Parma.Cucine Lube Civitanova returned to the Italian Supercup final after a three-year hiatus. In the second semifinal of the tournament in Parma, the team of brothers Aleksandar and Simeon Nikolov crushed Rana Verona with a 3:0 (25:18, 25:13, 25:19) victory, securing a clash with Perugia for the first trophy of the 2026/2027 season.
Lube's last appearance in the competition's final was in 2023 in Biella, when they lost to Perugia 2:3. A year earlier, in 2022 in Cagliari, the two teams met again in the decisive match, and Perugia won again after a tie-break.
In February this year, Lube was eliminated in the Supercup semifinals in Trieste after losing to Verona 1:3. Now, Giampaolo Medei's proteges took a decisive revenge, leaving no chances for their opponent.
Aleksandar Nikolov was once again the most effective volleyball player for Lube. The Bulgarian outside hitter finished with 16 points, 14 of which were from attack and 2 directly from serve. He converted 14 of 25 attacks for a 56% success rate.

His younger brother Simeon Nikolov also made an important contribution to the convincing success. The Bulgarian setter finished with 5 points, impressing with 3 aces, one successful attack, and one block point.
Mattia Bottolo added 12 points, and Canadian outside hitter Eric Loeppky distinguished himself with 9 points and an exceptional 88% attack efficiency - 7 successful attacks from 8 attempts.
The difference between the two teams was particularly clear in attack. Lube finished with 58% efficiency against only 35% for Verona. Medei's team also had a significant advantage in serving with 9 aces against only one for the opponent.
Already in the first set, Lube imposed its will and took an 8:2 lead. The lead reached 16:10 at the second technical timeout, and the set concluded at 25:18.
In the second set, the superiority of the Civitanova team was even more decisive. Lube led 16:7 and 21:10 before closing the set at 25:13. The third set also passed under the dictation of the Nikolov brothers' team, which led 21:13 and finished the match at 25:19.
For Verona, Numory Keita was the top scorer with 7 points, followed by Paul Buchegger with 6. The absence of American setter Micah Christenson further limited the options of Fabio Soli's team.
Thus, Lube qualified for another final in the tournament, in which they have four trophies - from 2006, 2008, 2012, and 2014. The team will try to break the 12-year drought without winning a Supercup.
In the final on Sunday, November 15, Lube will face Perugia, who defeated Itas Trentino 3:1 (22:25, 25:20, 25:18, 30:28) in the first semifinal.
The trophy match at the "PalaRaschi" hall in Parma starts at 7:00 PM Bulgarian time and will be broadcast on Rai 2 and VBTV, as well as on max sport.

The match at the "PalaRaschi" hall in Parma was also watched live by the family of brothers Aleksandar and Simeon Nikolov. Their parents - volleyball legend Vladimir Nikolov and his wife Maya, as well as their sister Daria, were in the stands. Among the spectators was also the president of the Bulgarian Volleyball Federation, Lyubomir Ganev, who also supported the two Bulgarian national players.