Trento, 28 December 2024

2025 Coppa Italia, on Sunday at the ilT quotidiano Arena the quarter-final

The year 2024 concludes with a knockout match for the Itas Trentino men's team. On Sunday, December 29, three of the four quarter-finals of the 47th edition of the Del Monte ® Coppa Italia will be played; the yellow-blues will make their season debut in the competition at the ilT quotidiano Arena in Trento, facing Cisterna Volley: the winner will advance to the Final Four, scheduled for January 25-26, 2025, in Bologna. Starting time is scheduled for 4 PM: live broadcast on Radio Dolomiti and live streaming on the OTT VBTV platform.
HERE ITAS TRENTINO The European Champion team arrives at the do-or-die appointment after the excellent performance on Thursday against Milano (which further secured their second place in the competition bracket), allowing them to achieve their seventh victory in eight home matches played so far; an excellent home track record that alone does not guarantee advancing to the next round, as coach Fabio Soli aptly explains while presenting the appointment.
"For us, it is like a Final, a match with no room for error that guarantees access to the Final Four, and it should be approached as such," explained Itas Trentino coach  during the presentation. "We face an opponent like Cisterna who, with an improving second half of the first round, absolutely deserved the qualification to the quarter-finals, managing to demonstrate all their value. In matches like this, we know well that the values on paper can be completely overturned by the field's verdict, so we will need to be very attentive and determined, trying to limit their main strengths, which are serving and the ability to play quickly in the side-out phase. Baranowicz is an experienced setter who knows how to get his attackers going, especially with positive reception; therefore, we will have to serve incisively to limit his choices. We must be aware that it could be a difficult and very long commitment."
Itas Trentino will arrive at the appointment without Kozamernik, thus having thirteen players available, who will complete their preparation for the match with training sessions this afternoon and Sunday morning at the ilT quotidiano Arena. The player who has participated in the most editions of the Coppa Italia is Captain Riccardo Sbertoli, who will mark his eighth participation in the top national trophy on this occasion, although he has yet to win a title. The only absolute debutants are middle blockers Pellacani and Bartha (competing for a starting spot) and outside hitter Bristot; the players in the roster who have already lifted the trophy are Flavio (reigning champion), Rychlicki (3 times), and Pesaresi (1 time). The athlete with the most appearances in the Coppa Italia for Trentino is Alessandro Michieletto (10).
THE HISTORY OF TRENTINO VOLLEY IN THE COPPA ITALIA This Sunday afternoon will mark the 23rd participation in the Coppa Italia quarter-finals in twenty-five years of activity for Trentino Volley, having missed the final stage of the competition only in their debut season in A1 (2000/01, eliminated in the preliminary quarter-finals by Cuneo) and in the last season under Lattari's management (2006/07). On seventeen occasions, the yellow-blue team has advanced past the quarter-finals, reaching the Final Four; the last time, by eliminating Verona with a home victory in three sets on January 3. The team has won the competition three times: on January 31, 2010, in Montecatini Terme, with a 3-1 victory over Cuneo in the final; on February 19, 2012, with a 3-2 comeback victory over Lube at the PalaLottomatica in Rome; and on December 30, 2012, with a 3-1 win over Lube at the Forum in Assago. In total, they have played nine finals, including those lost to Cuneo (2010/11), Modena (2014/15 and 2015/16), Civitanova (2016/17), Perugia (2021/22), and Piacenza (2022/23). In the other five participations, the elimination came directly in the quarter-finals: in 2002/03 by Macerata, in 2003/04 by Cuneo, in 2004/05, 2007/08, and 2008/09 by Treviso. Overall, the team has played 51 matches in the competition, with a record of 29 wins and 22 losses (the last one in the semi-final in Bologna against Monza on January 27).
