Start of the second seasonal phase for Akademia Città Di Messina which, on Sunday 28 January starting at 4pm, it will make its debut in Pool Promozione by hosting the Ipag Sorelle Ramonda Montecchio at the “PalaRescifina”, match valid for the 1st round of the first leg.
Coach Bonafede’s girls are fresh from a double match, with opposite numerical outcomes in the Championship and Cup, with Futura Giovani Busto Arsizio; a few days between the two events, in which performances of absolute value arrived which give idea, identity and concreteness to the team’s exponential growth work in recent months. The internal success with Busto demonstrates in fact how Akademia, built in the summer to play a peaceful season and which could give satisfaction to the fans, can fight on the same level with teams equipped to win hands down.
The semi-final match on Wednesday of the Cup, always with the nocks, confirmed the goodness of a group capable of arriving one step away from victory, dragging the Lombard battleship to the advantages in two sets out of three, finally giving in only due to episodes that the circumstances were decreed to be favorable to the girls led by coach Amadio.
Meanwhile, next weekend it will be the Championship again; start of the hot phase with the first round of the Promotion Pool, the one in which the first name for next season’s A1 will come out. In the third and final phase, however, the teams that finish second to fifth in the standings will compete for the chance to get on the last available train to the top flight, with semi-finals and a play-off final.
The first to test the condition of the people of Messina, Ipag Sorelle Ramonda Montecchio. The Vicenza team concluded the regular season on the third step of the Group B ranking with 35 points, 14 wins, 4 defeats, 45 sets won, 32 lost. In the starting ranking of Poole Promozione, however, it occupies sixth position (the points acquired in the first phase are maintained), immediately behind Akademia Città Di Messina in fifth place and with five points more. In the quarterfinals of the Italian Cup, to which they qualified by virtue of second place in the relevant group at the end of the first leg matches, Veneto were eliminated by Talmassons. Best scorer of the season, spiker Sara Bellia with 302 points (247 in attack, 20 blocks and 35 aces), achieved between the Championship and the Italian Cup, and the other spiker, Alessia Arciprete, with 273 points (224 in attack, 20 blocks , 29 aces), respectively in 7th and 10th place in the Top Spiker rankings. But that’s not enough; important figures, for the two place 4s, also in the service; and in fact, in the Top Acers ranking, they find themselves in first position, Bellia, and Arciprete in fourth. But to give an idea of how bad Montecchio is on serve, also the 16th position of the spiker Linda Mangani and the 15th of the middle blocker Alexandra Botezat; the latter also in 19th position Top Spiker with 239 points (154 in attack, 66 blocks, 19 aces). Botezat also records notable numbers in blocking, occupying 2nd position in the Top Blockers ranking, behind only Eckl. Another powerhouse, Sara Caruso, did well in this fundamental position, in 11th position. Even in the Top Receivers ranking, Montecchio finds some of its own athletes; the aforementioned Bellia (20th with 32.73% perfect) and Arciprete (8th with 42.06%), but above all the libero Francesca Napodano, on the second step with 46.2%. Montecchio’s thrilling figures are undoubtedly those of the team where he is present with top placings in all the rankings: 1st for points scored (1314), 2nd for blocks (177), 1st for aces (121).
Echoing the head coach’s statements, Fabio Bonafedein the press conference of the last round of the Championship, also the second coach Flavio Ferrara highlights the enormous and fruitful work carried out by all the members of Akademia Città Di Messina: “In just a few days we experienced many emotions in the race and feelings of pride for what our girls put in place in the splendid championship victory with Busto last Sunday , but also in the semi-finals of the Cup played far from our fans and against a team built to never suffer defeats. And instead we managed to beat it with an incredible performance a few days ago and we were very close to repeating ourselves on Wednesday too. Two matches that allow us to positively verify the extensive growth path achieved in a few months and which has led us to fight on the same level with better equipped teams. I also want to remind you that the Italian Cup places us among the top four A2 teams; a fact that cannot go unnoticed.”
The Promotion Pool begins and Montecchio arrives on Sunday: “We think about working as always in the gym where we are putting our skills to help the team express its full potential. We are aware that we are playing a good game and to continue we will always have to do well together. We hope to see an increasingly packed stadium with people on Sunday. The entire Akademia family deserves to be supported in an important phase of the season. The Pool Promozione is an incredible result that we must all cherish and enhance together.”
Two exes from the meeting: Valeria Battista and Marianna Maggipinto. The first in Montecchio in the seasons from 2019 to 2021, the second last season also holding the ranks of captain. There are also two previous ones, both in Regular Season last season with the triumphs of the Venetian team.
Opening day of Pool Promozione which arouses great interest to understand if the balance will really be defined according to the indications provided by the quarterfinals of the Italian Cup, with the absolute dominance of the teams coming from group A or we will witness a revenge by Macerata, Montecchio, San Giovanni in Marignano and Cremona, who will be joined by Mondovì who did not take part in the Italian competition since the beginning of this second phase. Acquired numbers and coat of arms say that the cartel match should be that of the “PalaBarton” between Perugia and Macerata, relegated from the A1 series after last year. Also watch out for the comparison between “PalaRescifina” and Messina which is on the rise and Montecchio which hasn’t won since January 7th in the Offanengo tie-break but which has all it takes to play an excellent season finale. In the other matches, San Giovanni in Marignano will want to confirm with Busto Arsizio how well they have done so far, while there is great curiosity about the match between Talmassons and Cremona. Finally, the last match of the day is that of the last two in the ranking but capable of exciting performances (Mondovì, in a useful series for four days and in which, among other things, it conquered the taraflex of the “PalaMarignano”, and Como defeated in the last two days but author of an incredible comeback in the standings over Brescia).
These are the results of the other matches of the first round of the Promotion Pool: Talmassons-Cremona, Perugia-Macerata, San Giovanni in Marignano-Busto Arsizio, Mondovì-Como
The starting ranking of the Promozione Pool: Perugia 49, Busto Arsizio 45, Macerata 44, Cremona 43, Città Di Messina 40, Montecchio 35, Talmassons 34, San Giovanni in Marignano 34, Mondovì 31, Como 30
The match on Sunday 28 January can be attended live via subscription or by purchasing the ticket online (https://www.postoriservato.it/biglietti/acquista-biglietti-akademia-citta-di-messina-volley-19-aprile- 2024-palarescifina-messina-14818.html), in reserved sales points or directly at the entrance to PalaRescifina starting from 2.30 pm on Sunday. The match will be visible for free (registration required) on the volleyballworld.tv web platform at the following link: tv.volleyballworld.com/live/258829