Alan Nine
Del Monte Super Cup
Sir Susa Scai Perugia and Cucine Lube Civitanova will meet in Sunday’s Del Monte Super Cup final after coming through contrasting semi-finals at the PalaRaschi in Parma. Perugia recovered from a set down to beat Itas Trentino 3-1, while Civitanova swept an under-strength Rana Verona in 73 minutes.
Perugia prevailed 22-25, 25-20, 25-18, 30-28 to reach their ninth Super Cup final in 11 editions. Trento led after a first set of repeated momentum shifts, but the Italian champions took control through their block and a deeper spread of attacking options. Ferre Reggers scored 20 points, while Kamil Semeniuk and Oleh Plotnytskyi added 17 each. Sebastián Solé came on during the second set and supplied four blocks as Perugia won the net battle 10-7.
Trento pushed the fourth set beyond 25, but Perugia converted their sixth match point when a final first-tempo attempt failed to clear the net. Captain Simone Giannelli said the decisive demand had been mental rather than physical: his side had remained present throughout a long, high-level contest, even when emotion threatened to affect their clarity. Trento captain Riccardo Sbertoli felt his team had competed well for two and a half sets but acknowledged that Perugia were currently stronger in two or three fundamentals, particularly serving and reception. He identified consistency as the next step if Trento are to sustain that level against the best sides.
Civitanova then defeated Verona 25-18, 25-13, 25-19 to reach their 13th Super Cup final and their first since 2023. Aleksandar Nikolov led the scoring with 16 points, Mattia Bottolo added 12 and Eric Loeppky converted seven of his eight attacks. Lube hit 58 per cent as a team and served nine aces, compared with Verona’s 35 per cent in attack and one ace.
Simeon Nikolov set the tone with an opening service run that sent Civitanova 7-0 ahead. Verona recovered to 20-18, only for Giovanni Gargiulo to break the set open from the service line. The second set quickly moved beyond Verona’s reach and Lube pulled away again after 9-9 in the third. Verona were without Micah Christenson, Lorenzo Cortesia and Rok Možič, the latter ruled out by a sudden flu-like illness. Perugia and Civitanova play for the trophy on Sunday at 18:00.
Brazil
Sada Cruzeiro strengthened their lead in the men’s Superliga by ending Vôlei Renata’s unbeaten start with a 3-0 away win, 25-22, 25-22, 25-20. Cruzeiro moved to 14 points from five matches, with Oppenkoski scoring 14 points and Manu Armoa adding 13 to earn the VivaVôlei award. Renata were again without Bruninho on court as the setter continued his recovery from a calf strain.
In the women’s league, Batavo Mackenzie claimed their first win after four defeats by coming from behind to beat defending champions Dentil Praia Clube 3-1. Paula Mohr scored 16 points, while middle blocker Lia Rosa contributed 15, including six blocks, in the 27-29, 25-21, 25-19, 26-24 victory. Mackenzie outblocked Praia 17-13 and collected their first three points of the season.
Italian Women’s Serie A2
Itas Trentino won 3-1 away to VBC Cremonese in the opening match of the eighth round, taking the sets 25-19, 25-21, 17-25, 25-19 and moving to 16 points. MVP Martina Susio scored 19 points, with Zala Frelih adding 18 and Alice Pamio 11. Trento’s concern was an injury to Ludovica Sismondi, who landed on a team-mate’s foot in the third set and left the court with a left-knee injury. Her condition will be assessed by the club’s medical staff.
European Leagues and Cups
Khilasedichi Baku and Mladost Zagreb advanced from the men’s CEV Champions League qualifiers. Baku overturned their first-leg defeat by winning 3-2 away to Sporting CP before taking the Golden Set 15-13, while Mladost completed a 3-0 home win over Levski Sofia after recovering from 17-22 to win the second set 27-25.
In Poland, Projekt Warszawa came back to beat ChKS Chełm 3-1, with Yuri Romanò scoring 18 points. In France, Sète ended a five-match losing run with a straight-sets victory over Royan, while Tours beat Saint-Nazaire 3-1 behind 21 points from Victor Cardoso and 19 from Earvin Ngapeth.
