Simeon Nikolov played his first match with the Cucine Lube Civitanova team, while his brother Alex finished as the top scorer for the team in their 3:1 (30:28, 26:24, 20:25, 25:21) away victory against Yuasa Battery Grottazzolina in a friendly match.
For Moni, this was his debut for his new club. Giampaolo Medei placed him directly in the starting lineup, after Lube had already gathered seven of its nine national players. Alex also started from the first point, and the two Bulgarians played a significant role in Civitanova's early lead.
In its report on the friendly, Lube pays special attention to the Nikolov brothers. Alex starts with a strong serving run and two aces for an 8:4 lead. Grottazzolina, however, comes back, and the opening set goes into extra points.
At 28:28, Dragan Stankovic makes a serving error, and after him, Moni steps up to the service line. The Bulgarian setter serves an ace for 29:28, then again troubles the hosts' reception, and Alex finishes the subsequent attack for 30:28.
In the next set, Moni again pressures the opponent with his serve and an ace to give Lube a 13:8 lead. Grottazzolina turns the tide and gets two opportunities to equalize, but this time it's Alex's turn. His serve helps Civitanova reach 24:24, after which the Bulgarian outside hitter executes the decisive attacks for 26:24.
At 2:0, Medei begins rotations. Alex finishes his participation in the friendly, and Lube comes out with Maxim Tonkonoh as opposite and with changes in the middle. Grottazzolina reduces the lead after 25:20, before the visitors take the fourth set 25:21 to make the final score 3:1.
Alex Nikolov finished with 12 points and remained Lube's top scorer, despite being substituted after the second set. Moni added 7 points in his debut for the Italian club.
Point tally of Lube players
| Player | Pts. | Player | Pts. | Player | Pts. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alex Nikolov | 12 | Tommaso Gardini | 9 | Maxim Tonkonoh | 8 |
| Moni Nikolov | 7 | Jackson Howe | 7 | Eric Loeppky | 6 |
| Francesco Polo | 6 | Miran Kujundzic | 5 | Giovanni Gargiulo | 4 |
| Antonín Klimeš | 3 | Gatto | 1 | Francesco Zoppellari | 0 |
Alex's 12 points are even more impressive given his limited playing time. Moni, on the other hand, started his stay at Lube with 7 points – a serious asset for a setter, with his serve also standing out in the club's match report.
"These are important opportunities for us because we have material to watch and analyze. We need to get to know each other, as we've only had one training session together. This test was planned for a different group, but some of the national team players arrived earlier than expected, and Loeppky only joined his teammates today," commented Giampaolo Medei. The Lube coach also paid special attention to the serve. "Our team has great technical aggressiveness in attack and on serve. Now we are focused on other things, and then we will have to find the right balance. There won't be a situation where everyone can constantly take risks, but for us, the serve will be a trump card," Medei added. The victory was also a revenge for Lube for the 0:3 loss to the same opponent a few days earlier in the "Eurosuole Forum". At that time, Civitanova was without a large part of its national team players, and Medei used a number of young volleyball players from the academy. The control match lasted 1 hour and 38 minutes and was watched by 200 spectators. Lube's next test is on Sunday, October 4, at 5:30 PM against Cisterna Volley in "PalaCarapipa" in San Severino Marche.
