Civitanova Marche (Macerata), 01 December 2024

Cucine Lube Civitanova-Itas Trentino 3-1, the match report

Match report. Itas Trentino arrived at the Eurosuole Forum without Kozamernik, and once again, Pellacani took his place at the center of the net alongside Flavio. The starting lineup also included Sbertoli as setter, Rychlicki as opposite, Michieletto and Lavia as outside hitters, and Laurenzano as libero. Cucine Lube responded with Boninfante as setter, Lagumdzija as opposite, Nikolov and Bottolo as outside hitters, Chinenyeze and former Trentino player Podrascanin as middle blockers, and Balaso as libero. The match began evenly, with both teams frequently trading leads (5-4, 8-9) without either gaining more than a point advantage. Michieletto was on fire, pushing the yellow-blue team ahead to 16-15 with consecutive attacks and an ace, forcing the home team to call a timeout. Trento then tried to pull away with a block by Flavio on Podrascanin (20-18), but Nikolov quickly tied it up again (20-20). Rychlicki managed to put Trento ahead once more (22-20), but from that point onward, the European Champions lost their spark and suffered a 1-5 run, allowing Cucine Lube to win the set 23-25, led by Nikolov.
Itas Trentino tries to turn the page at the start of the second set, and thanks to Michieletto and Lavia, the yellow-blue team succeeds, progressively gaining an advantage (6-4 and 10-6). Medei interrupts the game, but upon resumption, it’s Rychlicki who steps up, leading the yellow-blue team’s escape (15-10 and 21-14). Cucine Lube fights back with Podrascanin (block) and Nikolov (ace for 21-17), but then Michieletto finishes the job (24-18), well supported by Rychlicki (25-18).
In the third set, the yellow-and-blues once again started better than their opponents (5-2 and 9-6), who, in the meantime, subbed Dirlic in for an out-of-form Lagumdzija and kept Loeppky on the court in place of Bottolo, a change made during the previous set. Michieletto was once again unstoppable, leading his team in an attempt to pull ahead (14-10), forcing Lube to call a timeout. After the break, Chinenyeze and Nikolov put together a 2-6 run, bringing the home team back into contention (16-16). The hosts showed more energy in defense and counterattacks, regaining momentum (18-20 and 20-23), while the visitors struggled significantly in reception, conceding the set to their opponents at 22-25 (Loeppky’s attack). Itas Trentino feels the blow and concedes an early serving break in the fourth set (from 5-4 to 5-7). Soli calls a timeout, and after the break, his team responds as hoped, taking a +2 lead (10-8) with Michieletto and then extending to +3 with an ace by Lavia (19-16), after the home team had leveled the score at 15-15. Dirlic performs well in counterattacks (20-19), but Lube takes the lead with an ace by Nikolov (21-22) and seals the final 3-1 victory at 23-25 with a decisive spike by Loeppky.

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