From Grottazzolina to Emma Villas Siena. The spiker Claudio Cattaneo was one of the great protagonists of the triumphal season experienced by Yuasa Battery, which won the A2 series championship and thus achieved promotion to the Super League. Cattaneo had a great time, with the team from the Marche region first winning the regular season and then obtaining promotion at the end of the playoffs which saw Grottazzolina and Siena face each other in the final.
Now Cattaneo moves from Grottazzolina to Siena, and becomes part of the white and blue roster trained by coach Gianluca Graziosi. He is the fourth piece of the Sienese team for the next championship, after the setter Thomas Nevot, the opposite Gabriele Nelli and the central Stefano Trillini.
Cattaneo, born in 1997 in Pietra Ligure, ended the championship with 202 points scored, 5 winning serves, 31.6% perfect receptions, 43% in attack and 23 winning blocks. The Sienese adventure now opens for him.
Claudio Cattaneo, how did your transfer to Emma Villas Siena come about?
Immediately after the end of the season, Siena showed interest in me. I also spoke with coach Gianluca Graziosi, for whom I have great respect and we will finally work together. Emma Villas needs no introduction: it is a club that has already played in the Super League championship twice and has been at the top of the A2 series for years now. President Giammarco Bisogno is keen to do things well, even the first market operations just carried out demonstrate this. Playing in Siena is a source of pride for me, I quickly accepted the offer made to me. I saw enthusiasm in the square, I remember well the 2,100 spectators of game 2 of the playoff final.
Many teams are strengthening themselves with the market: what is your assessment?
It will not be an easy season. I see really equipped teams, I’m thinking of Catania, Brescia, Cuneo, Ravenna. I believe we too will be able to have our say. It seems like the bar always gets higher, year after year. In the next A2 series tournament there will be players with decidedly important names.
You are coming off a fantastic season, with the championship victory in Grottazzolina…
We didn’t expect to be able to have a championship like this. Then when you win you get a taste for it and try to continue along that line. It was a beautiful season, I leave Grottazzolina with exceptional memories and many friends. In me there is the desire to try to repeat what the season just ended was, or in any case to do well and achieve good results.
