Italian Cup winner Cucine Lube Civitanova suffered their first loss of the year, losing their away game to Modena 1:3.Alex Nikolov played a strong match for the team from the Marche region, scoring 14 points, all from attack.The hosts, led by former Hebar coach Alberto Giuliani, had a significant advantage in serving, scoring 10 aces compared to only 4 for the visitors. Unforced errors by Lube were also more than those of their opponent - 37/31. After Nikolov, only Mattia Bottolo from the visitors scored double digits - 12 points (1 ace), while for the winners, three players had over 10 points - Davyskiba, Brehme, and Gutierrez, who became the MVP of the match. Only in the third set did coach Medei's boys show why they are the Italian Cup holders, but then inconsistency again overwhelmed them, and they failed to gain any ranking points from this match. Despite the loss - their sixth of the season - Lube is in third position in the standings with 39 points, followed by Piacenza with 36, who took a point in their away game against Trento.
Captain Balaso and his teammates will return to the court on Thursday, February 13 (9:30 PM, Bulgarian time), against Turkish SK Ankara for the first semi-final match of the Challenge Cup at the Eurosuole Forum in Civitanova.
On February 16, Lube will host Taranto at home again, against whom they will seek revenge for the loss in their away game at Bonifante-padre.

Valsa Group Modena - Cucine Lube Civitanova 3-1 (25-20, 25-21, 22-25, 19-25)

Valsa Group Modena: Massari, Mays, Matti 1, Sanguinetti 7, Stankovic, Davyskiba 16, Gollini (L) ne, De Cecco 3, Anzani 5, Brehme 13, Gutierrez 13, Ikhbayri 8, Federici (L), Rinaldi ne. Coach: Giuliani

Cucine Lube Civitanova: Chinenyeze 4, Gargiulo 9, Leppky 6, Orduna, Bisotto (L) ne, Balaso (L), Bonifante 1, Poria, Nikolov 14, Lagumdzija 6, D'Amico, Podrascanin 6, Bottolo 12, Tenorio ne. Coach: Medei

Notes:
duration of sets 27', 28', 33', 28'. Total 1 hour and 56 minutes.
Modena: service errors 19, aces 10, blocks 11, attack 52%, reception 42% (23%).
Civitanova: service errors 20, aces 4, blocks 5, attack 52%, reception 49% (32%).
Spectators: 3,665.
MVP: Gutierrez.