Trento, 25 March 2022

Play Off Scudetto 2022 starts on Saturday at BLM Group Arena

The Play Off SuperLega Credem Banca 2022 are about to start. In the first round of the scoreboard, that gives the Italian title 2021/22, Itas Trentino will face Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza in the series best-of-three matches that ensures a pass for the semifinal. The Match 1 of quarter finals will be played on Saturday 26th March at BLM Group Arena in Trento: the starting whistle is at 20.30. Live on Radio Dolomiti and live streaming on OTT Volleyball World Tv.
HERE ITAS TRENTINO The yellow-blue team starts his journey in the final scoreboard, after a full week of training, without other matches to play, for the first time in two months. Thanks to this situation some players as Kaziyski, Lisinac and Podrascanin were able to charge their batteries and Daniele Lavia was able to complete his rehabilitation for the abdominal injury of two weeks ago. The Calabrian hitter-spiker has started to train with the group in the last days, without forcing too much, and he will be among the thirteen players at disposal for the appointment. This will allow Angelo Lorenzetti to choose in the pre-match to line him up immediately or confirm the starting six with Pinali as opposite-spiker.  
“We absolutely want to go on with our race for the tricoloured title, but we know perfectly that in the quarter finals we will face an opponent that is more worth than the sixth place in the ranking gained at the end of the regular season – underlies Angelo Lorenzetti during the presentation of the match against the Emilians, that will be the fourteenth personal participation in Play Off - . In fact, Piacenza is a team that has shown a good handhold against the first range line-ups; it has recently hurt Perugia in the semifinal of Coppa Italia, he won in Modena and Civitanova during the regular season and it is provided with a good serve that can put us in a difficult position. We should play a high-level volleyball if we want to direct the series immediately on the right track.”
These will be the thirteenth Play Off of Marko Podrascanin’s career, the player in list that has played the most (winning them in three occasions), while for the team leader Matey Kaziyski, who is the player that collected more presences (62) with the yellow-blue shirt in this phase of the season and that has scored the most points (1.043), will be the ninth with the yellow-blue team. There are three novices: the German libero Zenger, the Belgian middle-blocker D’Heer and the opposite-spiker Albergati. On Saturday Trentino Volley will play the 933rd official match of its history, the 125th in the Play Off Scudetto and will look for the 651st victory of all time.
THE HISTORY OF TRENTINO VOLLEY IN PLAYOFF SCUDETTO The participations in Play Off Scudetto of Trentino Itas will be nineteen with the Saturday match at BLM Group Arena in twenty-two total seasons of activity; the yellow-blue club didn’t take part in the event only in the years 2000/01, 2001/02 and 2019/20 (due to the pandemic). In the eighteen previous occasions, Trento managed to pass the first round in thirteen circumstances; the eliminations in the quarters were with Modena (2002/03 in five matches e 2013/14 in two matches), Perugia (2003/04 in four matches, after having won the regular season), Piacenza (2004/05 in five matches) and Cuneo (2006/07, in three matches). During this edition, the Society of Via Trener can look for the ninth final in the last fourteen participations. In every Play Off it has ever taken part, except for the unfortunate presence in season 2013/14 (two matches and two defeats), Trentino Volley has always won at least a match; in fifteen circumstances out of eighteen already in the first played, include the last occasion (home 3-2 right on Piacenza in 2021 edition).
THE OPPONENTS After having obtained the pass for the Play Off thanks to the final sixth place in the ranking, Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza arrives to the quarters with the aim to compete the qualification with Itras Trentino, even if it can use the court factor in only one circumstances of three. The line-up trained by Lorenzo Bernardi (who has won nine championships as player and one as coach) will face the first match of the series on Saturday at BLM Group Arena at the end of a period in which it has won the last three matches of the championship and competed for the semifinal in Coppa Italia in Bologna against Perugia in four sets. The last ko in SuperLega, guess what, is a match played against Trento (1-3 last 27th February).