THE OPPONENTS Cisterna Volley returns to play a Coppa Italia match exactly two years after their last appearance on December 29, 2022 (a three-set loss to Perugia). After failing to qualify for the knockout stage last season, the Pontine team has fully earned the right to be among the eight protagonists this season by securing seventh place at the end of the first round; a position achieved through five victories in eleven matches, against all the opponents they have now left behind: Grottazzolina, Monza, Taranto, Padova, and Modena. However, the return phase has not allowed Falasca's team to make any progress, due to a three-set home defeat to Verona and a 1-3 loss on Thursday in Piacenza. Among the most interesting characteristics of the Pontine team is their great ability to score with blocks, a fundamental in which only Perugia and Monza have done better, having played one more match, with Cisterna leading Trento by one block (114 to 113). Individually, the current season has confirmed the great scoring abilities of the French opposite Faure (fourth highest scorer of the tournament with 228 points in thirteen games), the serving prowess of the Turkish outside hitter Bayram (fourth in aces with 25 successful serves), and the blocking skills of the Serbian middle blocker Nedeljkovic, who has already scored 36 times personally (first place overall). In reception, the libero Pace shines (the best in weighted average in this fundamental), who will return for the first time as an ex-player at the ilT quotidiano Arena after 46 appearances in yellow-blue between 2022 and 2024, with whom he became Italian and European Champion.
THE FORMAT OF THE DEL MONTE® COPPA ITALIA 2025 On December 29 and 30, the quarter-finals will take place, featuring knockout matches determined by the standings from the first half of the SuperLega Credem Banca regular season. The match between Perugia and Modena is the only one not scheduled for Sunday, as it has been set for the following day at 20:30; the other two matches are Civitanova vs. Milano (18:00) and Verona vs. Piacenza (18:30). The Final Four is scheduled for the weekend of January 25-26 at the Unipol Arena in Bologna: on Saturday, January 25, the semi-finals will occur (the winner of the match involving ilT quotidiano Arena will face the winner of Lube-Allianz). The final will take place on Sunday, January 26, at 15:15.
PREVIOUS ENCOUNTERS For the first time in their history, Trentino Volley and Cisterna Volley will face each other in the Coppa Italia; never before had the two clubs (even when the Pontina team referred to the city of Latina) met in the final stages of this competition. Overall, there have been a total of forty-eight official matches between them; only Civitanova (101), Modena (88), Piacenza (76), and Perugia (56) have more encounters. The record favors the yellow-blue club with a score of 38-10, with Cisterna not winning in Trento since April 13, 2014 (1-3), in a match that counted for the playoffs for 5th place, and they have only succeeded in three of the last twenty confrontations. In Trentino, the Lazio team has achieved victory only twice (out of a total of twenty-four matches played) and always after a four-set match: on December 1, 2002, and January 6, 2007. The most recent encounter in Trento was exactly one year ago: a 3-0 victory on December 30, 2023, with set scores of 25-19, 25-20, and 25-20. The first leg of this regular season also ended in four sets, played on December 29 and won by Itas Trentino with set scores of 25-22, 23-25, 25-27, and 16-25 in Lazio.
THE REFEREES The match will be officiated by Giuseppe Curto (from Gorizia, in Serie A since 2013) and Andrea Pozzato (from Bolzano, in Serie A since 2004), marking their sixth joint match in their careers. Curto is officiating his ninth match of the season in the men's sector and returns to Trentino Volley after their 3-1 victory in Porto San Giorgio on November 3; this will be his first time refereeing a match between Trento and Cisterna. Pozzato is officiating his sixth match of the season in men's Serie A (one of which involved Itas Trentino: a 3-0 win against Monza on November 24) and has previously refereed one match between the two clubs (April 1, 2012, also in Trento: a home victory in three sets).
RADIO AND INTERNET The match will be broadcast live by Radio Dolomiti, the media partner of Trentino Volley, starting at 16:05. Frequencies for listening 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 via streaming.
Video streaming will also be confirmed on the VBTV platform; this service is paid for both. A highlights summary will air on Monday, December 30, at 21:40 on RTTR, the media partner of Trentino Volley.
Online, point-by-point updates will be provided by the Lega Pallavolo Serie A website  (www.legavolley.it) and the official website of Trentino Volley (www.trentinovolley.it), with ongoing activity on their yellow-blue social networks (www.trentinovolley.it/facebook, www.trentinovolley.it/instagram, and www.trentinovolley.it/twitter).
TICKETS The match is included in the 2024/25 season subscription. Tickets for the game can be purchased at any time online by clicking on https://trentinovolley.vivaticket.it/it/event/quarti-del-monte-coppa-italia-itas-trentino-vs-cisterna/256641, or directly on Sunday afternoon at the ilT quotidiano Arena ticket offices, which will open at 15:00, the same time that the entrances to the arena will also be opened.

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