First test match versus Innsbruck

After thirty-seven days of preparation, the time has come for the men’s Itas Trentino team to make their seasonal debut in an official match. The opportunity will be provided by the friendly match that the European Champions will play on Saturday 7 September at the “Angelo Marchetti” Sports Hall in Rovereto with the Austrians of Hypo Tirol Innsbruck: kick-off scheduled for 6pm, with advance ticket sales (which is going very well – over 650 coupons have already been sold) is also active on the internet.
A very useful test match for various reasons, which will come at the end of the sixth week of pre-season activities and in which coach Fabio Soli will be able to use twelve of the fourteen players on the new roster, including the Azzurri Laurenzano, Lavia, Michieletto and Sbertoli and the Slovenian Kozamernik, all protagonists of the recent Paris Olympics; only the Brazilian central defender Flavio and the young spiker Bristot are absent, who will join the group starting from Monday. “This appointment effectively closes the first period of preparation, in which we concentrated our work mainly on improving the physical condition of those we had available – explained Soli -. When we started to have a larger number of players at hand, we tried to increase the pace because the first official matches, starting with the Super Cup Final Four, are approaching. So in Rovereto I expect to see what we are feeling in training on a daily basis and in particular I hope to see everyone ready to sacrifice themselves and therefore work well between blocking and defence. Regardless of the physical and technical form and the result, I would like the team to play every ball as if it were the most important because competitive wickedness must always be trained.”
Beyond the net, Itas Trentino will find an opponent like Innsbruck, fresh from winning its twelfth national title at the end of April and which for this reason will play the preliminary rounds of the Champions League in mid-September. The new coach of the Tyrolese, the Italian Lorenzo Tubertini (formerly of Modena, Piacenza, Vibo and Cisterna in the Super League), can count on a much renewed squad compared to the previous season; the only ones confirmed are captain Kronthaler (spiker), the Brazilians Frances (central) and Nath (spiker) and the other place 3 Grabmueller. The event’s organizing committee, made up of the Rovereto Fortunato Depero Lions Club, Lagaris Volley and the Municipality of Rovereto, will donate the entire proceeds from the match to the families of children suffering from onco-haematological diseases being treated at the Trento Hospital .