L'Allianz Milan in Cisterna to continue positive trend

Allianz Milano returns to the court tomorrow at 6 p.m. for the seventh day of the SuperLega regular season. The challenge on the field of Cisterna Volleyball represents a new test for Piazza’s team, fresh off two consecutive victories and determined to give continuity to the rise in the standings.

On the opposite side, Cisterna arrives at the match in excellent condition, after the important comeback success won against Modena. The Pontine lineup, now ninth in the rankings with 6 points, has had three victories all by 3-2 scores and at home succumbed only to Trento in its season opener. Milan, sixth at 10, is aiming to repeat the quality of fast play and defensive phase shown in the last round against Grottazzolina, which is crucial to stay hooked to the leading group.

The confrontation between the two teams is quite young: there are five previous matches, with the current Lazio denomination of the pontines, with four successes of Allianz Milano and one of Cisterna. There is no shortage of personal crossovers, starting with the former of the day Tommaso Barotto, opposite in a Milan jersey last season. Also having a past in Cisterna are the two frees Damiano Catania and Matteo Staforini in the Top Volleyball years (2022/23), while on the Lazio bench sits Daniele Morato from Lecco, a coach who cut his teeth directing the Diavoli Rosa di Brugherio nursery teams.

The match brings with it several chases for individual records. Among the hosts, opposite Tommaso Guzzo top scorer in the last round is 21 points away from 100 career Regular Season points, while former Italian Filippo Lanza is looking for 25 to reach the same goal and is just one wall away from 200 career wins. At home Allianz Milano, Checco Recine is 21 points away from 100 on the season and Edoardo Caneschi sees the 1,000 career winning attacks very close, just four away.

The last round highlighted the characteristics of the two teams: Milan recorded the best reception in the league with 45.5 percent, Cisterna the highest number of walls (15) and aces (8). In Wednesday’s rematch against Grottazzolina, Allianz Milano was also able to celebrate the personal milestone of captain Ferre Reggers, who reached 100 winning walls in SuperLega. With his 20 points in the last match, the Belgian opposite player rose to 148 total points, increasing his lead in the Regular Season bomber ranking ahead of Nathan Feral (125) and Aleksandar Nikolov (124).