It ends 3-0 for PanBiscò Leonessa Volleyball Altamura in the first act of the C Series play offs at the Palasport “Cupola” in Altamura between the hosts and Leo Costruzioni Monteroni, a team from the town of Monteroni in the province of Lecce and host of Race 1 in the race for promotion to B2.
With scores of 25-14, 25-15 and 25-22, the Leonesse coached by Coach Marchisio dominated Monteroni for most of the match, perhaps losing only in the third set the total lucidity that had allowed the points in the previous sets to be won without blunders.
The Lioness, on the court again with the newest arrival Greta Halla, supported by a huge crowd in the stands and beyond, opens the dance in a big way with a noteworthy start that immediately rushes the guests to time-out trailing 7-2 with only two breaks to go.
However, the story of the first set does not change when the two teams return to the court. The Leonessa’s dominance surges as it reaches 7 points at 10-3, then stabilizes as the guests’ acclimatization to the warm Altamura cheers improves.
In the middle of the set, in fact, Monteroni managed to get into the match by shortening the gap by a few points, but two-point breaks by the guests did not contribute to a comeback. Down by 4 at 16-12, Monteroni held out until 18-14, but with a big 7-0 final break, Leonessa closed the first partial of the match on 25-14.
Similar the start of the second set of the match. To a first-round balanced start (0-1 to 3-1 to 3-3) the Lioness responded with five more break points that broke the legs of a Monteroni that had an obligation to stay in the game at least in this second start.
For the guests, this is not the case, and the Rossoneri’s struggle to hit points that could at least reopen the contest slammed on the Leonessa’s strong approach to the match that was still unstoppable and bursting at this stage. The red and white hit +6 at 11-5 and then increased the lead again with a series of small breaks that put 8 points between themselves and their opponents at 15-7.
Stuck at 10 points, Monteroni saw itself suffer point number 20 from Panbiscò before getting a real pride reaction.
At -10 the guests re-entered the race, but clearly too late. Ahead 22-14, the Altamurans reached set-point without any problems, but hit only the doubling point on the second attempt.
Completely opposite to what was seen in the first two halves was the third set of the match.
The Leonessa, absolute dominator of the first two sets, struggled to stretch in the third set that saw the score unblocked only by the 6-7 host overturned by Masiello Giusi’s winning double attack, part of the red and white sextet already from the second set and then becoming 11-7 thanks to Hungarian Halla’s triple ace in the next 3 services.
Back in the lead and heralding new dominance, the Leonessa dropped the pace in the middle of the set slipping from a 6-point lead at 15-9 to a new tie reached at 16 by Monteroni that alarmed Altamura.
Fear of a blown third set rekindled Altamura’s desire and focus, which, however, would struggle in the final set to close out the match immediately. Until 19 ties, the Lioness misses the breaks to detach the 3-0 pass.
A 3-point break was not enough to close the contest, on 22-19 Monteroni’s reaction made it back to a simple +1 intact until 23-22 which marked the turning point. At set point there goes the Murgians who then win the set on the first shot.
With a clear 3-0 win, the Leonessa approaches the long trip to Monteroni with a good result behind it, thus making Saturday, May 20, at 7 p.m. a dream match in which “the dream” of that ever-distant B2 could become a reality.
