Trento, Italy, March 5, 2015.  Italy’s Energy T.I. Diatec TRENTINO defeated Knack ROESELARE by 3:2 (25-22, 25-18, 19-25, 24-26, 15-11) after a five-set battle at the PalaTrento competition hall in the first match of the Challenge Round of the 2015 CEV Volleyball Cup - Men.  The Italians will have a very tough task to cope with in the return match scheduled for Wednesday of next week in Roeselare.  There were many ups and downs from both teams, as the Italians did not exploit the full extent of their home advantage.

The first set was very competitive through 11-11, but then the Italians gradually took control and finished the job at 25-22 also thanks to two aces by Filippo Lanza and Sebastian Sole.  In the second set TRENTINO slowed down a bit, suffering from the good attacks of the Belgians, but after the time-out called by Radostin Stoytchev, the hosts eventually prevailed sealing the set at 25-18.  The third and the fourth sets of the game went to the Belgians (25-19, 26-24) who showed a more solid performance in serving and blocking.  In both sets, after taking a solid lead (11-6 and 12-6), TRENTINO lost concentration, made several mistakes in reception and struggled against the blocks of the opponents, who closed the fourth set after a breathtaking final, offering the fans long and exciting rallies.  In the tie-breaker Simone Giannelli and his teammates were back to their usual tempo and, led by captain Emanuele Birarelli and the Bulgarian spiker Matey Kaziyski, the home team won by 15-11.

Knack’s opposite Hendrik Tuerlinckx piled up an impressive 27 points to become the top scorer of the match, followed by TRENTINO’s Filippo Lanza with 22 points.

“We could and should have closed the game before the tie-breaker.  We could have gained 3 points from this match,” commented TRENTINO’s coach Radostin Stoytchev.  “Anyway, we are talking about a victory against a very good team and we were aware that they can create lots of difficulties with their jump float serves.  Unfortunately, now I cannot say that we are the favourites to make the semifinals, because next week we are not playing at home, but I am sure we will be heading to Belgium ready and confident for the match.  Simone Giannelli really deserved to stay on the court and our opponents did not know him that well.  In my opinion this experiment worked; he is a very young and talented player, but you never stop learning."

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