After a bunch of rumors last season, finally the Italian-Cuban spiker in place four has accepted the courtship of Ortona. Ladies and Gentlemen, we are delighted to welcome Leonel Marshall to the city. Son of a volleyball player, both he and his father Leonel Senior are considered icons of Cuban volleyball.
Class of ’79 and 196 centimeters in height, he has great experience behind him, accumulated in his long and prolific career.
Born in Havana, Leonel Marshall Jr, with his participation in the 2000 Olympic Games, made headlines for being the youngest member of the Cuban national volleyball team at 20. Famous for his ability in elevation of up to 380 cm in attack and 340 cm in the wall, Marshall is at the same time a defensive bulwark and a powerful attack terminal. And if the saying that “inches doesn’t matter” is true, Leonel has also won the title of Best Receiver in the Turkish league three times and the one for best serve in the 2001 World League.
After the first years in that of Cuba, Marshall meets the Bel Paese in 1998, when he plays in Serie A2 with Livorno. In Tuscany he will spend two seasons before landing in the Italian top league in 2003 in the ranks of Piacenza. It will be a long and joyful marriage between Leonel and the Piacentines with only one escapade for the 2007/2008 season when the strong hitter will play for Mezzaroma Volley and then return to Piacenza until the 2009/2010 season.
Then experiences in Turkey (Fenerbahce SK Istanbul and Arkas Izmir), in Beijing in China, and then return home to Piacenza from 2016 to 2018. Then other international experiences follow up to the call from Ortona that will bring Marshall back to his Italy to debut in the Serie A3 championship.
