Cucine Lube Civitanova remains undefeated at home after defeating Rado Stoychev's Verona team 3-0 (27:25, 25:19, 25:14). After their eleventh home victory of the season, Lube climbed to fourth position with 30 points and a game in hand compared to Piacenza, who is third with a two-point lead, and Verona, who is fifth with a three-point deficit.Alex Nikolov did not play, but even without him, the hosts, through Ioannik Le Roux and Mattia Bottolo, gave no chance to Keita and company.

In a match full of errors (27 for Lube versus 29 for Verona), the decisive factors proved to be the serve and the block, where the hosts' advantage was overwhelming. Lube recorded 11 direct points from service against only 5 for Verona. The ratio was similar in blocking, where out of 12 blocks, 7 were made by two of the hosts' best players - Mattia Bottolo and Barthelemy Chinenyeze. The latter finished with 9 points, 4 of which were from blocks. Mattia Bottolo added 13 points (2 aces, 3 blocks) and Canadian international Ioannik Le Roux 11 points (3 aces). For the guests, Keita was once again outstanding, finishing with the most points in the match - 13 (1 block, 3 aces), but he was often stopped by the opposing block.
The greatest intrigue was in the first set, where the hosts led comfortably 16:12 until the middle, after which the guests managed to get within one point of the opponent (22:21) after an ace by Keita. The score was tied after a video check (23:23), after which Bottolo gave his team their first set point. Verona also had a chance to close the set after 24:25. Another video check gave the hosts a second set point, and after an ace by Bottolo, the set concluded in favor of Lube.

At the beginning of the second set, Rado Stoychev's team took a 2-point lead, extending it to 4 (10:14). Again, blocking and strong serving helped Lube turn the trend in their favor, and after several ties (14:14, 15:15, 16:16, 17:17, 18:18), they took the initiative. This was made possible by two consecutive aces from Barthelemy Chinenyeze, after which the hosts did not allow the opponent to make a comeback until the end of the set. Ioannik Le Roux gave the first set point, and Barthelemy Chinenyeze convincingly finished the set for a 2-0 lead for the hosts.

The third set offered no intrigue, as Lube's block worked again, and Adis Lagumdzija, Ioannik Le Roux, and Mattia Bottolo accumulated point after point, increasing the score to 17:11. By the end of the set, the guests managed to score only 3 more points. The end of the set and the match was crowned with two consecutive aces by Mattia Boninfante, who finished with 4 points. The setter was named MVP of the match.

Lube's next match is on January 12 (8:00 PM) on the difficult home ground of Cisterna di Latina - a team that needs points.

photos: legavolley.it