Ivan Zaytsev not enough, Civitanova eliminated

Civitanova eliminated

The “black beast” of the cup strikes again. For the second year in a row the Italian champions of Cucine Lube Civitanova go out of the picture at home in the Quarterfinals of the Del Monte Coppa Italia against Allianz Milano, capable of conquering the Eurosuole Forum with a comeback in four sets (25-18, 21-25, 18-25, 21-25). Despite the big push of the red and white fans, who came in large numbers, the pass for the F4 of the trophy that awards the tricolor rosette goes to Roberto Piazza’s men. On February 25, 2023 at the PalaSport in Rome, Allianz will challenge in the Semifinals Itas Trentino, which ran away last night at PalaPanini in Modena.

Lube’s positive streak comes to a halt after 8 consecutive season victories. Decisive was the performance of setters Mergarejo (18 points with 4 aces) and Ishikawa (MVP of the match and top scorer with 21 points), thorns in the side on serve and attack. Also impactful was the ball handling from nine meters and the long ball barrier (8 team aces and 10 winning walls). On the red-and-white front Nikolov and Zaytsev, 28 points in two equally divided, tried everything, as did Chicco Blengini, who tried to find the key with graft from the bench, but a less than inspiring performance in the center and difficulties in reception made the comeback attempts futile.

In the first act wild fans in the stands and Lube aggressive. Attitude that fruits the 13-5 tear. The guest reaction is nipped in the bud at the wall (4 blocks in the set) and in attack (7 personal by Nikolov) for 25-18. The second partial is more tightly fought, with Piano in the guest sextet and the red-and-whites less precise (13-17). The graft of Yant tries does not give the desired shock and Patry rebalances the match (21-25). In the third set Milan plays with the fluency it has lacked in recent weeks and puts Civitanova in crisis with 57% attack and 4 blocks (18-25). The fourth set is played on the edge of balance, but Milan is aggressive at the wall (14-17) and, despite the red and white reaction, repeats itself by conquering the headquarters of the Italian champions (21-25).

The debut in the new calendar year is scheduled for Saturday, January 7 (6 p.m.) at PalaPanini in Modena in the advance of the 3rd round of the Regular Season.