Playoffs scudetto, Trento falls again: Civitanova brings series to 2-0

The Eurosuole Forum fended off Itas Trentino. In fact, game 2 of the quarterfinals valid for the playoffs that will award the 2026 Scudetto also went to Cucine Lube Civitanova, which in this case to get the point of 2-0 in the series could close the discussion already in three sets, confirming its great continuity among the home walls, where this season it has won thirteen of the fifteen official matches played. Deprived of Michieletto and, at the last, also of Lavia, the Italian champions were unable to overturn the eve’s prediction, yielding in the presence of the hosts at the end of a match that saw them however protagonists especially in the first and third sets.

The third set was played point to point until the final sprint, when the locals always got the better of the match thanks to a great Nikolov (19 points with 65%) and a Bottolo who backed him up well, not only in attack but also in batting. Less of a battle, however, in the second partial, which Trento had to surrender sharply but had held up until 13-15 before yielding under the services of the unleashed Bulgarian hammer. Among the most positive in the yellow-blue ranks were setter Jordi Ramon, his team’s best scorer with 13 points, one ace and 50% at the net, and captain Riccardo Sbertoli. In order not to end the defense of the scudetto it wears on its shirts, Itas Trentino will now necessarily have to win game 3 scheduled for Wednesday night back at the BTS Arena.

Itas Trentino showed up at the Eurosuole Forum four and a half months after the last time deprived of the entire pair of starting attackers, Michieletto and Lavia (abdominal resentment charged in the last hours). The lineup proposed by Marcelo Mendez thus included Sbertoli at the director’s position and Faure opposite, Ramon and Bristot at the band, Torwie and Flavio in the center, and Laurenzano as libero. Cucine Lube Civitanova responded with Boninfante at setter, trio of high-ball attackers consisting of Loeppky, Nikolov and Bottolo, D’Heer and Gargiulo at center, Balaso at libero.

“We tried to do our best, but tonight against this Civitanova there was objectively little we could do,” explained Itas Trentino coach Marcelo Mendez after game 2. Lube played an excellent game in all the fundamentals, dominating the scene in some moments. We struggled to contain it, but we fought back all the way.”

“It was not enough, but we will play it all on Wednesday in game 3, trying to express ourselves better, also counting on the support of our fans,” added Mendez. Trento and Civitanova will return to the court on Wednesday, March 18, at 8:30 p.m. at the BTS Arena, for Game 3 of the series that is worth the semifinals of the playoffs scudetto.