Trento, 12 October 2018

Giannelli&Grebennikov at the sport festival: “The players who inspired us, Ball&Sergio"

The Sala Depero was full of people, not an empty seat left and there was even a long queue of people waiting outside. Thanks to the participation of the Itas Trentino players, Simone Giannelli and Jenia Grebennikov the event at the 2018 Sport Festival was a great success. Volleyball fans, some curios people and many accredited media had the occasion, this morning, to listen to the considerations of the captain and the libero about the central topic of the event: “Il Grande Volley Italiano” (The Great Italian Vollleyball). During the interview of Andrea Zorzi and the coach of the national team Gianlorenzo Blengini, Jenia and Simone reported some curious aspects and stories of their career making the provided hour for the talk going by fast.
“The player I was inspired by was the setter, Lloy Ball, maybe just because he has characteristics similar to mine” revealed Giannelli. “I took a cue from the Brazilian libero Sergio, who is a bit crazy, like me and I really admire Verbov and the many talented liberoes, who played in the French national team” declared Grebennikov instead. The setter then complimented Jenia: “Some of his defences are a display of courage, just like the one he did last Saturday in Perugia without any block on a very powerful attack of Leon. During these first training sessions I’m looking at Jenia with particular attention because there’s a lot to learn from the way he behaves on the field. For example, I should improve my defending-ability, because sometimes I’m lazy. I rarely relax, even at home I like watching the training sessions again.” “I never do that, actually, I prefer being unconscious or just brave” - concluded Grebennikov – “The more you get hit by the ball, the less pain you would feel because your body gets used to it: the idea behind the defence is completely different in France, since we don’t have players with imposing physique we try to keep the ball longer in play. I was impressed by Giannelli’s maturity, it’s good to be on the same side, finally. I came to Trento because I wanted to play in a stronger team.”

Trentino Volley Srl
Press Office