Akademia City of Messina – Futura Giovani Bustro Arsizio: 3-2 (21-25, 25-23, 25-19, 16-25, 17-15)
Akademia City of Messina: Battista 17, Martinelli 10, Catania 0, Ciancio, Modestino 8, Felappi ne, Mearini ne, Payne 8, Joly 20, Rossetto 8, Maggipinto (L) 0, Galletti 0, Michelini ne, Gemelli (L) ne. All. Bonafede, Ass. Ferrara.
Futura Giovani Bustro Arsizio: Pomili 0, Bresciani 0, Citterio ne, Monza 6, Silva Conceicao 12, Tonello 7, Zanette 22, Osana (L) ne, Furlan 14, Bonvicini (L) 0, Cvetnic 13, Rebora 4, Bosso ne, Del Core neither. All. Amadio, Ass. Tettamanti.
Referees: Cristian Palumbo and Fabio Scarfò
Set duration: 28′, 32′, 27′, 26′, 24′
MVP by Cantine Madaudo: Jessica Joly (Akademia)
After an endless race, tie-break success for Akademia Città Di Messina on Futura Giovani Busto Arsizio. The teams got off to a good start and went ahead in the set count, winning the first set and then suffering Messina’s comeback in the second and third. Coach Bonafede’s girls put on a courageous and high-character performance; It is on these strong elements that the Messina team manage to leverage to compensate for the significant caliber of their opponents and to close the regular season with a victory and two more points in the standings with which to give even more numerical substance to the second phase of the season.
In the starting six, for Messina coach Bonafede lines up Galletti as director, his opposite Payne, central defenders Martinelli and Modestino, place 4 Joly and Battista, libero Maggipinto. For Busto, coach Amadio sends Monza as director, opposite him Zanette, central Furlan and Rebora, place 4 Cvetnic and Conceicao, libero Bonvicini.
Also in this home round, an athlete from the youth sector on the bench with Messina; with the jersey of the second libero Carol Gemelli, class of ’09. Messina starts on p1, Busto on p6.
In the first set, the guests immediately ahead with a mini-break (0-3): Furlan blocks Battista on the first ball of the match, while Cvetnic warms up with an ace and Zanette follows with a winning attack. Messina regains the minimum distance with a splendid second team touch from Galletti (4-5). Payne misses the serve, Conceicao scores an ace and coach Bonafede first replaces Payne with Rossetto and, on Martinelli’s invasion of the net, calls a time-out (4-10). Upon returning to the taraflex, Messina passes first with his captain, then with a wall by Galletti on which Busto is watching. Joly responds to his opponents and places two aces in succession also for Messina (9-10), in the middle of a time-out also for coach Amadio. The captain still earns the tie with a cunning block on an opponent’s seven ball (10-10). Battista and Rossetto guarantee the balance of the set, the former on attack, the latter on the block, but the guests extend the score to more than four with Zanette, Rebora and a second team touch from Monza (15-19). Coach Bonafede changes Martinelli with Catania, Joly and Battista reopen the partial. An attacking invasion called by the second referee in Catania (19-22) nullifies the effort made (19-22). Zanette in attack and a service error by Catania close the first set (21-25). Best scorer Cvetnic with 5 points; Messina made 5 errors, Busto made 8.
In the second set, coach Bonafede leaves Rossetto on the pitch, while coach Amadio confirms the six that decided the previous partial. First action and spectacular long rally decided by a block from Rebora (0-1). The guests try to escape ahead (5-8); Battista and the errors of Monza and Cvetnic raise the odds of the Messina team who regain the tie with Joly (9-9). Modestino takes the lead and overtakes him twice (12-11). But the significant break for the Messina team materializes shortly after. Rebora misses the serve and Martinelli, Joly and Battista (19-15). The home team’s maximum advantage was achieved by Aurora Rossetto, who was quick to study the opposing attacker and set a block (21-16). Zanette and Rebora bring Busto back (22-20) and coach Bonafede calls a time-out. Coach Amadio rests Cvetnic and inserts Pomili. Conceicao finds the touch-out (23-21). Zanette misses the serve, imitated immediately afterwards by Rossetto (24-22). Rebora blocks another set ball. Valeria Battista (25-23) takes care of resolving a complicated situation with a pipe of absolute skill. Best scorer Zanette with 10 points; immediately behind Battista at 9. 12 errors for Messina, 14 for Busto.
