SuperLega in action on Christmas Day to close out the third round return

Trento, 23 December 2024

SuperLega in action on Boxing Day to close out third round return

As is tradition, the SuperLega will not take a break during the Christmas holidays. On Boxing Day, it offers the third round of the return phase of the 2024/25 regular season, the fourteenth in total. On this occasion, Itas Trentino will play at the illustrious ilT quotidiano arena in Trento, facing Allianz Milano for the 29th edition of the famous insurance derby. The match will start at 6 p.m. on December 26, with live broadcast on RAI Sport, Radio Dolomiti, as well as live streaming on OTT platform VBTV.
ITALY IS BACK Early on Monday, the European champions and vice-world champions will return to Trento and play in front of their home crowd for the first time in a month (the last home match was on November 27 , a 3-0 win over Padova) in their quest to close the gap on leaders Perugia, who are five points clear with one more game.
“We are delighted to finally be able to play in front of our home crowd, especially for a match as important as Thursday,” declares the coach Fabio Soli about this event. “Milano are coming off five wins in their last seven league matches and have a very competitive squad of attackers and servers, while also being very well organized in block and defense. For our part, it is true that we have only just returned to Trento a few hours ago, but I am convinced that the work carried out again on our pitch, as well as the support and warmth of our fans, will be fundamental for this commitment. The approach to the match and the level of attention paid to putting together an effective game will be the keys to the match.”
Itas Trentino will begin preparations for the match on Tuesday afternoon, after a day and a half of rest following their three consecutive trips to Uberlandia, Cagliari and Taranto. They will also train on Christmas Day, while still without Jan Kozamernik. The Romanian Bartha, now recovered from his muscular injury which had kept him away from the field for a good part of the first half of the season, will continue to replace Kozamernik at center.
FOURTEENTH MATCH IN YELLOW-BLUE HISTORY ON BOXING DAY Playing the day after Christmas has become a beloved tradition for Trentino Volley over the years. Over the previous twenty-four seasons, they have played on Boxing Day thirteen times; among these meetings, the yellows and blues have won ten victories: 3-1 against Verona in 2005 and 2022, 3-0 against Treviso in 2010, 3-1 at Belluno in 2011, 3-1 against Perugia in 2012, 3-0 at Monza in 2014, 3-1 against Padova in 2016, 3-1 against Monza in 2017, 3-1 at Siena in 2018, and 3-0 at Padova in 2023. The only three away defeats were: 1-3 at Modena in 2006, 1-3 at Treviso in 2007, and 2-3 at Verona in 2021. On one occasion Trento also played on December 25: a 3–1 home win against Ravenna at Christmas 2019. For this meeting, Trentino Volley will play its 1,068th official match and will aim for its 744th victory, the 386th at home, and the 430th of the regular season.
THE OPPONENTS After facing Civitanova on Sunday evening at the Eurosuole Forum, Allianz Milano face another team suffering a comeback from the 2024 Club World Championship, looking to turn the page after the defeat suffered a few hours earlier in the Marche region . This defeat on the Cucine Lube field, in three sets, prevented the Milanese team from keeping pace with Verona, after having climbed the rankings in recent days with an impressive series of victories (five wins in six matches), closing to just three points behind fourth place. Among the key players in the first thirteen matches of the season and their encouraging performances in the Champions League (second place in Pool B behind the Polish team of Zawiercie) are the Belgian opposite Reggers, second best scorer in the league with a average of 18.2 points per match, the passer Porro (also effective in serving), and the eternal Matey Kaziyski (yellow-blue legend having played 433 official matches, scored 6 066 personal points and won seventeen titles). With the Frenchman Louati, they form a well-matched attacking duo, supported by Gardini and the Japanese Otsuka if necessary.
THE BACKGROUND The total number of official matches between Trentino Volley and Powervolleys Milano amounts to twenty-eight meetings, with twenty-three victories for the gialloblù, who have won six of the last ten clashes, including that of the first half of the season: a victory in four sets, October 12, 2024, (1-3 with scores of 29-31, 27-29, 25-22, 19-25) with Michieletto as top scorer (23 points). The Meneghini have only won three times in their history during their ten visits to Trento: October 15, 2017 (2-3), November 26, 2022 (1-3) and more recently April 24, 2024 for a 0- 3 in the third match of the Play-off Final.
THE REFEREES The match will be managed by Dominga Lot (from Santa Lucia di Piave – Veneto, regular referee since 2010 and international since 2017) and Umberto Zanussi (registered referee since 2006), who will be playing their 17th SuperLega match together. For Lot (who will coach his eighth match in the regular season), the last match against Trento was against Milan (April 27, a 3-1 victory for the Lombards). Zanussi (also in his eighth match in 2024/25) recently managed the gialloblù (on November 17, a victory in Piacenza in four sets) and refereed the Trento-Milan match twice, with a victory for each team.
TELEVISION, RADIO AND INTERNET The match will be a global media event, streaming live on television, radio and online. It will be broadcast on television by RAI Sport, channel number 58 available on the digital terrestrial platform. The match will also be reported live by Radio Dolomiti, media partner of Trentino Volley. The frequencies to listen to the regional network are available on the website www.radiodolomiti.com, where it is also possible to follow the news live in streaming. Live video streaming is also confirmed on the OTT platform “Volleyball World Tv”; a subscription is required for the service. For more information on its use, go to the mentioned site. A summary of the match will be broadcast on Friday December 27 at 4:45 p.m. on RTTR channel, media partner of Trentino Volleyball. Additionally, detailed updates will be managed by the Serie A Volleyball League website (www.legavolley.it) and www.trentinovolley.it, as well as on the active social networks (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter) of the gialloblù .
TICKETS The match is included in the 2024/25 season subscription. Tickets for the individual meeting can be purchased at any time online. They will also be available on Sunday afternoon at the ticket office of the illustrious ilT quotidiano arena, open from 5 p.m., at the same time as the entrances to the arena.

Trentino Volley Srl
Press Department