Bologna, 26 January 2024

Del Monte® Coppa Italia Final Four 2024 starts in Bologna on Saturday (4 pm)

The Final Four of the Del Monte® Coppa Italia 2024 kicks off on Saturday January 27th at the Unipol Arena in Casalecchio di Reno (Bologna). Itas Trentino will play the first semi-final, in which they will take on Mint Vero Volley Monza: kick-off scheduled for 4 p.m. Live coverage on RAI Sport, Radio Dolomiti and live streaming on the OTT Volleyball World Tv platform.
HERE ITAS TRENTINO The Yellow-blue team comes to Emilia on the strength of six victories in the first seven matches played in 2024 (the only defeat was on 17 January at home against Rzeszow) and the first place in the SuperLega standings with a three-point lead over Perugia. A position also occupied at the end of the first round and that allowed the Italian champions to secure the number one seed in the table. In order to try and gain access to the Coppa Italia final, which they have already won in the last two editions of the trophy, they will need to confirm their position in this match from inside or outside.
"It is an appointment we are very fond of because it has always represented a weekend of top-level competitions," coach Fabio Soli specified. “We arrive here with the awareness that we have done a lot to be among the four teams that will compete for the trophy, and that it is by no means a foregone conclusion that we will be there. All the more reason why we want to say our piece as much as possible to continue the path of growth we have put in place in recent months. In the semifinals we will face an excellent Monza, which is showing all its quality in the championship and which, to get to Bologna, eliminated a great team like Civitanova. An important aspect will be to transform immediately into positive energy the great expectation that I have perceived in the environment in view of this weekend of matches. We will need a concrete and attentive performance, made up of all those emotional and technical contents that have accompanied us on the positive path we have taken so far".
Having already reached Bologna late this morning, the yellow-blue will hold a training session of about ninety minutes at the Unipol Arena this afternoon; a useful opportunity to take the benchmarks against a very large structure and to further test their condition. Itas Trentino will appear at this appointment with a full squad. Saturday's match will be the 1,021 officials in the history of Trentino Volley men's team (balance: 712 wins and 308 losses), the 554a to be played away, where it has scored ten times this season (the last in Emilia). For captain Marko Podrascanin it will be his 14th Final Four of the competition and he will be looking for his fourth personal success; the previous victories refer to the 2009 edition with Lube and to the 2018 (at Bologna's Unipol Arena) and 2019 editions with Perugia. For Kamil Rychlicki in Emilia, on the other hand, it will be time for his fifth Final Four and compared to the Unipol Arena he boasts an encouraging personal record: he has won the last three editions played in Casalecchio di Reno; in 2020 and 2021 with Civitanova, in 2022 with Perugia.
TRENTINO VOLLEY'S HISTORY IN THE ITALIAN CUP It's the eve of the seventeenth Italian Cup Final Four ever for the via Trener's Club; twenty-two participations in the competition in total, won in 2010 overcoming Modena (3-0) in the semifinals and then Cuneo (3-1, on 31st January in Montecatini) and curiously twice in the 2012 calendar year: 2011/12 edition in Rome, getting the better of Belluno (3-0) and Macerata (3-2), between 18 and 19 February and 2012/2013 edition at the Forum of Assago, achieved by overcoming Vibo Valentia (3-0) and Macerata (3-1) between 29 and 30 December. On the other occasions, the Gialloblù's adventure was stopped by Cuneo in three 3-0 wins (on February 2, 2002 at the Forum of Assago, on January 28, 2006 at the PalaFiera of Forlì in the semifinal, on January 23, 2011 at the PalaOlimpia of Verona in the final), in one case by Piacenza (1-3 on March 8, 2014 at the PalaDozza of Bologna in the semifinal), in 2014 and 2015 (January 11th, 2015 and February 7th, 2016) by Modena in the final, in the 2017 one with Civitanova in the Final, in the 2018 one in the semifinals with Perugia in Bari (January 27th 2018), in the 2019 and 2020 editions again at the hands of Lube in the semifinals (2-3, 9 February 2019 and February 22nd 2021), in the 2021 one in the semifinals with Perugia (0-3, 30 January 2021), in the 2022 one again with the Umbrians but this time in the Final (1-3, March 6th 2022) and in the last one again in the Final at the hands of Piacenza ( February 26th 2023). In the Coppa Italia Trentino Volleyball has so far played a total of fifty matches, winning twenty-nine, including the last one ( January 3rd, 3-0 home win over Verona). The player with the most appearances in this event wearing the yellow-blue jersey is Kaziyski with 23; Podrascanin and Rychlicki are the only players on the current roster to have already won the trophy (3 editions).
