Former captain and libero Davide Marra, who went from being a player to the dual role of coach supporting Marco Bartolini and Mirko Monaldi and at the same time as the team’s athletic trainer (always on the bench during matches), had the task of drawing up the balance of the regular season. In summary: 11 points in the first leg and 19 in the return leg, 8 in the first 8 matchdays and 22 in the following 10, with a jump from the second-to-last to fifth place. A more than decisive change of pace: which members played in this sense? “Certainly, work always pays off in the end. On the other hand – explains Marra – there were several new additions in the summer, so it took time to get into the right mechanisms. In times of difficulty, then, the club, the various staff and the players demonstrated such unity that was decisive. There was the awareness of the fact that this group would climb back up the slope; the injuries in the first part of the year were a further handicap, but together they strengthened us. The arrival of Matteo Maiocchi was important not only for the contribution provided in the match, but first and foremost for the increase in the level of training. Let’s say then that we were good at holding firm when the situation was delicate”. Without a doubt. We were in an emergency even then, but the aforementioned awareness was already there in us and that first set overturned in our favor from 17-21 was the watershed. On a mental level, the step forward was made precisely in that moment”.
