In front of 4244 spectatorsSir Safety Umbria Volley Perugia defeated Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenzaafter a tie-break 3:2 (25:19, 25:23, 22:25, 17:25, 15:9)and finished the first half of the SuperLega Credem Banca season undefeated, with 11 wins from 11 matchesPiacenza remains in fifth place despite the point gained and will play their Italian Cup quarter-final (December 29) away, ranking behind Rana Verona. Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza was close to an upset, after losing the first two sets, they won the third and fourth, and even led 8-7 at the change of courts in the tie-break, but Plotnytskyi with his powerful serving run turned the tide of the game and brought victory to Perugia.
Despite a strong start from Piacenza, led by Romano and Maar, Perugia won the first two sets thanks to the exceptional performance of Plotnytskyi and Semeniuk, who were flawless on serve and in attack.
However, Piacenza reacted with character, winning the third and fourth sets, forcing the hosts into a tie-break.
In the decisive set, the team from Umbria made the difference on serve, with Plotnytskyi scoring two consecutive aces, and Loeppky closed the match at 15:9.
Alessandro Bovolenta finished with the most points - 18, and Stephen Maar was only the second player with a double-digit score for the visitors - 16.
For the winners, four players finished with over 10 points: Oleh Plotnytskyi (16), Kamil Semeniuk (13), Ben Tara (13), and Yuki Ishikawa (12).
Andrea Anastasi, coach of Piacenza, analyzed the match: "A tough match for both teams. Perugia was impeccable in the first two sets, while we were at level in the other two. It's a shame about the tie-break, where Plotnytskyi, the best server in the world, made the difference. I am satisfied with how the boys performed on the court, but we need to be more aggressive in certain situations. Now we focus on the match against Verona for the Italian Cup Quarterfinals."