CASALECCHIO DI RENO FOR THE NINETH TIME In the recent past, the Unipol Arena has often hosted the Italian Cup Final Four: the one to be played this weekend will in fact be the sixth edition to be played in this arena, which has already been the theatre of dreams in the 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 years. Trentino Volley is the only club always present at the previous six events, having played the Finalissima on two occasions: in 2017 against Civitanova and in 2022 against Perugia, losing in both cases 1-3. In the functional structure of Bologna, the Club of via Trener has played a total of eight matches, including the 2010 V-Day (always lost in four sets against Cuneo), winning only on two occasions. Bologna had also hosted the 2014 and 2015 Final Four, but in that case it was played at PalaDozza, with the Gialloblù playing the Final on the second occasion (losing it to Modena once again in four sets).
THE OPPONENTS Saturday's match will be a historic one for Mint Vero Volley Monza: never before had the Brianza-based club played in a men's Coppa Italia semifinal. It will do so thanks to the 3-1 home success in the quarter-finals over Civitanova, which had confirmed the good things done in the championship so far (fourth position at the end of the first round, closed with twenty points). The start of the second half guaranteed less satisfaction, also due to some physical problems experienced recently by several players. Eccheli's team lost four of the five matches played so far (the last one on Wednesday evening at home against Verona), obtaining the entire stake only in Taranto (3-1). The strengths of the red-and-blue set are Brazilian setter Kreling, Canadians Szwarc (the eighth-best opposite player in the tournament and seventh forward), and Maar, a very effective hammer not only at the net but also at bat. At centre, former duty player Galassi forms a very complete and effective pair with Di Martino, especially at the block. The presence of Japanese hammer Takahashi, who suffered a left ankle problem during Wednesday night's match against Verona, is in doubt.
THE FINAL FOUR SCHEDULE On Saturday, January 27th, the semifinals will be played at the Unipol Arena; after Trento-Monza, the match between Perugia and Milan will be played at 6.30 p.m. The following day, Sunday January 28th, the final between the two winners was scheduled for 3.45 p.m. and broadcast live on RAI 2.
THE BACKGROUND The semi-final will replay a confrontation that has already been staged on three occasions in the single competition. The past matches between Trentino Volley and Vero Volley Monza in the Coppa Italia are all quite recent and always ended in favour of the Club of via Trener, 3-0 in the quarter-finals, all played in a single match in Trento: 11 January 2017, 18 October 2017 and 16 January 2022. The total balance speaks of twenty-nine matches, with the balance clearly in favour of the yellow-blue (26-3), who have won eleven of the last twelve matches, including the most recent one, played in Trento on November 19th  (3-1 yellow-blue). The only recent affirmation of the Brianzoli is related to 22 March 2023 (3-1 in game 2 of the Play Off Scudetto quarter-finals).
THE REFEREES The Fipav has designated the six referees who will direct the semifinals and finals, without, however, yet announcing the composition of the pairs in the individual matches. The list of selected referees includes Alessandro Cerra (Bologna), Giuseppe Curto (Gorizia), Dominga Lot (Santa Lucia di Piave, Treviso), Ilaria Vagni (Perugia), Umberto Zanussi (Treviso) and Marco Zavater (Rome). All boast at least one previous season's match against Trentino Volley.
TV, RADIO AND INTERNET The match 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, channel number 58 of the digital terrestrial television.
Live commentary is planned on Radio Dolomiti, Trentino Volleyball's 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 radio commentary in live streaming.
Also confirmed is the live video streaming on the OTT platform "Volleyball World Tv"; the service is pay-per-view. More information on how to use it can be found at https://it.volleyballworld.com/volleyball-tv-it.
 On television a summary will be broadcast on Monday 29 January at 21.40, on RTTR - Trentino Volleyball's media partner.
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 Gialloblù social networks (www.trentinovolley.it/facebook, www.trentinovolley.it/instagram and www.trentinovolley.it/twitter).

Trentino Volley Srl
Press Office