The role of a Sir Susa Vim Perugia who is already speaking loudly, the revolution of Civitanova, the spread of talent beyond the historic volleyball schools. But also the Olympic dreams in beach volleyball and the prospects of volleyball on the web. These were some of the main themes of After Hours – La SuperLega di notte, the talk broadcast live on Sunday evening on the Lega Pallavolo Serie A Facebook page and YouTube channel, with Andrea Zorzi, Andrea Brogioni and the protagonists of Serie A Credem Banca.
Guests of episode number 1 were Massimo Righi (President of the Serie A Volleyball League), Marco Falaschi (Sonepar Padova), Fabio Balaso (Cucine Lube Civitanova), Massimiliano Giaccardi (Sir Susa Vim Perugia), Aimone Alletti (Gioiella Prisma Taranto), Nicola Salsi (Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza), Ivan Zaytsev (Vero Volley Monza) and Oleg Antonov (Yuasa Battery Grottazzolina).
To watch the full episode on YouTube
“After Hours – La SuperLega di notte” is also on Spotify
Massimo Righi (President of the Serie A Volleyball League)
PERUGIA’S RESOURCES – “An already very compact team. They seemed square to me both in the Del Monte® Super Cup and on their debut in the championship: in moments of difficulty they have many resources, both on the bench and on the pitch. They can maintain the role of favorites together with other teams.”
THE SPREAD OF TALENT – “Many volleyball schools that have dominated over the years – the Italian, the Russian, the Brazilian, the Dutch – have now been integrated with champions from ‘minor’ leagues. Men’s volleyball is becoming a worldwide phenomenon of absolute interest. This weekend I watched the Civitanova and Perugia matches and I can confirm that unsung schools are producing incredible talent. And this can only be good for our movement because it can lead to some surprise results.”
A BALANCED CHAMPIONSHIP – “We will have another very important championship, I foresee a great balance beyond a couple of teams that will separate from the others. But all matches will be ‘playable’. On Saturday Padova had the opportunity to score at least one point. It will be difficult to win on all pitches. Many have a deep bench. Being able to draw from so many championships brings our volleyball to more spectacular levels.”
Marco Falaschi (Sonepar Padova)
THE DEPARTURE OF THE RIVALS – “We race the ones we know about, like Grottazzolina and Taranto. Taranto started very well, Grottazzolina scored a point.”
THE CHAMPIONSHIP DEBUT – “After the match, my feeling was that I hadn’t found the best way to involve Luca Porro, I should have invented something different. In the third set we were ahead, we should have taken it home. Some of their jokes went well, we struggled in some ball-changing situations: the game turned right there and then. We could have talked about a great match.”
BONINFANTE’S PERFORMANCE – “It was his first match, in an important team, because Civitanova has changed, but it still has important names. It is still in progress.
IL PUBBLICO – “Sabato anche i tifosi, che ci seguono sempre, hanno avuto idea di questa rivoluzione giovane e sono entrati nell’ottica che la squadra per un po’ non punterà a vincere subito ma a un progetto che deve migliorare, per poi puntare a scudetti e coppe”.
NAZIONALE E OLIMPIADI – “Abbiamo fatto un grandissimo girone, abbiamo vinto ai Quarti con fortuna e con merito ma poi in Semifinale non c’è stata storia. Alcuni giocatori della Francia in quel momento erano incredibili. Con gli Stati Uniti potevamo fare qualcosina in più, sono stati tutti set tirati, bastavano pochi palloni in più per ribaltarla a favore nostro”.
IL MEDEI “BIS” – “L’ho ritrovato con molta più esperienza rispetto al passato, grazie anche alle esperienze all’estero”.
NATIONAL TEAM AND OLYMPICS – “We lost two straight games, with France and the United States, with two teams that played better at that moment. We had won, overturning it, with Japan causing a miracle, but I can testify to you that in a chat with friends I had written that we would have overturned it because we were playing well. But France and the United States had something more. I had never seen Clevenot at those levels. The United States, which I put in the top two, are a great team.”
STEFANI’S RECOVERY – “He has just returned from meniscus surgery and is back. He trained normally, but it’s normal that, when you stop for two or three weeks, the condition may not be ideal. However, the shoulder recovered. When you’re about to recover and another stop comes, it’s something that still stops you.”
FABIO BALASO (Cucine Lube Civitanova)
CAPTAIN AND Libero – “I am very happy to have received the role of captain from the club, in addition to having to play the role of libero. I hope to give my best in this aspect too.”
THE LUBE REVOLUTION – “A Lube that has changed for more than half the team, revolutionized and rejuvenated. A project that starts from scratch and aims at the growth of many young people and different discoveries, coming from abroad and making their debut in the Italian championship”.
LAURENZANO’S FUTURE – “Laurenzano will become one of the best liberos around, he is proving it and will still have a lot of time to prove it.”
