 (10-8), which Lorenzetti's team was able to maintain even after the technical timeout (14-12 and 16-14). Blengini inserted Zaytsev for Gabi Garcia and he immediately tied the score at 17. The match raises its level and becomes beautiful (21-21 and 23-23), with Michieletto taking on heavy balls to keep his team in the running. But it was Pinali who signed the first set ball, which a mistake by Yant at the net made it 2-1 for the Trentino team (25-23).
The point-to-point contest continued in the fourth period, with Cucine Lube getting off to a bad start (3-1), but immediately managing to regain strength thanks to Yant and Lucarelli (7-8 and 11-12). Trentino Itas were undaunted and with a Kaziyski block and a Lavia counterattack they were back on top (16-14, time out Blengini). Civitanova had another burst of energy with Zaytsev's attack (back on court for Gabi Garcia), Lucarelli's ace (18-19) and the continuity of the Brazilian's serve, which put the Trentino ball changers on the ropes (18-22) and set the match on the way to the tie break, on 20-25.
The fifth set got off to a good start for Trentino Itas (3-0), in the presence of a very nervous Lube (5-2); their legs didn't shake and, thanks to Kaziyski and Podrascanin, the lead grew larger and larger (9-5). At the worst possible moment, however, Civitanova come back to life with their serve and block, posting a 1-5 that put everything back on the table (10-10). Simon signed the extension that seems to be decisive (11-13), but Trento canceled two match balls (14-14) and got a couple with a wild Michieletto before surrendering on the counterattack of Lucarelli (19-21) at the seventh opportunity of Cucine Lube.

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