Trento, 27 April 2025

Itas Trentino-Cucine Lube Civitanova 3-0, Final Match #1 Report

Game 1 report. The starting sextet did not show any last-minute novelties; Itas Trentino came back in front of its audience with Sbertoli at the setter's position and Rychlicki as opposite, Michieletto and Lavia as spikers, Kozamernik and Flavio as middle-blockers, Laurenzano as libero, while Civitanova restarts with the seven titular players who had won qualification to the Finals on Thursday night: Boninfante as setter, Lagumdzija as opposite, Nikolov and Bottolo as spikers, Gargiulo and Chinenyeze as middle-blockers, and Balaso, now recovered, in the role of libero. The start seems balanced at first, with the two teams taking turns leading the scoring (2-3 and 8-7), immediately showing good poise, especially on the offense. It takes a block by Michieletto on Nikolov to secure the first double lead (11-9), imitated a few exchanges later by Flavio who stops Lagumdzija (14-11). On 17-14 Soli switches Gabi Garcia with Rychlicki, who is sore in the back, but it is always Michieletto who dictates the pace: a winning block and counterattack that make it 19-14. Medei also spends the second time out at his disposal (the first one had been called at 13-11) and his team pulls back two players, also thanks to Poriya's positive entry on the serve (direct ace). Trento foresees the danger and doesn’t let up anymore, quickly closing the game (25-20).
In the second set, Gabi Garcia remains on the court in position 1 and 2 and is immediately one of the protagonists of a side-out phase set by the yellow-blues up to the 8-8. Later, Sbertoli's ace and Flavio's block give the first lead (14-12, Lube calls for time out), then such lead increases with Kozamernik's block on Bottolo (17-14). Civitanova does not give up and, with a serve and a counterattack climbs the leaderboard up to 18-18; Kozamernik at the net then offers another point (20-18), which Itas Trentino protects to the very end (23-20 and 25-23) with Gabi Garcia.
The home team tries to push the pace in the early stages of the third set, relying on the usual Michieletto but also on Gabi Garcia, who is in great form (5-2 and 9-7). Cucine Lube struggles against the Yellow-Blues’ blocking and falls behind by five points at 13-8. Coach Medei has already brought in Orduna, Loeppky, and Podrascanin, but without finding a solution to Trentino's effective play. The block works beautifully: Lavia makes it 17-13, then the hosts maintain a safe margin over the visitors (21-18 and 23-20) by skillfully covering and rebuilding from difficult attacking situations. The final 25-21 point is sealed by Flavio with a quick middle attack.

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