Trento, 30 April 2023

Play Off, on Monday 1st May at the BLM Group Arena the scudetto final starts

The Credem Banca 2023 Scudetto Play Off Final series opens on Monday, 1st May at the BLM Group Arena in Trento. After eliminating Monza in four games in the quarter-finals and then Piacenza in five in the semifinals, Itas Trentino is preparing to face Cucine Lube in the best-of-five match that will award the Italian title. Game 1 kicks off at 6.15 pm: live coverage by RAI Sport HD, Radio Dolomiti and live streaming on the OTT Volleyball World Tv platform.
HERE ITAS TRENTINO After six years of waiting Trentino Volley returns to play the matches that award the Scudetto, and will be able to do so counting on the home court factor in three of the (potential) five matches scheduled. The yellow-blue team arrives at the appointment further reinvigorated in spirit and physique by Tuesday night's victory in game 5 of the semifinal against Piacenza, where it showed how much the public's contribution can be decisive.
"Those matches that start on Monday are certainly the most beautiful games to be experienced by any member of the volleyball environment," coach Angelo Lorenzetti stressed during the presentation. “We are proud to be able to play them again, but obviously we don't want to be satisfied with that, also because we have worked hard all season long and we have a lot to say right now. A very difficult series awaits us, because Civitanova has shown during these Play Offs that it always knows how to find a solution to the problems that the opponent on duty presents. A mental and technical strength that also comes from what it has been able to win in the recent past. However, we have had almost a week to prepare the debut, studying the opponent and working hard in the gym, and above all we arrive at the appointment with the valuable experience of the series with Piacenza behind us, which has made us grow in all respects. The team is highly motivated and ready to have its say, all the way as it has always done in any event it has taken part in this season".
On Monday night, the Trentino coach will be able to count on all the members of the roster at his disposal and should probably start from the seven starters seen on the court during the series with Piacenza. In the yellow-blue roster there are only three players who have already played a Scudetto Final: Captain Kaziyski (7, all with Trento), Podrascanin (5) and Nelli (2, both with Trentino Volley). All the others are therefore rookies, including Italian World Champions Lavia, Michieletto and Sbertoli.
TRENTINO VOLLEY'S HISTORY IN THE PLAY OFF SCUDETTO This is the twentieth participation in the Play Off Scudetto in the history of Trentino Volley, which for the ninth time has gained access to the final. In the final act of the Italian championship Trento has so far played twenty-three matches, winning eleven and losing twelve. In the Play Offs, on the other hand, Trento has played a total of 141 matches, winning in 83 cases (of which 56 at home) and losing in 58. The player with the highest number of matches in this phase with the yellow-blue jersey is Matey Kaziyski, who made 84 appearances with last Tuesday's match; 20 of these are only in the Scudetto Final. On Monday night the yellow-blue will therefore be looking for their 84th victory in the post -season phase, which would start the run towards the Scudetto on the right foot, already conquered on 7 May 2008 at home against Piacenza, on 15 May 2011 in Rome against Cuneo, on 12 May 2013 at the PalaTrento again against Piacenza and on 13 May 2015 in Modena.
TRENTINO VOLLEY TO THE 41ST FINAL IN ITS HISTORY The one that opens on Monday will be the forty-first final ever for the club of via Trener, the twenty-sixth national one also taking into account the eight played in the Italian Supercup (2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2018 and 2021 editions) and the nine Italian Cups (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2022 and 2023). The balance in matches that award a title sees the yellow-blue victorious in nineteen out of forty circumstances: four Scudetto finals, three Champions League finals, five World Club Championship finals, three Italian Super Cup finals, three Coppa Italia finals, one CEV Cup final.
