Del Monte® Italian Cup A2
Quarter-finals: eight clubs on the field on Thursday to gain access to the semi-finals. The dances will be opened by Vibo and Cuneo at 8.00 pm, first bar at 8.30 pm for Bergamo – Grottazzolina, Castellana – Porto Viro and Cantù – Santa Croce
Del Monte Quarter Finals® Coppa Italia A2 is upon us: the closure of 2022 is about to give fans of the second national series four inside-out clashes between the eight best-placed teams at the halfway point of the Regular Season.
The start is expected at 20.00 on Thursday at the PalaMaiata, where the winter champions of Tuna Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia await the BAM Acqua S. Bernardo Cuneo, finalist of the last edition (defeated by Reggio Emilia in the showdown), who detached the pass for the Quarters by exploiting the eighth place in the standings. The home club is an expert in the competition boasting three A2 Italian Cups (2003/04, 2015/16 and 2016/17) and having also digested two defeats in the final of the A2 trophy over the years, both against Verona, in addition to defeat in the showdown of the A1 Cup with Treviso (2004/05). In the only match, in the first leg in the Regular Season at the Palasport in Cuneo, the Piedmontese sextet had the upper hand, which they find again as rival Alessio Tallone, who played in the Cuneo shirt until last year. After the halfway point, Callipo overwhelmed Lagonegro 3-0, BAM fell at home 3-1 against Brescia.
There Pool Libertas Cantu focuses on the quarterfinals of the tournament which awards the tricolor cockade to redeem the misstep in the Lombard derby in Bergamo. Thursday, at 20.30, the PalaFrancescucci welcomes the Kemas Lamipel Santa Croce for a classic of the category. Always eliminated in the quarterfinals, as in the past season, the Canturino team wants to break the taboo and can do it within the friendly walls against the sixth classified after the first half of the regular season. The Tuscan Wolves are uncomfortable customers and boast two category cups on their showcase, the first won in the 2004/05 Final with Corigliano, the second lifted to the sky in 2010/11 against Ravenna. This is the first cup crossing between the two teams after 11 in the league, with Kemas winning 8 times (including the 3-1 on matchday two in the Regular Season, dated 16 October). The Lombard collective finds itself facing four exes: Manuel Coscione, Tino Hanzic, Matteo Maiocchi and Matheus Motzo. The second coach Andrea Zingoni, on the other hand, has a past as assistant coach at PalaParenti in his curriculum.
The climate of great occasions is expected at the PalaIntred in view of the big match on Thursday, with the kick-off at 20.30, between Agnelli Tipiesse Bergamofourth at the halfway point with 23 points, e Videx Yuasa Grottazzolina, fifth with a length of delay after the last day of the Regular Season. Detachment that was accentuated after the first round of return, with the Bergamo players jumped to third position and the Marches slipped to seventh place. The home giants have reached the bottom of the competition several times and in two cases they have won the trophy in the “mixed” A2/A3 version: in 2019/20 thanks to the winning tie break at the Unipol Arena in Bologna against Brescia, and the following year making the big voice against Porto Viro at the PalaPozzoni of Cisano Bergamasco. The guests have a long tradition in the category cup at the turn of the 20th century, then renewed from the 2017/18 season, but they came closest to winning on the occasion of the A3 Cup lost in the showdown tie break against Prata in the past season. Bergamo, who won their only previous cup win with Videx, is ahead 6-2 in face-off matches. The Marches won the Regular Season match 3-1 between the walls on 20 November.
Eight days after the match valid for the recovery of the ninth day they will meet again BCC Castellana Grotte and Delta Group Porto Viro: the meeting had promoted the Apulians to second place at the halfway point, making them meet again the Venetians, seventh. Castellana Grotte, winner of the A2 Cup in 2011/12 against Segrate, wants to renew the glories of the past in front of the public friend of PalaGrotte, and to do so it will have to deal with Porto Viro, which in 2020/21 became the protagonist of a beautiful sporting fairy tale in the A2/A3 trophy remaining the last representative in contention of the third national category, then yielding in the final against a better equipped opponent like Bergamo. 2-2 the total balance of the precedents between the two, including the away success at the tie break of nerofucsia in the Quarter Finals of the last edition at the PalaGrotte. Positive climate on both fronts after the successes in the first round of the Regular Season: the affirmation of the BCC on Videx was clear, the exploit of the Delta Group at the photo finish against Prata was baked with heart. The hosts are preparing to challenge three exes: Alex Erati, Fernando Garnica and Filippo Vedovotto. In the visiting team Rocco Barone is on the verge of a personal best, only 14 winning attacks separate him from 1500 in his career.
Quarterfinals Del Monte® Italian Cup A2
Thursday 29 December 2022, 8.00 pm
Tuna Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia – BAM Acqua S.Bernardo Cuneo
Referees: Author Enrico, Talento Matteo
Video Check: Richichi Antonino
Scorekeeper: Elena Morello
Live Volleyballworld.tv
Thursday 29 December 2022, 8.30pm
Pool Libertas Cantù – Kemas Lamipel Santa Croce
Referees: Clemente Andrea, Jacobacci Sergio
Video Check: Vanessa Bacchella
Scorekeeper: Balconi Cristina
Live Volleyballworld.tv
Agnelli Tipiesse Bergamo – Videx Yuasa Grottazzolina
Referees: Nava Stefano, Selmi Matteo
Video Check: Gianluca Fumagalli
Scorekeeper: Ricci Giacomo Ferdinando
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BCC Castellana Grotte – Delta Group Porto Viro
Referees: Grassia Luca, Vecchione Rosario
Video Check: Giuseppe Mancini
Scorekeeper: Cinquepalmi Giuseppe
Live Volleyballworld.tv