Cucine Lube Civitanova ended their three-year absence from the final phase of the Del Monte ® Italian Cup, qualifying at the last moment for the Final Four, which will take place on January 25 and 26 at the Unipol Arena in Bologna. The dramatic final proved decisive, with a 3:2 (25-17, 20-25, 25-16, 21-25, 15-11) tie-break victory against Allianz Milano in a quarterfinal match at the Eurosuole Forum.In Bologna, the "cooks" will face Itas Trentino in the semi-final, who defeated Cisterna Volley.
Before the match, a minute of silence was observed in memory of the legendary coach Daniele Bagnoli, who passed away on Friday.
The statistics favored Civitanova, but the victory was the result of a great fight from the hosts. Reggers was phenomenal with 32 points, supported by Luati (11) and Schnitzer (11), but Lube won with the strength and perseverance of the entire team. Boninfante utilized all his attackers, with Lagumdzija (14), Botolo (12), who was named MVP, Loeppky (11), who came in during the match, and Chinenyeze (10) all reaching double-digit scores.
After a hard-fought initial phase in the first game, Lube took the lead, thanks to greater stability in attack, led by Lagumdzija (8 points for this part). For the Milanese, Reggers' 9 points were not enough and the game ended with a score of 25-17 in favor of Lube.
In the second set, Milano improved their serve (3 aces), Civitanova lagged in reception and attack, allowing the guests to lead from start to finish with another remarkable performance from Reggers with new 9 points (20-25).
The third set went to the hosts, who improved their reception, their attack worked flawlessly, and they had superiority in all elements. Chinenyeze's contribution was important (5 points with 2 blocks), but Reggers remained the top scorer in the set again (6) with a final score of 25-16.
In the fourth set, we watched a technically weak and error-filled game from both sides, in which Milano prevailed on serve with 4 aces and neutralized Lube's comeback attempts (21-25).
In the tie-break, Botolo's mental resilience and Dirlic's involvement in critical moments, as well as Porya's final ace as the icing on the cake, sent Lube to the Final Four.
Alex Nikolov played sporadically, finishing the match with 6 points (1 ace) and was just 2 points short of reaching the 100-point mark for the season. Kaziyiski finished with 5 points.
Matey Kaziyski finished with 5 points.
Cucine Lube Civitanova – Allianz Milano 3-2 (25-17, 20-25, 25-16, 21-25, 15-11)
CIVITANOVA: Chinenyeze 10, Gargulo 5, Loeppky 11, Orduna 1, Bisotto (L) not, Balaso (L), Boninfante 4, Porya 2, Nikolov 6, Lagumdzija 14, Dirlic 2, Podrascanin 5, Botolo 12, Tenorio not. Head Coach: Medei
MILANO: Kaziyski 5, Stafforini (L) not, Larizza, Zonta, Catania (L), Reggers 32, Barotto 1, Piano, Schnitzer 11, Gardini not, Otsuka 1, Poro, Luati 11, Caneschi 8. Head Coach: Piazza
STATISTICS:
game durations 23', 26', 23', 26', 18'. Total time: 1h 56'.
Civitanova: service errors 14, aces 9, blocks 8, attack efficiency 52%, reception 48% (25%).
Milano: service errors 24, aces 8, blocks 5, attack efficiency 45%, reception 47% (27%).
Spectators: 1,902.
MVP: Botolo.
