Trento, 05 January 2025

SuperLega, on Monday in Modena the first 2025 match

For Itas Trentino Men's team, 2025 starts with a SuperLega Credem Banca commitment in Emilia on the evening of Epiphany. On Monday, January 6 at 6:30 PM, the traditional A22 derby will take place at PalaPanini in Modena, hosted by Valsa Group Modena, valid for the fifteenth round. Live broadcast on RAI Sport, Radio Dolomiti, and live streaming on the OTT VBTV platform.
THE LAST NEWS ABOUT ITAS TRENTINO Having ended 2024 with the qualification for the Final Four of the Italian Cup for the sixteenth consecutive time, the European Champions start the new year looking for another positive result in the championship. This would allow them to approach the upcoming top clash with Perugia the following weekend still close to the Umbrians (ahead by five points but with one more match played).
"The match on Monday evening in Modena kicks off a January full of important appointments for us, starting with the one at PalaPanini," said coach Fabio Soli - I expect a game full of meaning and intensity, in the home of an opponent that has been playing well despite losing 0-3 in the last two matches against Perugia. Those two matches in Umbria showed that the current ranking of Valsa Group is somewhat misleading because the Emilians have faced recent commitments with a different attitude than before, showcasing a very high level in attack and serve. Therefore, we will have to take the field with great attention and be ready to make sacrifices to try to get the result we want."
Itas Trentino will complete its preparation for the match with two training sessions to be held at PalaPanini in the next few hours: tonight and Monday morning. Coach Fabio Soli will only have to do without Kozamernik, who has just started working with the group in the weight room during these first days of 2025. In his place on the roster will be the young Sandu, born in 2007, a key player of UniTrento Volley. On this occasion, Trentino Volley will play its 26th official match of the season, the 1,070th overall, and will be seeking its 432nd regular season victory in its history. In sixteen out of twenty-four cases, the yellow-blue club has won the first match of the new calendar year, the last one being exactly twelve months ago against Verona (3-0 on January 3, 2024). In previous 'annual' debuts, nine matches were played away (three of them in Padova in 2001, 2006, and 2015), with seven wins and just two losses (in 2005 in Perugia and in 2012 in Latina).
SIXTH YELLOW-BLUE MATCH ON THE DAY OF EPIPHANY There have been five previous Epiphany matches for the men's sector of Trentino Volley: 2007 (home defeat 1-3 against Latina), 2009 (3-2 in Padova), 2013 (3-2 at home against Perugia), 2015 (home tie-break win against Piacenza), and 2021 (3-0 at home against Milan). Except for the first time, January 6 has always been a favorable date for the yellow-blue colors (four victories).
THE OPPONENTS Valsa Group Modena awaits the visit of the European Champions in one of the most eagerly anticipated matches by its fans, aiming to get back on track in the championship. Coach Alberto Giuliani's team has only collected one point in the return round (gained at home thanks to a tie-break against Piacenza on the first day) and has not won since last December 1st (3-2 in Taranto). However, in the two matches played in quick succession in Perugia (on Boxing Day for the regular season and December 29 for the Italian Cup – both lost in three sets), they showed significant signs, often challenging the league leaders from Umbria until the last moment of the sets. The return of Davyskiba in position 4 has provided alternatives and an abundance of choice in position 4, with the Belarusian hammer constantly competing for a starting spot with Gutierrez and Rinaldi, making the attack even more incisive. This attack also features the fourth top scorer and the second-best server in the tournament, the Austrian opposite Buchegger. Among the individual players, Anzani has had a remarkable season in blocking (already 29 blocks, the same as Flavio), while as a team, Modena is among the most effective in serving, having scored 87 direct points in fourteen matches: only Perugia (120) and Piacenza (89) have done better.
THE PREVIOUS MATCHES The match on Epiphany will mark the 89th official clash between the two teams. Modena and Civitanova (faced 101 times) are the only two clubs that have been constantly faced over the twenty-five-year history of the yellow-blue team. The record favors Trento with 53 wins to 35 losses, thanks also to fifteen victories in the last twenty-one matches played, five of these in the last twelve months (with a 5-0 record that includes the 3-1 victory in the first leg on October 20, closed with partial scores of 25-22, 19-25, 25-23, 28-26 and Sbertoli as MVP). However, Itas Trentino lost the most recent regular season match held at PalaPanini: once again in four sets, on December 10, 2023. The most recent previous match played in Emilia, however, is the one dated March 10: a 3-2 victory for Trento in game 2 of the Play Off Scudetto quarter-finals. The Emilia arena is the one where Trentino Volley has played the most away matches (44), achieving success on twenty occasions.
THE REFEREES The match will be officiated by Stefano Cesare from Rome (in Serie A since 1999 and internationally recognized since 2010) and Alessandro Rossi from Ventimiglia (Imperia - in the role since 2016), marking the second joint match of their careers. Both have previous experience with the A22 derby; the Ligurian referee (who will be officiating his fifth match of the season in Modena) has only directed it once in one of the most recent cases (a 3-0 home win for Trento on February 18, 2024), while the Roman referee (in his tenth SuperLega 2024/25 match) has officiated Trento-Modena on five occasions (the last one on December 10, 2023), with three victories for Itas and two for the Emilians.
TV, RADIO AND INTERNET The match will be a global media event, enjoying live coverage on TV, radio, and the internet. On TV, it will be broadcast by RAI Sport, a channel available on the digital terrestrial platform at number 58.
Live commentary will be provided on Radio Dolomiti, Trentino Volley's media partner. The frequencies to listen to the regional network can be found on the website Radio Dolomiti – Trento, where it will also be possible to follow the live commentary via streaming.
Confirmed is also the live video streaming on the OTT platform "VBTV"; this service is paid. For more information on its use, consult https://it.volleyballworld.com/volleyball-tv-it. On TV, a summary of the match will also air on Tuesday, January 7, around 21:45, on RTTR, Trentino Volley's TV partner. On the internet, point-by-point updates will be managed by the Serie A Volleyball League's website and the same Trentino Volley, and will always be active on the yellow-blue team's social networks (www.trentinovolley.it/instagram and www.trentinovolley.it/twitter)

Trentino Volley Srl
Press Office