ON BONINFANTE – “A young and talented boy, who can still grow a lot and has the desire to do so, to become a great player in the future. A great guy and a hard worker. He doesn’t give up, he’s always focused.”
THE POSITIVE DEBUT – “It went very well, for the result but above all for the attitude shown on the pitch. We managed to express ourselves at our best both technically and in terms of desire, determination and aggression. When these factors are combined, surprising results emerge for many, but I would say also for us. We were convinced we could play a good match, but not win such a clear 3-0.”
BONINFANTE’S CHARGE – “It may seem like a cliché when you feel positive energy, but Dante paid a lot of attention to having fun on the pitch. He always tells us to rejoice at every point, because scoring a point is never a given, he reminds us that we know how to do things. He is giving great attention to the mental aspect and I think that in the eyes of the public it was the most evident factor. It’s a new experience for him too, who in turn is trying to understand how to improve.”
HOFER’S PRAISE – “He arrived with availability and desire to work. At the beginning he struggled a bit, he was coming from the Olympics and it’s normal to have a physical decline. But he recovered very well and after the first match I complimented him a lot: in the first match, in such a difficult championship, against an opponent like Milan, going out like this is ‘a lot of stuff’. Let’s hope it continues like this.”
THE HANDS OF FERNANDO KRELING “CACHOPA” – “As an opponent, facing “Cachopa” is complicated, the first advice they give you is ‘Don’t look at your hands’, follow the ball”.
Massimiliano Giaccardi (2nd coach Sir Susa Vim Perugia)
ISHIKAWA AND LOSER – “We are trying to include them, because they came from a game system with different guidelines. We are trying to convey the idea to follow when we come to play in Perugia.”
THE POST SUPER CUP – “Last year after a victory we lost one or two matches, like with Milan and Verona after last year’s Club World Cup.”
THE WEIGHT OF THE PERUGIA JERSEY – “The Perugia shirt is a very important shirt, its weight starts from there, from the fact that finishing second already makes someone turn up their noses”
LORENZETTI AND THE CONTRIBUTION TO ENTHUSIASM – “Last year we wanted to give a line to the team that knew well where we were going and what we wanted to do. It was a consequence of the path undertaken with the players. A point of view for which not everything becomes obvious.”
Ivan Zaytsev (Mint Vero Volley Monza)
MONZA’S CHOICE – “Unpredictable choice? If I were predictable, I wouldn’t be myself.”
NOTES – “They say I take notes? I try to get back into the mood of the match as a receiver/attacker. I note the directions of the opponents’ serve, with some prevalence, looking at which type of player and in which type of situation they put pressure. So I can try, from outside, to be able to help the libero or the receivers.”
IVAN SCHIACCIATORE – “I mentalized the thing. If you see me training, however, I almost always attack with two because it’s something I really like.
CACHOPA – “Nando is a spectacle, he has a great energy, full energy. He has Brazilian flair and when he lets the ball travel it becomes ‘annoying’ for others, now playing together I enjoy it a lot more.”
BEACH VOLLEY PASSION – “The summer was challenging for the way we approached this new idea, this project with Daniele Lupo. Galeotto was that message at two in the morning at the beginning of May: ‘Why don’t we go and win the Italian championship?’. And my answer: “Either we do things well or nothing’. We worked like a professional team, with the best coach there could be, Marco Solustri from Rome, and we embarked on this path, winning a Scudetto which was not a given but which was certainly an objective. At the same time, we have decided to try to qualify for the Los Angeles Olympics, a very ambitious goal but the desire to get back into the game is there and I think it is an excellent driving force.”
IVAN AND JUANTORENA – “We are in the room together and at least on the first night we didn’t ‘beat’ each other. Jokes aside, the reunion after a few years is always fun.”
Nicola Salsi (Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza)
THE DERBY WITH MODENA – “The derby is always a derby: it’s always nice to play them and win them. Then it was against my former team, nice to start like that. Condense Modena and Piacenza into one adjective? I would say competitive”
THE ‘LIVING THE DREAM’ SERIES – “I have always been passionate about video editing, I tried it, I see that I like it and I do it willingly, I also need it to ‘get away’ from volleyball and I must say that I am satisfied”.
ZIMMERMANN ‘GUARANTEED USED’ – “The new setter? He’s experienced, he cut his teeth in our championship and has experience in the national team. Let’s say it was a ‘guaranteed used’ item”.
ABOUT CACHOPA – “The center of the net is what characterizes him the most, because he manages to clear a lot.”
Oleg Antonov (Yuasa Battery Grottazzolina)
GROTTAZZOLINA’S DEBUT – “I had positive feelings on the pitch, a pretty solid group. Right now I look at the glass half empty, but it was a good match, we wasted a little bit but we’ll take this point home and hopefully it will help us in the future.”
