Alex Nikolov received the best "belated" gift for his 21st birthday, which was yesterday.
Lube defeated Trento in their 100th match with a score of 3:1 (25:23, 18:25, 25:22, 25:23).The national player finished the match with a colossal 22 points (2 aces, 2 blocks) and was chosen as the MVP of the match.In the fourth, decisive set, Lube started better (7-5), but then ceded the initiative to the yellow-blues (8-10). Attacks by D'Ercole and a great block by Nikolov put Civitanova ahead again (12:11). Itas made a mini comeback, but the game continued point for point until Lavia's tip (15:17). The team from the Dolomites took a solid lead (16:19), but Nikolov had his say for the tie (20:20). Lube made a comeback after a back-row error by Gabi Garcia (22:21). Nikolov again scored an ace to give his team their first match point (24:22). An unsuccessful triple block by the hosts followed for 24:23, after which Canadian national player Eric Loeppky closed the match with a diagonal attack.
Alessandro Michieletto finished with the most points, 26, and three players had double-digit scores, all with 12 points each: Rychlicki, Lavia, and Flavio, but they were not enough for more than one set in favor of the European club champions. This maintained the trend of Lube being the team with the best home results so far - only two lost sets in six matches in front of their home crowd. Trento played without Jan Kozamernik (who had surgery on Thursday in Piacenza for a cervical disc herniation).
This is the first match against his former team for Marko Podrascanin, a middle blocker who, before returning to Lube, played four years for Itas, achieving significant success in Italy and abroad.
Before this match, Civitanova was third in the standings with 20 points, after their first away win of the season in the championship, achieved on Wednesday with a 3:0 victory in the local derby against Grottazzolina, which was part of the 11th round. The yellow-blues also played on November 27, achieving a valuable 3:1 victory against Padova, which allowed them to temporarily top the standings with a +2 point lead over Perugia, who, however, won today against Monza with 3:1 and topped the standings. Lube consolidated their third position in the table, ahead of Piacenza, who are fourth but have a game in hand. Thus, Nikolov and company are guaranteed a seeded spot in the Final Eight for the Del Monte® Italian Cup.
After playing their 100th match, Lube has 55 wins and 45 losses in their encounters with Trento.
Interesting statistics also pertain to former players in the rosters of both teams: Marko Podrascanin was with Trento from 2020/21 to 2023/24; Gabi Garcia Fernandez was with Civitanova during 2021/22-2022/23, Nicola Pesaresi was with Civitanova in 2016/17; Kamil Rychlicki was with Civitanova during 2019/20-2020/21.
Mattia Bottolo scored only 4 points, but they were enough to pass the 1000-point mark in the regular season.
Flavio Resende Gualberto of Trento was one point away from reaching 200 block points.
Lube is preparing for a European tournament match on Thursday in Serbia and awaiting the Club World Championship in Brazil from December 10 to 15, where they can only meet Trento in the semifinals or final.
CIVITANOVA: Chinenye 8, Gargiulo, Loeppky 9, Orduna (L) no, Bisotto no, Balaso (L), Boninfante 4, Poria, Nikolov 22, Lagumdzija 5, D'Ercole 10, Podrascanin 5, Bottolo 4, Tenorio no. Head Coach: Medei
TRENTO: Bristot no, Pesaresi (L) no, Michieletto 26, Sbertoli 2, Pelacani 6, Garcia Fernandez 1, Rychlicki 12, Magalini, Laurenzano (L), Lavia 12, Barthelemy, Flavio 12, Acquarone no. Head Coach: Soli
Notes: set durations 31', 26', 31', 32'. Total 2 hrs.
Civitanova: service errors 15, aces 4, blocks 7, attack efficiency 52%, reception 46% (29%).
Trento: service errors 18, aces 5, blocks 6, attack efficiency 55%, reception 48% (34%).
Spectators: 3,403.
MVP: Nikolov
