The Regular Season closed in the best possible way with the home tie-break victory over Futura Giovani Busto Arsizio, Akademia Città Di Messina is preparing to facein tonight’s midweek shift with start set at 8.30 pm (live on Rtp), the semi-final of the Italian Cup; in front, coach Daris Amadio’s girls again. This time, however, the scenario is reversed, considering that, based on the best ranking of the Lombard teams, the match will be played at the “PalaBorsani” in Castellanza. Up for grabs is the final of the prestigious competition scheduled for February 18th in Trieste.
The match will have a different flavor for the two teams, one called to make up for the defeat of “PalaRescifina”, the other to try to repeat the success obtained just a few days earlier in the Championship and reach the last act of the prestigious category trophy . For Akademia it would represent a further historic result, considering that never before has a Messina volleyball team managed to achieve such a high placing in the Italian competition in the past; the semi-final already constitutes an extraordinary and unprecedented half.
The two teams qualified for the competition at the end of the first round; the hosts as runners-up and the guests as fourth, both in group A. In the quarter-finals, Busto got the better of Cremona, beating them at home 3-0, while – with the same result but away from friendly walls – Messina managed to conquer the Taraflex of Macerata.
With only three days’ gap between the Championship match and the Cup match, many themes of tomorrow’s match could be the ones already seen and developed last Sunday at the “PalaRescifina”. Best scorer of the match, Elisa Zanette with 22 points (19 in attack with a percentage of 33%, 1 block and 2 aces); behind her is MVP Jessica Joly at 20 (15 in attack with a percentage of 29%, 3 blocks and 2 aces). With 16 points (all in attack with a percentage of 33%) Valeria Battista; Eleonora Furlan has 14 points (10 in attack with a percentage of 48%, 3 blocks and 1 ace).
The highest percentage in attack is recorded by Sofia Monza (75% with 3 points scored on 4 offensive actions); the same director from Busto, despite her 174 cm, placed 3 blocks out of the team’s 12 in total. In attack, 67% for Viola Tonello (6 points, but also 1 block for her), while Giulia Galletti stands out with 50% (3 winning attacks out of 6 overall). For Eleonora Furlan there are 10 points in attack (14 in total with 3 blocks and 1 ace) and a percentage of 48%; 4 from Aurora Rossetto (40%) accompanied by 3 blocks and 1 ace. On serve, 4 aces from Messina with 12 errors, 6 from Busto with 14 errors. On the block, the Top Blocker of the match was Messina’s captain, Melissa Martinelli, with 6 points (a total of 10 points for her, the other 4 in attack); in total, 14 walls in Messina; 12 those of Busto. In reception, 41% positivity for the Sicilian ones (a value influenced by 49% for Maggipinto), 51% for the Lombard ones (70% for Bonvicini). In the break phase, 31 points for Messina (Joly at 8), 33 for Busto (Zanette at 9); in the side out phase, 42 points for the hosts, 45 for the guests. No former players in the match, two previous matches and both in the regular season this season: success for Busto in the first leg (3-1) and victory in the ti-break for Messina in the return leg.
For president Fabrizio Costantino “being able to play in a semi-final of the Italian Cup is a source of great pride for us. We will represent Messina in a prestigious competition with the aim of giving our best as we have done so far. The results achieved reward the serious work of a healthy club with a great desire to grow further”. In the other semi-final match of the Italian Cup, Perugia will face Talmassons at the “PalaBarton”.