Omag-Mt San Giovanni in M.no – Akademia Città di Messina: 3-0 (25-16, 25-22, 25-15)
Omag-Mt San Giovanni in M.no: Ortolani 10, Salvatori none, Cangini none, Ghibaudo none, Consoli 11, Parini 8, Meliffi (L) 0, Giacomello none, Turco 3, Caforio (L) 0, Pecorari 10, Nardo 14, Saguatti (L) 0. All. Bertini, Ass. Zanchi
Akademia City of Messina: Battista 3, Martinelli 1, Catania 7, Ciancio 0, Modestino 2, Felappi (L) ne, Mearini 5, Payne 10, Joly 2, Rossetto 2, Maggipinto (L) 0, Galletti 1, Michelini 0. All. Bonafede, Ass. Ferrara.
Referees: Ruggero Lorenzin and Simone Cavicchi
Set duration: 22′,28′,22′
MVP: Alice Nardo (Omag-Mt San Giovanni in Marignano)
The positive series of Akademia Città Di Messina stops at the “PalaMarignano” in San Giovanni. In Romagna, coach Bonafede’s girls suffered their fifth defeat of the season, the first in the Promotion Pool, in the presence of an opponent who did nothing wrong, demonstrating, with a performance made up of rhythm and aggressiveness in every phase of the game, that they can still fight for the play-offs.
Always an uphill match for the Messina team who, only in the second set, managed to play on par with the home team, but lost at the end. For the rest of the match, they never managed to really worry their opponents who showed greater effectiveness both in the offensive and defensive phases. A bad day for the girls in the yellow-red jerseys, especially to be quickly forgotten. Already on Wednesday evening, in the midweek of Valentine’s Day, an opportunity to make up for it against Macerata who, by virtue of the success in the tie-break with Como, once again overtakes the Messina team and takes third place in the standings; in reality, for the Marche teams, the same number of points but a better set quotient.
In the starting six, for the hosts of San Giovanni, coach Bertini relies on Turco as director, his opposite Ortolani, central players Consoli and Parini, place 4 Nardo and Pecorari, libero Caforio; for Messina coach Bonafede deploys Galletti as director, Payne opposite him, Martinelli and Modestino in central positions, Joly and Battista in place 4, Maggipinto libero. Departure in P2 for San Giovanni, in P1 for Messina.
In the first set, first study exchanges and some errors on both fronts to mark the start of the match. Home mini-break on Parini’s winning attack (6-3) and coach Bonafede immediately calls a time-out. Modestino shortens the block, Ortolani shows his quality diagonally from place 4 and on the first long rally of the match San Giovanni takes the maximum advantage (10-5). Messina reaction with Battista (2) and Modestino (13-11). Martinelli misses from nine meters, Pecorari places an ace and, following Modestino’s fast error, coach Bonafede calls the second time-out (16-11). Messina shy, San Giovanni bold. Consoli makes a mistake on serve, coach Bonafede changes direction: Galletti out, Michelini in (18-13). Like Percorari, Battista also makes himself felt at the service (18-14). Ciancio takes over Battista, Martinelli fails in the first half, Nardo scores two consecutive aces (24-15). Parini closes the first set on ball 7 (25-16). Nardo best scorer with 6 points.
In the second partial, sextet confirmed for coach Bertini, while Bonafede brings in Mearini for Modestino and Rossetto for Joly. Messina starts ahead with Payne, Rossetto and Battista (2-4). On Martinelli’s fast error, coach Bonafede inserts Catania. Pecorari misses the serve, Consoli sinks in fast (4-5). Galletti extends but Ortolani first and Payne’s error to follow, allow San Giovanni to regain parity (6-6). Parini blocks well, Payne makes up for his previous mistake and it’s still balanced (7-7). Nardo gives his team the double advantage with an ace (9-7). Catania with a block keeps Messina hooked, Rossetto regains parity with an ace, while Catania again pounces on a slash ball and Messina puts his nose forward (11-12). The Sicilians suffer from Consoli’s fast moves, but Payne responds in the same way (14-14). Mearini had his name written on the scoresheet twice in attack, Maggipinto defended everywhere, Pecorari gained the double advantage with a great diagonal shot from a loose ball (18-16). Coach Bonafede calls time-out. The first exchange upon returning is played to the limit; Ortolani finds the touch-out (19-16). Catania in fast brings Messina within two (20-18). San Giovanni defends every ball and hits incisively, while Catania in fast keeps Messina’s hopes alive (23-20). Ortolani makes a mistake on the pipe and coach Bertini stops the game (23-21). Upon returning, Consoli fails in fast, Nardo and Turco close the second set (25-22).
Nardo best scorer with 11 points. 12 errors for San Giovanni, 13 for Messina.
In the third set, everything still unchanged for coach Bertini, while coach Bonafede leaves Catania and Mearini inside. Messina was in difficulty right from the start and the coach from Syracuse replaced Battista with Joly. Only San Giovanni was on the pitch, while the guests tried by all means to stay in the match. Two blocks from Payne and an ace from Mearini in succession reignite the flame (17-11). Coach Bertini doesn’t want to take any risks and calls a time-out. Pecorari hits the ribbon on serve but the ball falls slowly into Messina’s court; the clear signal that it is not the right day for the Sicilians (19-11). The ending is all up to the hosts; Parini takes care of closing the match (25-15).
Best scorer and MVP of the match Nardo with 14 points; for Messina, Payne at 10, Catania at 7.
Post-match, coach Fabio Bonafede’s statements: “Unfortunately, nothing worked today because the race hasn’t even started on our side. This does not take any credit away from San Giovanni who truly played a great match. Congratulations for everything, even for a fantastic and very warm audience. Nice day of sport; The regret remains because it was not honored on our part. You can lose 3-0 but not like this.” Beyond today’s match, excellent season for Messina and Pool High level promotion: “This year the level is very high and you have to fight every match. Now, I don’t want to look for alibis but we are on the second consecutive trip and for us moving always means facing great sacrifices. We had never experienced a performance of this type before; It will do us good because we haven’t lost in the league for a long time. Congratulations anyway to Omag-Mt. We can talk about it all we want but he played a good game.”