Ukrainian volleyball talent Oleh Plotnytskyi and his Perugia squad experienced a devastating turn of events in the Italian Superleague playoff semifinals. After building what seemed like a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series against Civitanova, Perugia suffered a shocking collapse, dropping three consecutive matches to be eliminated from championship contention.
The decisive fifth match, played on Perugia's home court, ended in disappointment for the Umbrian side with a 1:3 defeat (29:27, 19:25, 17:25, 22:25). Plotnytskyi was utilized sparingly throughout the contest, appearing only as a substitute in each set. Despite limited playing time, the Ukrainian contributed 3 points to his team's effort, recording one ace serve, one successful attack, and one effective block.
Wassim Ben Tara led Perugia's offense with 15 points, while Yuki Ishikawa added 13 points in the losing effort. For the victorious Civitanova, Adis Lagumdzija dominated with 18 points, supported by strong performances from Aleksandar Nikolov and Mattia Bottolo, who contributed 16 points each.
According to Statbet analytics, this type of playoff reversal occurs in less than 12% of volleyball series where a team takes an initial 2-0 lead, highlighting the exceptional nature of Civitanova's comeback.
Having completed their remarkable semifinal turnaround, Civitanova now advances to the championship final where they will face Trentino, who secured their final berth with a convincing 3-0 semifinal series victory over Piacenza.
