Trento, 11 May 2023

Friday in Civitanova Marche game 4 of the Final Play Off Scudetto 2023

Game 4 of the Credem Banca 2023 Scudetto Play Off Final will be played on Friday 12 May at the Eurosuole Forum in Civitanova Marche. Itas Trentino will visit Cucine Lube once again, being ahead 2-1 in the best-of-five games series. Kick-off scheduled for 8.30 pm: live broadcast on RAI Sport HD, Radio Dolomiti and live streaming on the OTT Volleyball World Tv platform.
HERE ITAS TRENTINO. Having regained the lead thanks to the rounded victory in game 3, Kaziyski and his teammates face the last away match of the season with the aim of trying to capitalize on the first of two opportunities built up to close the account and win away from home (as happened only twice: Rome, 15 May 2011 and Modena, 12 May 2015) the fifth Scudetto.
"We haven't done anything yet and we have to continue to stick to the narrow facts," explained coach Angelo Lorenzetti presenting the game, "for us, only game 4 counts and we have to think about how to face it in the best way. In order to be protagonists of the match again, we will need to make an important leap in quality from a mentality point of view, even if only compared to the previous match played in Civitanova Marche. Regardless of who will line up on the court, I expect a Cucine Lube team ready to play for everything and to attack in the fundamentals in which they have already been able to put us on the ropes, such as attack, Cecco's run, serve and defence. We will therefore have to find a way to contain it and take advantage of the opportunities that we will be able to build.”
The Trentino line-up will leave for Civitanova in the early afternoon today, after having had their last training session at the BLM Group Arena in the morning. Srecko Lisinac, who underwent a (perfectly successful) selective herniectomy of the lumbar spine only on Wednesday in Piacenza, will not be part of the group. Game 4 will be the 52nd match of the season for Trentino Volley; the thirtieth away match where so far it has collected eighteen victories (including one in Civitanova, on 21 January) and eleven defeats (the last one just eight days ago in Marche). For the club from via Trener it will be match number 145 in its history in the Play Off Scudetto (a balance of 85 wins and 59 losses), the 27th ever in the final, where it boasts 13 wins and as many losses.
TWO WINS AND ONE LOSS IN THE PREVIOUS MATCH 4 OF THE FINAL If match 2 of the Final has remained a taboo yet to be broken (five games and five losses), match 4 for Trentino Volley brings back more pleasant memories than negative ones. In fact, before Friday's match, the club from via Trener had previously played three matches, all in Emilia: two at PalaBanca and one at PalaPanini. Piacenza was the venue for one win and one loss: on 13 May 2009, the yellow-blue won 3-0, postponing the Scudetto verdict of that edition to game 5 at PalaTrento, which then rewarded Copra Nordmeccanica; on 5 May 2013, the hosts instead won 3-0, taking the challenge back to Trento, which then won 3-2 to claim its third Italian title in the play-off match. Modena is instead linked to the last tricolor memory: 12 May 2015, victory in three sets that delivered the fourth scudetto in the yellow-blue history.
THE OPPONENTS  After Sunday's defeat in Game 3, Friday night's home match for Cucine Lube Civitanova is already a must-win. In fact, the Marches have only one result at their disposal (victory) to continue defending the championship they wear on their shirts and have held uninterruptedly since 2019. In order to do so and return to the BLM Group Arena in the fifth and decisive act of the series, Gianlorenzo Blengini's team will rely on the boost they are sure to receive from their home crowd, who have already sold out the Eurosuole Forum in every order. The local public still do not know whether they will be able to admire the exploits of Zaytsev on court, the only red and white player in doubt due to a right shoulder problem suffered during the first set of game 3 in Trento.
BACKGROUND. With 93 official matches already played, Cucine Lube is the opponent Trentino Volley has faced the most times. The Marches have won 52-41, but this season Trento has won the most matches (three out of five), including one at the Eurosuole Forum: 1-3 on 21 January with scores of 19-25, 25-22, 19-25, 18-25 and Kaziyski as mvp. In Civitanova Marche against the hosts Itas Trentino has lost nineteen of the twenty-two official matches played so far; ten of these refer to matches in the Play Off Scudetto, a phase in which victory came in two circumstances: 28 March 2021 (in the tie break) and 14 April 2022 (in three sets). In the last two editions of the final table, the yellow-blue have always won once in Marche.
THE SERIES. Itas Trentino is 2-1 ahead in the best-of-five finals series, thanks to a 3-1 victory at the BLM Group Arena on 1 May (25-23, 23-25, 25-23, 25-17), a 2-3 win over Civitanova a week ago at the Eurosuole Forum (21-25, 15-25, 25-19, 25-23 and 15-17) and a 3-0 win over the yellow-blue on 7 May in Trento (25-17, 25-20, 25-16). On Friday evening, game 4 in the Marche region, which will close the discourse only if Lorenzetti's team wins. Should Cucine Lube win, the Scudetto will be awarded in game 5, which will be played, if necessary, in Trentino on Wednesday 17 May at 20.30.
THE REFEREES. Game 4 will be refereed by Stefano Cesare (from Rome) and Dominga Lot (from Santa Lucia di Piave, Treviso), respectively in their 20th and 15th game in SuperLega 2022/23; together but with reversed roles they had also refereed Game 1 of the semifinal, won 3-0 by Trento over Piacenza at the BLM Group Arena. For Cesare, in the Serie A since 1999 and international since 2010, four of those were against Trentino Volley  (2-3 defeat in Verona on 8 October, three-set win over Padova on 3 December and 0-3 defeat at home to Piacenza on 19 April). For Lot, in the top category since 2010 and international since 2017, two season crosses with the yellow-blue colors.
TV, RADIO AND INTERNET. The challenge will be a global media event, enjoying simultaneous live coverage on TV, radio and 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 Monday 15 May at 21.40, on RTTR - Trentino Volley'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 also be active on the yellow-blue social networks (www.trentinovolley.it/facebook, www.trentinovolley.it/instagram and www.trentinovolley.it/twitter).
150 FANS WILL BE FOLLOWING THE TEAM. The team will be followed in the last away match of the season by about one hundred and fifty fans. Buses of fans and private cars will leave from Trentino on Friday afternoon to support the yellow-blue team.

Trentino Volley Srl
Press Office