THE OPPONENTS  Cucine Lube Civitanova faces its ninth Scudetto Final in history (in twenty-six participations) as the three-time defending champion club ranks. In fact, in the 2019, 2021 and 2022 editions it has always won the Scudetto (it boasts seven in its trophy cabinet) overcoming Perugia in the last act of the draw. The team coached by Gianlorenzo Blengini arrives at this series on the strength of a double qualification comeback against Verona in the quarter-finals (from 0-2 to 3-2) and Milan in the semifinals (from 1-2 to 3-2), situations that offered even more conviction in their own means as well as a form that was able to surprise the opponents, freeing up more of the attacking flair of the Bulgarian Nikolov (his team's best scorer in the Play Offs with 169 points in ten matches) and also empowering the opposite player Zaytsev in the receiving phase. Civitanova is a team that can count on a consistently sharp serve (63 ace in the final scoreboard) and an attack that was able to travel in the post-season on 52.8% percentages, also thanks to the quality of assists offered by De Cecco, the starting player who played the most Play Offs. The libero Balaso and the middle-blocker Diamantini, on the other hand, are the only ones always present in the roster of the last three tricolors.
BACKGROUND With 90 official matches already played, Cucine Lube is the opponent that Trentino Volley has faced the most times; the record is 51-39 in favor of the Marche, but in the current season the teams have won one match each, both away: 2-3 on 20 October 2022 at the BLM Group Arena for Civitanova (25-17, 25-20, 22-25, 30-32, 13-15) and 1-3 for Trento on 21 January 2023 at the Eurosuole Forum (19-25, 25-22, 19-25, 18-25). The confrontation has already been staged in the Play Off Final of the 2012 edition, when the red-and-whites won 3-1 on V-Day at the Forum of Assago (22 April 2012), and in the one of the 2017 edition on the distance of five matches (3-0 always for Lube). The two clubs have also faced each other in the Final in the Coppa Italia (three times: 2012, 2013, 2017) and in the Supercoppa (three times: 2009, 2012, 2013), with three victories on each side. The one that opens on Monday will be the seventh duel in the Play Off Scudetto, the fourth in a row, also taking into account the 2010, 2019, 2021 and 2022 semi-finals.
THE SERIES The final series will be played at the best of five games; after game 1 on Monday night, the teams will return to the court in Civitanova for game 2 on Thursday, 4 May at 8.30 p.m.; game 3 will be played again in Trento on Sunday, 7 May at 6 p.m. or at 9 p.m., should it already be decisive in awarding the title. Eventual Game 4 will be at the Eurosuole Forum on Wednesday, 10 May at 6 p.m., while Game 5 will be played, should it be necessary, in Trentino on Sunday, 14 May at 9.05 p.m. Whoever wins three wins will become the 2022/23 Italian Champion.
THE REFEREE Umberto Zanussi, first referee from Treviso, and Andrea Pozzato, second referee from Bolzano. For Zanussi, on the roster since 2006, seventeenth match of the season in SuperLega; three of these have already been in Trentino Volley: a 3-1 defeat in Piacenza on 16 October, a home loss in the tie break on 12 February against Perugia and a three-set win at the BLM Group Arena a month later against Modena. Also for Pozzato, in the top category since 2004, season direction number 17 in the SuperLega, three of which with Trento as protagonist: a 3-1 home win over Siena on 2 October, a 3-0 win at the BLM Group Arena against Verona on 26 December and a 0-3 defeat in Piacenza on 22 April.
TV, RADIO AND INTERNET The challenge will be a global media event, enjoying simultaneous live coverage on TV, radio and the Internet. On the small screen it will be broadcast by RAI Sport HD, a channel on the digital terrestrial platform (number 58) and on the "RAI Play" application.
Live coverage will be provided as always on Radio Dolomiti, the yellow-blue  media partner. The frequencies to listen to the regional network can be found on the website www.radiodolomiti.com, where it will also be possible to follow the live radio commentary in streaming.
Also confirmed is live video streaming on the OTT platform "Volleyball World TV"; the service is subject to payment. For more information on how to use it, see www.welcome.volleyballworld.tv/faq-it.
On TV a summary of the match will also be broadcast on Wednesday 3 May at half past midnight on RTTR - Trentino Volleyball's partner TV.
On the Internet, point-to-point updates will be provided by the Lega Pallavolo Serie A website (www.legavolley.it) and by www.trentinovolley.it, and will always be active on the yellow-blue social networks ( www.trentinovolley.it/facebook, www.trentinovolley.it/instagram and www.trentinovolley.it/twitter).
TICKETS SOLD OUT The BLM Group Arena has already sold out two days in advance: 4,000 spectators in the stands. On Monday, therefore, the cashiers of the stadium will be active from 4.45 p.m. for accreditation pick-up only, while at about 5.30 p.m. the entrances will open. The match is only included in the 'Full' type of season ticket.

Trentino Volley Srl
Press Office