Riccardo Copelli is the second reinforcement for Consar for the next sports season. Expert central defender, born in Casalmaggiore (Cremona) on 16 March 1996, Copelli boasts a professional career of absolute importance with his debut in A1 in Monza in 2015/16 and, after the parenthesis in Parma in B, the experiences in Lagonegro (2017/ 18), two years in Piacenza (2018/19 and 2019/20), and then four consecutive seasons in A2 in Santa Croce, Cantù, Bergamo and Siena. His victories also date back to his year in A2 with Piacenza: the championship and the Italian Cup, beating Bergamo in the final in a tie-break.
This year he finished in ninth place in the ranking of aces, with 41, first central after 8 spikers, and in 13th place in the ranking of blocks made (62, on average over the last three years, immediately behind Bartolucci and Mengozzi). In attack he finished the season with 283 points, in 28th place, and also in this case first central: third consecutive year closed with over 200 points.
“I always try to maintain a certain standard and raise the level every time – says Copelli commenting on his numbers – and I can’t complain about what I’ve done this year and in recent seasons. I like being inside the game, I call the ball to the setter a lot and I manage to build a lot in attack and blocking. As for the serve, in recent years I have tried to work a lot on this fundamental and to find a serve that reflects me. I alternated between spin and float a lot, until this year I gave continuity to spin and found a very high level of efficiency. I made many aces but also many errors: an aspect I will have to work on to try to reduce them.”
A summer dedicated to the beach, “with the aim of placing on the podium in the dry stages of the Italian championship”, he reveals, and then the embrace of his new reality, so far only tasted as an opponent in Piacenza, Bergamo and Siena. “For me it is a great honor to wear the shirt of Ravenna, one of the most historic clubs in the Italian volleyball scene. In A2, with Cuneo, it is the club with the most coat of arms, history and tradition. For me, Ravenna means getting closer to home, living in Brescello, a few kilometers from Viadana where Goi was born, who I know very well and who I will gladly see again. I know that Ravenna is building a very competitive team and that the conditions for another excellent championship are all there. And then in Ravenna I find Bonitta and coach Valentini, of whom I have heard very good things: their great volleyball expertise and the respect they have for me were decisive in my choice”.
