Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza – Itas Trentino 3-0 (25-22, 25-17, 25-23) – Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza: Brizard 7, Santos De Souza 9, Simon 9, Romanò 6, Leal 20, Caneschi 7, Scanferla (L), Round 1. N.E. Hoffer, Basic, Alonso, Cester, Recine, De Weijer. All. Barrels. Itas Trentino: Sbertoli 3, Lavia 7, Podrascanin 2, Kaziyski 21, Michieletto 7, D’Heer 2, Nelli 0, Lisinac 0, Dzavoronok 1, Laurenzano (L). NEITHER. Pace, Berger, Cavuto, Depalma. All. Lorenzetti. Referees: Zavater, Puecher. Notes – set duration: 25′, 23′, 25′; total: 73′.
Triumph of Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza in the 45th edition of the Del Monte® Coppa Italia: at the Palazzo dello Sport in Rome, in front of the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, who handed the Cup to the red and white, the formation coached by Massimo Botti repeats the excellent performance of the previous day in the Semifinal and thanks to the blows of Del Monte® MVP Leal conquers the trophy.
The referees of the match Marco Zavater, Andrea Puecher, Stefano Cesare, Massimo Florian, Claudia Beatrice Falzi, Letizia Giacomi were also awarded with a plaque delivered by Alessandro Onorato, Councilor for sport, major events, tourism and fashion of Rome Capital.
Before the start of the match, the National Anthem was played by the Band of the Municipal Police of Rome, then the word passed to the field. With six World Champions on the roster of the two teams (Sbertoli, Lavia and Michieletto in Itas jersey, Romanò, Scanferla and Recine in Piacenza jersey), we immediately see a great volleyball with spectacular and exciting exchanges: Piacenza break (12-9) with Romanò and Lucarelli, Kaziyski and Michieletto draw (15-15). Then the red and white extend again (19-15) but the Trentino captain is not there (21-20), he resolves the sixth point in Lucarelli’s set (25-22). Brizard and his teammates immediately take over the reins of the second set (5-1) maintaining the advantage with a constant ball change (13-9). Piacenza bombards from serve and blocks with Simon, goes up 2-0 thanks to a monstrous attack by a wild Leal who scores 9 points in the set with 80% (25-17). Ephemeral balance at the start of the third set (6-6), two aces from a wild Brizard force Lorenzetti to time out (10-7), Trento has a last gasp (17-16) but by now Massimo Botti’s sextet is sailing on the wings of enthusiasm and brings home the first great success for the new Piacenza club (the previous one had won the Italian Cup in Bologna in 2014). The signature on the red and white triumph is by Yoandy Leal, awarded Del Monte® MVP with 20 points and 67% in attack.
The moment of the awarding of the trophies was exciting: the second-placed team, Itas Trentino, was awarded with medals and a plaque by the president of Coni, Giovanni Malagò and by Massimo Righi, president of the Serie A Volleyball League. Subsequently, Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza received the medal from the president of Fipav, Giuseppe Manfredi. Giovanni Malagò gave Yoandy Leal the recognition of Del Monte® MVP of the Final. Finally, the most awaited moment, with the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella who entrusted Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza with the trophy of the Del Monte® Coppa Italia 2023.
The moment of the awarding of the trophies was exciting: the second-placed team, Itas Trentino, was awarded with medals and a plaque by the president of Coni, Giovanni Malagò and by Massimo Righi, president of the Serie A Volleyball League. Subsequently, Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza received the medal from the president of Fipav, Giuseppe Manfredi. Giovanni Malagò gave Yoandy Leal the recognition of Del Monte® MVP of the Final. Finally, the most awaited moment, with the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella who entrusted Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza with the trophy of the Del Monte® Coppa Italia 2023.
Massimo Botti (Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza): “This Cup has an enormous specific weight, considering the criticisms we have also received in the recent past: it is the worthy reward of the sacrifices we have made. We knew we had hopes of recovering Leal after Civitanova, whether he’s on the pitch or not, as we saw today, it makes a fair difference. Yesterday’s match was on the same lines as the Semifinal, with the right attitude, also enduring some small mistakes but with great energy. In the meantime we have won the Cup, this is the signal we are giving to the championship”.
Alessandro Michieletto (Itas Trentino): “We are disappointed because by now we have reached the end of the various events many times and we are unable to win the best game: there is regret and frustration. We knew that Piacenza is in very good form, he repeated yesterday’s performance against Perugia. Against some jokes little could have been done but in other cases we could have managed this Final better on our part. Yesterday’s five sets didn’t even matter that much because today was a Final and you don’t feel any pain or tiredness”.
