14/03/2017 16:15
TRENTINO heavy favourites in remake of Italian derby in CEV Cup quarterfinals
2017 CEV Volleyball Cup - Men
Trento, Italy, March 14, 2017. TRENTINO Diatec and LPR Volley PIACENZA will be playing each other once more on Wednesday night in the re-match of their fixture on schedule for the quarterfinals of the 2017 CEV Volleyball Cup – Men. This will be the third home match for TRENTINO in this season’s European Cups and the hosts will start from the advantage of their 3-0 away victory in Piacenza two weeks ago.
TRENTINO have swept seven matches in a row by taking into account games they have played in their national league and in the European Cups as well. Team captain Filippo Lanza and all other players on the team are motivated to try and to make it to a European Cup semi-final for the third straight season after they did so in the 2015 edition of the CEV Volleyball Cup and in last year’s CEV Volleyball Champions League as well. In order to achieve this goal, TRENTINO have to take at least two sets from their re-match with PIACENZA.
“This competition is really important to us,” head coach Angelo Lorenzetti said. “We want to be a contender through the end of the CEV Cup. Even though we won the first match easily, I know it will not be that easy for us to make it to the next stage of the competition, especially since the regulations do not imply any advantage for a team winning in three sets. PIACENZA will be very motivated and they have nothing to lose, so we have to control the game even though it will not be easy. They have players like Clévenot, Marshall, Hierrezuelo and Hernandez who can cause us troubles.”
TRENTINO Diatec will be able to count on their complete roster with Lorenzetti having the privilege to choose between Jan Stokr and Gabriele Nelli for the position of the opposite hitter – and one of their three middle blockers (Sebastian Solé, Daniele Mazzone and Simon Van de Voorde) will have to start the match from the bench. On Wednesday night, Filippo Lanza will equal the number of caps (91) achieved by Emanuele Birarelli as TRENTINO’s team captain – with Matey Kaziyski far away on top of the pile with 204.
PalaTrento will host an Italian derby in the European Cups for the first time since March 1, 2012 when TRENTINO beat Lube Banca Marche MACERATA 3-0 in the Playoffs 6 of the CEV Volleyball Champions League. It will be the 21st match for TRENTINO in the CEV Volleyball Cup, with a record of 17 wins so far and three losses – two to Halkbank ANKARA back in 2005, and one to Dinamo MOSCOW in 2015. As far as international matches are concerned, TRENTINO have a record of 111 wins and 21 losses in 132 games so far.
TRENTINO and PIACENZA have played each other 51 times, with TRENTINO having recorded 33 wins vs. 18 for PIACENZA. TRENTINO have also won two out of the three matches these two teams have played against each other this season. The last time PIACENZA beat TRENTINO at PalaTrento dates back to May 17, 2009 – when they did so at the tiebreak in the last match of the Italian national league’s championship series.
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