Sir Safety Susa Perugia won the first of two major battles with Itas Trentino within just six days. Angelo Lorenzetti's team achieved a dramatic 3:2 (22:25, 25:17, 23:25, 25:16, 15:8) away victory in the derby of the fifth round of the Italian SuperLega.
The success gives Perugia a psychological advantage before the rematch between the two teams in the Italian Supercup semifinals on Saturday, November 14, in Parma.
Trento twice took the lead in sets, but the visitors found an answer. After equalizing with a convincing 25:16 in the fourth set, Perugia dominated the tie-break as well, winning it 15:8. In the decisive set, Lorenzetti's players converted 10 out of 11 attacks for an incredible 91% success rate.
The top scorer for the winners was Ferre Reggers with 26 points, 22 of which came from attack with a 76% success rate. Oleg Plotnytskyi added 22 points, including 4 aces, converting an impressive 81% of his attacks. Kamil Semeniuk finished with 18 points, and Giovanni Sanguinetti added 12.
For Trento, the top scorer was Alessandro Michieletto with 23 points, followed by Théo Faure with 16 and Daniele Lavia with 11.
Perugia had a significant advantage in attack – 70% success rate against 53% for the hosts, as well as in blocks – 12:5. The visitors were also more stable in reception with 60% positive against 40% for Trento.
The victory allowed Perugia to maintain their undefeated record and top the standings with 16 points, while Trento suffered their first loss of the season.
On November 14, at 4:30 PM Bulgarian time, the two teams will meet again in the 'Pala Raschi' hall in Parma, but this time the stake will be a place in the Supercup final.
In the other semifinal, at 7:00 PM, Lube Civitanova of brothers Aleksandar and Simeon Nikolov will face Verona. The final is on November 15.

photo:legavolley.it