Among the main characters of the good Emilian team, there is the Turkish opposite-spiker Lagumdzija (34 points in the last two matches), who seems to have solved his physical problems that influenced the central part of his season. Piacenza gets to quarter finals with the best percentage in perfect reception of regular season (30,5% on 1.686 points).
PREVIOUS MATCHES The match against Piacenza has become with the time a big tradition of male Italian volleyball, not only for the many matches played, that place the Emilian team as the third opponent team that Trentino Volley has faced the most (62, ahead only Civitanova with 84 and Modena with 78). The match has marked three championship finals (2008, 2009 and 2013) and has come back in the highest Italian championship in 2019/20 season after only one season of absence: the one of 2018/19, in which the Emilian team had to deal with a re-start in Serie A2. The report is definitely positive for Trentino Volley 44-18, especially thanks to twenty-wight victories in the thirty-two most recent direct matches. In addition, the BLM Group Arena has always been an unassailable fort for the opponents in the last thirteen years; the last victory of Piacenza in the arena of via Fersina dates back to 17th May 2009 (3-2 in match 5 of final Play Off, with the consequent victory of the championship), when Angelo Lorenzetti sat on the white-red bleacher. Overall, Trento won twenty-eight of the thirty-three official previous matches against Piacenza among the friendly walls; the last one, on 18th November (win 3-1 with points of 25-15, 21-25, 25-21, 25-23). During the current season, there is also the yellow-blue victory 3-1 in Emilia of a month ago (on 27th February, sets of 23-25, 25-15, 25-17, 25-14)
THE SERIE The quarter finals will be played with the best-of-three matches; the team that wins two matches moves into the next round. After match 1, the two teams will get back in the court in Piacenza for match 2 on Sunday 3rd April at 18, while the potential match 3 (if it is needed) is scheduled on Sunday 10th April (time to be defined), again in Trentino. The team that will continue its race will find the winner of Civitanova-Modena in the semifinal, a match that starts on Sunday in the Marche. The other two quarter finals in the highest part of the scoreboard are Perugia-Cisterna and Modena-Milano (on 27th March in the court).
REFEREES The match 1 will be directed by Armando Simbari (from Milan, in Serie A since 2007 and international since 2016) and Rocco Brancati (from Città di Castello – Perugia, in Serie A since 2015), respectively at the sixteenth and thirteenth match of SuperLega of their season.
For Simbari, the last previous match dates back to six days ago, in the three sets defeat in Cisterna, while Brancati comes back at BLM Group Arena after 3-0 conquered by the yellow-blue team against Taranto last 13th February.
RADIO, INTERNET AND TV The match will have a full live coverage by Radio Dolomiti, network partner of Trentino Volley. The frequencies can be found on www.radiodolomiti.com, where it’s possible to listen to the radio commentary in streaming.
There is also the live streaming on OTT "Volleyball World Tv" (paid service). For more information about the service: www.welcome.volleyballworld.tv/faq-it.
On TV, the recap of the match will be broadcasted on TV, the recap of the match will be broadcasted on Monday 28th Match at 21.45, on RTTR - tv partner of Trentino Volley.
On Internet, the point-by-point updates will be made by the website of Lega Pallavolo Serie A (www.legavolley.it), by www.trentinovolley.it, and by the yellow-blue Social Networks (www.trentinovolley.it/facebook, www.trentinovolley.it/instagram and www.trentinovolley.it/twitter).
MATCH NOT INCLUDED IN THE SEASON TICKET Trentino Volley can accommodate a limited number of spectators in the stands of the Arena of via Fersina for this appointment (60% of total capacity); everyone must show the SUPER GREEN PASS (Covid-19 Green Certificate of vaccination or recovery) and wear the ffp2 mask during the time of their visit in the Arena. The match is not included in the second-round season ticket. The tickets pre-sale can be purchased clicking on https://trentinovolley.vivaticket.it/it/event/quarto-di-finale-play-off-q1/178157. The ticket office of BLM Group Arena and the front doors of the arena are open from 19.15.

Trentino Volley Srl
Press Office