Trento, 09 February 2024

SuperLega, on Saturday on court in Catania for the seventh round of the return leg

The eighteenth round of the SuperLega Credem Banca 2023/24 regular season, the seventh of the return leg, will be played in the upcoming weekend. Itas Trentino men's team will be on the road, visiting Farmitalia Catania in one of two early games scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 10. At PalaCatania the kick-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Live broadcast on RAI Sport, Radio Dolomiti and streaming live on the OTT Volleyball World Tv platform.
ITAS TRENTINO The Italian Champion Club faces the longest championship trip in its more than twenty-year history, returning to Sicily more than twenty-three years after the last and only time in search of the three points at stake to confirm its promising lead (six points) in the standings over Perugia. Having not sustained midweek commitments, the team was able to work meticulously to prepare for the challenge, fine-tuning the physical and technical condition of each of the fourteen elements of the roster.
"The Catania trip actually opens a very intense month of February, which will see us engaged in the Italian League and the Champions League every three days - explained coach Fabio Soli on the eve of the trip to Sicily -. It is therefore important to start this tour de force on the right foot, and to do so, it will be necessary to put the right competitive drive and maximum attention for this match. Despite the ranking position, Farmitalia is a team that, especially in the last home games, has seriously challenged important teams such as Civitanova and Piacenza; a clear sign that for Saturday's match we will expect a lineup that strongly believes in salvation. Approaching the match well and ensuring continuity in our aggressiveness during the game will be the key to the match."
Itas Trentino came to Sicily already in the late afternoon of Friday, having completed its preparation in the morning (with a one-and-a-half-hour training session at the ilT quotidiano Arena). Trentino Volley will play match number 1,023 in the history of its men's team and will go in search of the 714th victory ever, after collecting eight wins consecutively in the league (last loss in Emilia, against Modena, two months ago: Dec. 10, 2023).
THE OPPONENTS Saturday's match will be Farmitalia Catania's third-to-last home game in its regular season debut in SuperLega Credem Banca. It is precisely in front of its home crowd that the Sicilian Club, which had acquired the rights of the newly promoted Vibo Valentia last summer, has consistently shown its best version, making life difficult for any opponent. In the previous eight home matches it has always won at least one set, if we exclude the 0-3 suffered against Perugia last December 30. The last place in the standings (five total points and only one victory in seventeen matches played) is thus justified by the performances in away matches, which so far have not given any kind of satisfaction, and the conquest of just four sets (in Padua, Taranto, Cisterna and Verona). The lineup now entrusted to the hands of Giuseppe Bua (until December second to Brazilian Douglas Silva) can count on some outstanding individualities: Austrian opposite Buchegger is the second best scorer of the tournament with 327 personal points, and together with setter Orduna (with him in Vibo in the previous season) boasts a well-oiled understanding; libero Cavaccini is the eighth receiver by weighted average, while Serbian middle blocker Masulovic figures among the top twenty blockers with 22 personal points. Compared to the first leg, the Sicilian roster can count on an extra pawn in area 4: former Modena, Piacenza and Civitanova hammer Jacopo Massari, who consistently figures among the starters next to Randazzo, and has gone into double figures in terms of points in five of the last seven games.
PREVIOUS MATCHES Saturday's will be the second ever confrontation between the two Clubs. The only match played was the one in the first leg in Trento on Nov. 26 and won by the hosts in three sets, with partials of 25-15, 25-17, 25-18 and Rychlicki MVP (19 points). In its history, Trentino Volley has faced Sicilian formations (Palermo) only twice more, in its very first season (2000/01), winning at home and losing away, both times in four sets. The 1-3 loss on January 14, 2001 in Palermo is in fact the only official match played in this region by the men's team.
THE REFEREES The match will be directed by Luca Saltalippi (of Torgiano - Perugia, active since 2011) and Alessandro Cerra (of Bologna, in Serie A since 2014), respectively in their seventh and twelfth matches of this season of Credem Banca SuperLega. The last precedent with Trentino Volley men's team for the Umbrian whistle was the 3-0 success in Taranto last January 7, while for the Emilian referee the most recent intersection was January 27 (tie break defeat against Monza in the Coppa Italia semifinal).
RADIO, INTERNET, AND TV The match will be a global media event, enjoying simultaneous live coverage on TV, radio, and the Internet. On television it will be broadcasted by RAI Sport HD, channel number 58 of the digital terrestrial.
The match will be covered in live commentary by Radio Dolomiti, media partner of Trentino Volley. Frequencies to listen to the regional network can be found on the website www.radiodolomiti.com, where live radio commentary can also be followed via streaming.
The live video streaming on the OTT platform "Volleyball World Tv" is also confirmed; there is a charge for the service. For more information on how to access it, please visit https://it.volleyballworld.com/volleyball-tv-it.
A summary will be broadcast on television on Monday, February 12, at 9:45 PM, on RTTR - media partner of Trentino Volley.
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 Network (www.trentinovolley.it/facebook, www.trentinovolley.it/instagram, and www.trentinovolley.it/twitter).

Trentino Volley Srl
Press Office