Padova upset Lube, stand a point away from salvation
Recap of Italian SuperLega midweek matches 🥳 💯
Sonepar Padova Padua survived a five-set battle with Cucine Lube Civitanova to celebrate their second consecutive 3-2 victory at home, which pushed them up to within a point from survival in the SuperLega and kept them within reach of the playoff spots. In the other midweek game, postponed from the 12th leg of the Italian men’s SuperLega Credem Banca regular season, Itas Trentino Trento shut out Cisterna Volley.
On Thursday evening, Sonepar Padova Padua delighted the home crowd at the Kioene Arena with a hard-fought 3-2 (18-25, 25-20, 25-19, 23-25, 15-8) victory over Cucine Lube Civitanova to rise to ninth place in the current standings on 19 points and a 6-14 win-loss record, overtaking rookies Yuasa Battery Grottazzolina by a point. With two legs to go to the end of the regular season, Padova still have a distant shot at the playoff spots located four points above them, and at the same time, they distanced themselves six points away from the relegation zone, which means that earning one point in the remaining two matches would guarantee them salvation. Meanwhile, Lube’s mathematical chances of moving up among the top two in the table are gone completely. They will finish the regular season in third place, where they currently stand on 43 and 13-7, eight points behind second-placed Trentino and seven points above fourth-placed Rana Verona. $
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