The fourth edition of the A2 series Del Monte Supercoppa will be played on Sunday 19 May at the Palasport in Grottazzolina and will feature the winner of the Regular Season – Yuasa Battery, promoted to the top category – and the winner of the Italian Cup, Consoli Sferc Centrale del Latte who won his first national title in the Final Four in Cuneo last weekend.
The two teams already have a precedent in the final stages of a Cup event: in 2020 they met in the semi-final of the then A2-A3 Italian Cup, which gave Brescia its first final in Bologna. Coach Zambonardi and coach Ortenzi also share the fact that they have been at the helm of their respective groups practically always: the coach from Brescia has led the Toucans in Serie A2 for 10 years, while the coach from the Marches has been alongside his athletes in the first three seasons of A2, which was followed by the same number in A3 before returning to the category in 2022.
Grottazzolina has had a remarkable growth path: upon returning to A2 it ended the year in tenth position and restarted in that current with a completely different attitude, led by the explosive Breuning Nielsen – in his third season in the yellow and blue – and by Michele Fedrizzi , already opponent of the Toucans in the Play-off semi-final against Bergamo in the glorious 2021. Undisputed leaders of the regular season, with only one defeat on their home pitch at the hands of Siena, the 6+1 from the Marche region earned promotion to the Super League by eliminating Ravenna in three tough matches in the semi-finals and then liquidating Siena in the final in just two matches. In the just concluded Final Four, however, Yuasa left the Cuneo field with a clear defeat by Consar Ravenna, then victim of Consoli in the final.
Captain Tiberti is cautious: “It will be a different team that, on the pitch in Grottazzolina on Sunday, will want to say goodbye to the season and its fans with a high-level performance. If she was surprised by Ravenna’s intense play in the Cup semi-final, she will not repeat the mistake this time, supported by the home fans. We are ready for this last challenge: the victory of the Italian Cup has given us confidence and additional motivation to try to do a new undertaking.”
Alex Erati, who leads the ranking of A2 central defenders with 103 blocks placed to date: “I think we’ve done a great thing up until now: we really wanted a trophy this season and we did it. With Porto Viro and Ravenna we showed our best volleyball and now we are going to play it in Grottazzolina in excellent shape and with confidence.
