Italy - Superlega 2021-2022

    Lucarelle's open-net attack and Simon's block are so crucial.

    Lube is winning

    Congrats to Lube!

    Simon is MVP in set #5. One block, one spike and one ace at clutch time nailed the game.

    Perugia vs. Lube in final again.


    Kudos to all live fans who support their teams during pandemic.

    Anyone likes legavolley's new interface? I hope they don't change it to the style as new CEV's interface.

    Well, legavolley is down again. Guess fans are flooding over there. LOL

    Just checked the stats of two games.

    Leon had another bad day. Luckily for Perugia, Anderson and Rychlicki saved the team with solid attack. Giannellie found his rhythm. Perugia's block was beyond their normal level, with 8 more blocks than Modena's. Anyone knew what happened to Leal? He was not even on court through the whole game.


    Garica subbing Zeytsev was turning point. DeCecco trusted Simon as his first choice. Simon, a MB, was the best scorer for Lube in this match. And some crucial points in set #5. Lucarelli also had a solid reception and attach ratio. As to Trentino, I did not know what happened to Michieletto, with only 19 attack attempts. Both Lavia and Pinali had horrible attack ratio. Sbertoli had great passes in CL and Superlega semi, but also some bad passes to kill the team momentum, unstable from time to time. He got a long way to go if he wants to become a top class setter.

    If my memory serves well, the CL spots are calculated by the order:

    regular season champion -> superlega champion -> superlega runner-up -> regular season runner-up -> regular season 3rd winner.


    If this is true, Perugia, Lube and Trentino (regular season 3rd winner) will take 3 spots of CL next season. And Modena only got a spot for CEV cup.

    Modena managed to stop Leon but we couldn’t say the same for Anderson and Rychlicki. Gianelli was good this match but he did not play with middles, especially Sole, as often as he does. Perugia’s block, even when their setter is on the front row, was superb and intimidating. Ngapeth was stopped by three blockers, neither Bruno nor Nimir was as sufficient as they were in 3th match. The lack of contribution from middles, which, by the way, was better this match compare to previous matches, did not help Modena for sure. I wonder why Leal wasn’t tried at all. Van Garderen simply doesn’t belong to this level.

    https://www.volleyball.it/peru…-zero-scuse-e-vie-legali/


    This is very strong letter from Travica on this whole event with Leal, in regard to his emotions and his outlook on this situation (long story short: I haven't done anything; Leal would have behaved differently if he had really heard some racial slur; he didn't even apologize for his behavior; I received death threats and online bashing after Ngapeth's post what was hard for me and the family; it seems there will be civil process in a future, because Travica says he won't leave it as it is). I have no knowledge to judge where the truth was, but I guess that's a good reminder not to jump into any conclusions without evidence, and as for now there is basically none.


    About SFs:


    - Trentino played the most games in Europe throughout the season (Perugia didn't play at CWCH, Civitanova didn't play at CI Final Four and in CL semifinals, Modena didn't play in CWCH, CI Final Four and was eliminated in CEV Cup early) - and they physically flopped badly at this part of the season. Luckily for them, they have almost a full month to win something and prepare well for CL final.

    - Civitanova needs to improve a lot if they want to win a league title, but this season isn't a catastrophe anymore. I was critical for Lucarelli, but he stepped up when he was asked to do so, and I think thanks to that he may stay in Civitanova after all;

    - I was very critical of Perugia, but it's worthy of mention that Anderson was great in the past two games and Perugia advanced convincingly despite a fact that I believe Leon isn't healthy yet;

    - disastrous finish for disastrous season of Modena, I think they wish that Leal will move away (Piacenza), because they need some rebuild and he has huge 2-year contract to 2024 (he kicked Travica and then got injured in the decisive part of the season -- that's odd ending tho), but I have no idea whom they can attract on current market among OHs, especially considering that previously there were also rumors about Nimir's departure (but no one knows how his situation looks like considering he was rumored to move to Russia alongside Piazza, but we know what's happening);


    CL for Perugia, Trentino and Civitanova, so at least the result is in line with performances from regular season.

    Anyone watched today's game? Perugia 2:3 Lube. It's the first time this season Lube defeated Perugia.

    Based on stats, Leon had another bad day with 9/23. Anderson 12/30, and Rychlicki 13/33. Dunno what's going on.

    Quote from kyle7in1

    Anyone watched today's game? Perugia 2:3 Lube. It's the first time this season Lube defeated Perugia.

    Based on stats, Leon had another bad day with 9/23. Anderson 12/30, and Rychlicki 13/33. Dunno what's going on.

    I’ve seen only the last set so I can’t talk for the whole match, Perugia was having hard time to put the ball down and it tells on the stats.

    Perugia defeated Leal-less Modena, but not that much has changed, they're still in subpar shape since semis against Trentino. The difference is Civitanova has much better block, so it will be very problematic for Perugia to play with out of shape Leon against Simon on a block. Anderson plays well in every second game, the same with Rychlicki, Leon just can't spike on his normal efficiency, even if they get a title this season, it will be after another very problematic series. The good part for them is Civitanova plays in unspectacular way and I don't think it will change drastically, today they made 39 errors in 5 sets, so sooner or later Perugia may exploit that. Nevertheless, level-wise, this is probably the worst volleyball that I've witnessed in Italy in a while, not to mention Karate Leal and this whole affair.

    Lube 3:0 Perugia, only one game away from champion.


    Perugia played like two teams in regular season and playoff. Their performance in playoff was blow their normal level.

    The team lost confidence and momentum after they had a heart-breaking loss in CL semi.

    Leon's knee injury made things even worse as Leon's attack and serve highly depend on his jump.


    Another issue with Perugia is mental toughness. I'd been watching Perugia's games for more than 5 seasons. They choked many times at clutch times, even with a strong roster.


    Perugia got top-class coach Grbic, top-class OH Leon and top-class setter Giannelli. Colaci is also a top-class libero although he's over the hill. Sole's a good MB too. Maybe only the local MB position is weak, compared with other positions. Such a strong team could not even win any CL and Superlega, three seasons in a row. What a shame.

    Quote from kyle7in1

    If my memory serves well, the CL spots are calculated by the order:

    regular season champion -> superlega champion -> superlega runner-up -> regular season runner-up -> regular season 3rd winner.


    If this is true, Perugia, Lube and Trentino (regular season 3rd winner) will take 3 spots of CL next season. And Modena only got a spot for CEV cup.

    No.


    1st: League champion, 2nd: Regular season No.1, 3rd: League runner-up, 4th: team with the highest regular-season ranking beside 1,2, and 3. The regular season no.1 cannot be higher than Scudetto. Otherwise, the playoff is meaningless.


    CEV Cup spot goes to the national cup winner (the same for all european leagues). If the national cup winner gets the CL spot, then it goes to someone else.

    Perugia 3:1 Lube in game #3.

    Leon's finally back to his normal level with solid serve, reception and attack. Lube almost dragged the game into set #5.

    Perugia needs Leon play like this in next 2 games (if Perugia wins game #4 at Lube's home game).

    Kudos to Anderson. He's the most reliable attacker for Perugia in playoff even if he's 35 years old.

    Game #4

    Rychlicki got blocked by DeCecco twice, ridiculous.

    Giannelli should trust Anderson more.

    Both Giannelli and Travica can be starting setter. I am curious why Grbic did not wanna try 2 for 2 subs.

    Send Travica and Horst in for Giannelli and Rychlicki. At least it could change the rhythm.

    Perugia is struggling. Reception, pass, attack and block are all below the normal.

    Simon, for sure, is the best MB this season, and still the best MB in the world.