Trento, 07 February 2025

SuperLega, on Saturday night big match at ilT quotidiano Arena

The 19th round of the 2024/25 SuperLega Credem Banca regular season is set to take place this upcoming weekend. Itas Trentino men’s team will feature in one of two scheduled early matches on Saturday, February 8, hosting Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza at the ilT Quotidiano Arena in Trento: second place vs fourth place in the league. The match will kick off at 8:30 PM, with live coverage on RAI Sport, Radio Dolomiti, and live streaming on the OTT platform "VBTV".
HERE ITAS TRENTINO The home big match against the Emilia team kicks off a busy period for the European Champions, as they will play six times in the next eighteen days across two different competitions (league and CEV Cup), each time aiming for results to keep pushing toward their remaining season goals. Specifically, the match against Piacenza offers crucial points to continue to fuel first-place ambitions and keep a proper distance from the closest rival, Civitanova.
"After the Verona match, we face another top team in the standings that will come to Trento hungry for points and eager to prove their worth, especially after the home loss to Civitanova last Sunday," emphasized coach Fabio Soli at the pre-match press conference. "We want to be ready for a real battle, facing a team with great quality in key areas like attacking, serving, and blocking. They also have Simon back, a top-level central blocker, and their deep roster allows them to find important solutions even in the midst of a match. We’re entering this match after a full week of preparation, a unique situation before a busy schedule that will see us play seven matches in the next twenty-two days. We will need to perform at our best, accepting the challenges the opponent will surely present, and with patience and determination, we will look for solutions to overcome them, confident in our abilities and in the support of our fans."
Itas Trentino will be at full strength for the match and will complete its preparations with this afternoon’s training session and the final workout on Saturday morning. The match will also mark the 1,077th match in the club’s history in the men’s division, the 33rd match of the season for the European Champions, and the 12th home game.
THE OPPONENTS Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza comes to Trento firmly in fourth place with a five-point lead (35 to 30) over Verona and Milano (the closest pursuers). This margin remained unchanged after the latest weekend, despite Piacenza’s 3-set home loss to Civitanova. This is because the start of the second half of the season saw Piacenza secure five consecutive wins (away at Modena and Taranto, and at home against Padova, Cisterna, and Monza), before the team coached by Andrea Anastasi suffered two consecutive setbacks: first at Milano in a tie-break and then at PalaBanca against Cucine Lube. Piacenza, eliminated in the Coppa Italia quarter-finals by Verona, is now focused on the final stretch of the league to secure a top-level result, as befits a team filled with important names. Among them are two former players of Trentino Volley: Gianluca Galassi, who began his career in Trentino Volley’s youth system, and Uros Kovacevic, who played for Trentino from 2017 to 2020, collecting 113 appearances and 1,518 points, winning a Club World Championship (2018) and a CEV Cup (2019), with the latter being awarded MVP. Kovacevic will face his former team for the first time in nearly five years, and he is expected to play in a high-ball offense alongside Maar, with Italian National Team opposites Romanò and Bovolenta frequently alternating in the opposite role.
THE BACKGROUND The rivalry between Trentino Volley and the Piacenza team runs deep, as evidenced by the statistics: 76 previous encounters (only Civitanova with 102 and Modena with 89 have more), including 43 regular-season matches, 28 in the Playoff Scudetto (among the Finals in 2008, 2009, 2013, the 2023 semifinals, and the quarter-finals in 2005, 2021, and 2022), 3 in Coppa Italia (final in 2023, semifinals in 2014, and quarter-finals in 2015), and 2 in CEV Cup (quarter-finals in 2017). The head-to-head is in Trentino's favor with a 52-24 record, thanks in part to a long winning streak in recent years. Since Piacenza returned to the top Italian league (2019/20 season), they have only won six times in 22 official encounters. The most recent match was played in Emilia on November 17: a 1-3 win for Trentino, with set scores of 18-25, 22-25, 25-22, 22-25, with Lavia as top scorer (13 points) and Sbertoli as MVP. Overall, Trentino has won 33 out of the 40 official encounters with Piacenza at home.
THE REFEREES The match will be officiated by Stefano Cesare and Vincenzo Carcione, both from Rome, and this will be their fourth joint SuperLega match in their careers, with one of them already involving Trentino Volley (a 3-set victory over Taranto on February 5, 2023). Cesare will be officiating his 13th match of the season with SuperLega teams and returns to Trento a month after the last time (a 3-1 home win against Modena on Epiphany). He has already officiated seven previous matches between Trento and Piacenza, with Trentino winning five and Piacenza winning two. Carcione is officiating his 11th match of the 2024/25 season and is meeting Trentino again one year after the last encounter (Monza-Trento 0-3 on February 3, 2024); this will be his first Trento-Piacenza match.
TV, RADIO AND INTERNET The match will be a global media event, with simultaneous live coverage on TV, radio, and the internet. It will be broadcast live on RAI Sport, channel 58 on digital terrestrial TV, and also on the "Rai Play" app. Live commentary will be provided by Radio Dolomiti, Trentino Volley’s media partner. The frequencies for the regional network are available on the website www.radiodolomiti.com, where the live commentary can also be streamed.
The match will also be streamed live on the OTT platform "VBTV"; this service is paid. For more information on how to access it, visit https://it.volleyballworld.com/volleyball-tv-it.
A highlight package of the match will air on Monday, February 10, around 9:45 PM, on RTTR, the TV partner of Trentino Volley.
Live point-by-point updates will be provided on the Lega Pallavolo Serie A website (www.legavolley.it) and on the official Trentino Volley website (www.trentinovolley.it), with updates also available on the club’s social media (www.trentinovolley.it/instagram  and www.trentinovolley.it/twitter).
TICKETS The match is included in the 2024/25 season subscription. Single-match tickets can be purchased online at any time by clicking https://trentinovolley.vivaticket.it/it/event/itas-trentino-piacenza/259195, or directly at the box office of the ilT Quotidiano Arena on Saturday evening from 7:30 PM, when the doors will open.
LOACKER DAY To celebrate their long and successful partnership, Trentino Volley and Loacker have planned a series of events, with the official sponsor playing a leading role before and during the match on Saturday. The Match Program, the Hospitality Area, the video walls in the arena, and the area adjacent to the ticket offices will all prominently feature Loacker. Additionally, Loacker products will be distributed for free to all attendees inside the venue. Between the first and second sets, the lucky fans in the stands will also have the chance to receive a unique Loacker surprise. The MVP of the match will also be awarded the Loacker trophy, chosen by journalists in the press area.

Trentino Volley Srl
Press Office