In the third part, Rossetto again on the pitch for Messina, Busto brings in Tonello for Rebora. First part of the race in which he dominates a perfect balance. We proceed point by point and the first double lead of the set comes on an ace from Busto after 24 points played (11-13). It’s Jessica Joly’s time; for the Aosta Valley attacker four winning attacks arrive in rapid succession and it would be one more if one of her serves wasn’t called out (15-15). Joly is superb shortly afterwards on an acrobatic defense which, in the reconstruction action, allows Battista to put Messina ahead again (17-16). Just a little more and Messina takes the double advantage on a block by Rossetto (20-18); coach Amadio calls time-out. The plus is a team masterpiece made of anticipation, defense and intelligence on the shot; the touch-out is found by Aurora Rossetto (21-18). Coach Amadio also plays the second time-out. Busto makes a mistake in attack, sending Zanette out from place 2 (22-18). Amadio changes management of Monza with Bresciani. Joly on the block and Rossetto in attack from place 4 send Messina one ball away from the set (24-18). The closing was an apotheosis for Joly: she placed in the three meters in support and the Messina team won the third set (25-19). Best scorer Joly with 17 points; behind Zanette at 14. 19 errors on each side at the end of the third set.
In the fourth set, the sextets of the previous partial confirmed. Next Busto with an invasion called to Rossetto and a block from Rebora (0-2). Modestino shortens with a seven ball, but Busto extends with two aces and two more attacks from Tonello and Zanette (1-5). Galletti performs a textbook second team touch (3-6), Martinelli blocks out an opponent’s pipe, Cvetnic and Battista establish the three points that separate the two teams (4-7). Busto controls the match and manages to defuse Messina’s offensive attempts, digging a gap of six points (7-13). Bonafede brings Payne back in and Messina, one step at a time, climbs the slope until almost completely eliminating the gap (12-13). Amadio replaces Conceicao with Pomili, Martinelli drops a block from him, but it is the moment in which the opponents come out and, taking advantage of a double Messina error, manage to once again break away from the hosts and win the partial (16-24) . Best scorer was Zanette with 19 points, Joly just one point behind with 18. 26 errors from Messina, 27 from Busto.
In the tiebreaker, Messina starts again with Payne on the pitch, Busto with Tonello in place of Rebora. The guests lead with a double advantage, also thanks to a penalty imposed on the home team which yields an additional point for the opponents (0-2). Still a lot of balance on the pitch broken only by Furlan’s winning attack and Battista’s error leading to the change of pitch (6-8). Battista closes a long rally with power from place 4 (8-9), and Payne scores the equalizer with a zero block (9-9). An error in the construction phase for Busto pushes Messina ahead (10-9). What happened during the exchange to win the twentieth point was incredible: Maggipinto rejected the offensives of Busto’s front line on several occasions; in the end Busto wins the serve with Sofia Monza (11-12). Messina absorbs the minimum deficit and restarts first with Payne in attack and then Martinelli on the block (12-11). Amadio sends Pomili onto the field for Conceicao, Tonello for Bresciani. The final is pure spectacle: Messina takes the lead with an imperious attack from Battista (14-13), Cvetnic drags Bustoi to the advantage. Battista first misses a reception, then makes up for it with a shot from place 4 (15-15). Closing the decisive set was an erroneous attack from Cvetnic and a winning attack from Battista, the decisive offensive terminal in the last part of the match. Best scorer of the match was Zanette with 22 points; behind her, at 20, MVP Jessica Joly. 31 errors for Messina, 30 for Busto.
Now, in three days, appointment in Castellanza; the two teams still face each other. This time the Italian Cup final in Trieste is up for grabs.
The words of the coach
These are the coach’s statements in the post-match press conference Fabio Bonafede: “The greatest pride is not having won but seeing so many people on the pitch. I would like the people of Messina to understand that we give everything we have.” The coach was very lucid about the match: “I’m always honest: between the two teams there is an important difference. Tonight we went beyond our limits; there was a lot of sacrifice. We lost Payne who was unable to enter the game; this conveys the idea of who we are and the quality of those who take over. I asked to play point by point and have fun.” In conclusion, Bonafede speaks with his usual frankness: “Now let’s focus on the next matches without expectations. We are not equal to today’s opponents; even in the fourth set maintaining a high pace would have been complicated The team took a breath and understood what to do. I would focus on the sets won and the reversal in the fifth set. Now I really hope that more and more people come and talk and comment; it would be a sign of attachment and interest.”