Before the start of their semifinal playoff against Cucine Lube Civitanova, Sir Susa Vim Perugia were probably the slight favorites, based on their more stable performance during the regular season and the home-court advantage earned. However, now that is down to a fifth-match decider, after the two sides beat each other both at home and away, the outcome of Thursday’s encounter is as certain as that of a coin toss. With the result in the series standing at 2-2 in wins, Sir will entertain Lube at the Barton Energy hall at 20:30 local time (18:30 UTC), with the winner of that game set to take on Itas Trentino Trento in the championship playoff for the national title.
Sir hosted the first match of the series and hammered out a 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-22) shutout. In the second game in Civitanova Marche, a five-set battle also went Sir’s way as the Block Devils emerged with a 3-2 (25-21, 18-25, 25-23, 21-25, 15-10) victory. In a nail-biting third-leg duel, Lube upset Sir in Perugia, surviving in the series with a 3-2 (25-23, 20-25, 30-28, 22-25, 16-14) away victory. With regained confidence, the squad from Civitanova mastered an emphatic 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-21) sweep of the fourth match at home, leveled the series and forced a fifth-match resolution. The two clubs are also very close in the long-running all-time head-to-head series, with Sir enjoying a slight 36-35 lead in wins.
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