Civitanova Marche (Macerata), 04 May 2023

Cucine Lube Civitanova-Itas Trentino 3-2, game 2 report

Game 2 report. Lorenzetti did not use Lisinac (not even on the score sheet) after a lower back injury four days earlier, and confirmed D'Heer in the starting six in the middle of the net diagonally opposite Podrascanin, Sbertoli serving, Kaziyski in place 2, Michieletto and Lavia as middle-blockers and Laurenzano libero. Cucine Lube Civitanova responded with De Cecco setter, Zaytsev opposite, Nikolov and Yant at side, Anzani and Chinenyeze middle-blocker and Balaso libero. The yellow-blue's approach to the match was the right one, especially on serve, a fundamental that immediately put the local reception to the sword, producing two easy blocks for the 4-1 lead. The hosts didn't wait long to get back on track (4-4) with Zaytsev and then to try and run away (6-9) with Nikolov and Anzani scoring on break points. Trento took refuge in a time-out and on resumption almost immediately regained contact with the opponent (9-10) thanks to an error by Zaytsev himself. It was a precarious balance, however, because the Cucineri immediately restarted (11-14 and 12-16); Itas Trentino reacted with Kaziyski up to 17-19, then finally had to give way to Lube, who won the first set 21-25.
The yellow-blue tried to fight back at the start of the second set with Kaziyski and Lavia (4-1 and 7-5), but the Marche found parity with Zaytsev as early as 10:00 and then took the lead with Nikolov from set 2 (11-13, Lorenzetti time out). The red-and-whites were unleashed both on serve and defense, and in this way they were able to score more break points (11-15). The hosts continued to hurt with their serve, cornering Trento (11-17), who were unable to respond despite the changes proposed by their coach (Nelli and Džavoronok in). The 0-2 came on 15-25 with Yant's ace. Itas Trentino tried again in the third set, once again starting better with serve and block (4-2 and 7-4). Podrascanin stops Nikolov on the block and defends +3 (10-7, time out Blengini), then D'Heer with the block to sign the extension (+4, 15-11). Civitanova pulled the plug, and Trento took advantage to build an even +7 (22-15) with Lavia (ace, attack and block). The hypothesis of the fourth partial already materialized on 25-19 (Yant's attack error).
The match returned to the point-to-point track after the change of court (2-2 and 6-6), before Cucine Lube ran away from 9-9 to 9-12 with Zaytsev and Chinenyeze. Lorenzetti's time out was providential; when the game resumed, D'Heer became a great protagonist at the block and in attack, allowing his team to tie again at 13. The Belgian middle-blockers was on a roll, and with two aces he drew +2 (17-15), but Cucine Lube tied the score at 18. The end was exciting and hard-fought until 23-23, when Džavoronok (on court in Kaziyski's place from the middle of the set) made it 24-23 and Podrascanin hit Nikolov for 25-23, sending the match into the tie-break.
The fifth set saw the Marche take immediate control of the game (3-5 and 6-8). Bottolo's aces gave the hosts the maximum advantage (7-10), and they held on to it until 10-13 before suffering the incredible comeback by the yellow-blue (13-13), inspired by Džavoronok. The sprint was on and Cucine Lube kept the ball in their hands but had to wait until 15-17 to get the better of it and even the score in the series thanks to the final home 2-3.

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