Uberlandia (Brazil), 14 December 2024

Trentino Itas-Cucine Lube Civitanova, the match report

The match report. Trentino Itas returned to the court with the lineup most seen in recent weeks: Sbertoli setting, Rychlicki opposite, Michieletto and Lavia as hitters, Flavio and Pellacani as middle blockers, with Laurenzano as libero. Cucine Lube Civitanova responded with Boninfante as setter, Lagumdzija opposite, Nikolov and Bottol in position 4, Chinenyeze and Podrascanin as middle blockers, Balaso as libero. The yellow-blues got off to a flying start: Flavio (counterattack and block on Bottolo) and Rychlicki (line shot) immediately made a heavy breakthrough (5-1), prompting Medei to call a timeout. Upon resumption, a block by Chinenyeze on Pellacani and the subsequent missed first tempo by the yellow-blue middle blocker gave Lube some breathing room, tying the score at 7 with a pipe by Nikolov. It took another break by Flavio (winning block on Podrascanin) to provide a new yellow-blue push (11-9), which Trento held onto (15-13), before extending the lead thanks to a net error by Nikolov (17-14). The team from Marche called another timeout, but immediately afterwards, the reigning European champions asserted their dominance (21-16) with net touches from Pellacani and Sbertoli. The 1-0 came at 25-20, with the same Trentino setter securing the side-out by involving Michieletto and Rychlicki in the attack.
After switching the court, the Cucine Lube team tried to move on, and thanks to two blocks they gained an immediate advantage (2-4 and 4-6). Trentino Itas team tried to react, but struggled to score points in the attack, so the opponents gained ground (6-9); Soli then spent a time out but at the resumption were always the biancorossi to dictate the pace (9-12 and 12-15). The final phase was hard-fought point-to-point thanks to a break point by Rychlicki, who brought the teams back to close contact (17-18), then it was an attack by Flavio to ensure the tie at 22. The gialloblù defended themselves with a pipe by Lavia (24-23), but only then thanks to a fourth occasion they gained a 2-0 advantage (28-26. error by Bottolo).
During the third set, the match started again with a tie (5-5), then it was a good point by Lavia on the block to guarantee the +2 (8-6), reproduced another time a few moments later by Flavio (11-8). Trentino Itas no longer stopped its run (15-11), also because Lube got nervous and made a lot of mistakes; Michieletto signed the ace that was worth 18-11 and that actually started the end of the credits (22-16). The 3-0 arrived at 25-19: Trentino Itas is back in the World Final!

Trentino Volley Srl
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