Trento, 21 October 2023

Men's season 2023/24 start: guide to Cisterna Volley-Itas Trentino (on sunday at 6 p.m.)

The 24th season of Trentino Volleyball in the men's division begins officially on Sunday, October 22 in Lazio. The yellow-blue club will begin its run in the Credem Banca 2023/24 SuperLega by facing Cisterna di Latina in an away match for the first round of the regular season. Kick-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.: live on Radio Dolomiti and streaming on the OTT Volleyball World Tv platform.
ITAS TRENTINO After 59 days of pre-season training (most of them played with a reduced team), the Italian Champions are ready to defend the Scudetto won last May 17. The roster has remained mostly the same since last season, but there are a few interesting novelties, such as the return to a lineup with a role opposite hitter (Rychlicki) and more valid alternatives, like Kozamernik, Acquarone and Magalini.
"The 10 players we still have from last year understand each other very well. This will come in very handy, especially early in the championship. We only had a couple of workouts and a friendly match in Verona with the whole team - explained new coach Fabio Soli - . My debut on the bench of Trentino Volley will be in the same arena where I have worked for the past two years, so it will be a special occasion for me; but this circumstance should not interfere with our task, which is tough, since Cisterna has been working with almost the whole roster for much of the preparation. We need to make a huge statement and, right away, get into the fiery atmosphere of a very competitive league."
Trento’s coach will have to do without the young South Tyrolean middle hitter Berger (who cought the flu and thus will not take part to the match), but he will be able to count on the other thirteen players, including the six players returning from the national team. Sunday's match will be the 997th match in Trentino Volley male team’s history, and the 541st away match; Trento’s record in away matches is 331-210.
GOOD FIRST IN SIXTEEN OCCASIONS The championship debut went Trento’s way sixteen out of twenty-three times the previous seasons: four victories in away matches and twelve wins at home. The last one was on October 2, 2022 against Siena at the BLM Group Arena in Trento (now the “ilT quotidiano Arena"). Last time a team from Lazio was the opponent in the opening round was back in the 2009/10 season; on that occasion the match was played in Trento and the yellow-blue lineup overcame Andreoli Latina 3-1 (Sept. 27, 2009).
THE OPPONENTS With Sunday's match, Cisterna begins its new course; during the summer, not only several players and the coach (Spain’s Guillermo Falasca, fresh from his Challenge Cup victory with Narbonne) were changed, but even the club’s structure, with the transfer of rights from Top Volley to the new club (Cisterna Volley). Middle hitter Rossi and Turkish spiker Bayram are the only players remaining from last season. However, the team can count on four players who participated in the European Championship: other than Bayram himself, Peric and Nedeljković (spiker and middle hitter respectively) from Serbia and Ramon (hammer) from Spain. The opposites are also both foreigners: Faure from France and Czerwinski from Austria; the quota of Italians is still well represented by setter Saitta, libero Piccinelli (from Perugia) and area “3” player Mazzone (who played in Trento between 2015 the 2017 in 72 matches). The last two test matches of the preparation have offered good indications to the team, who went 3-1 against Padova seven days ago and then lost 1-3 to Panathinaikos in Gubbio.
THE PREVIOUS MATCHES Trento faced Cisterna (former Latina) 45 times in its male team’s history, making the team from Lazio the sixth most commonly faced opponent. Only Civitanova (95), Modena (82), Piacenza (73), Perugia (51) and Cuneo (47) are above. Currently, the record is 35-10 in favour of Trento, but Cisterna won the last two home matches: 3-0 on March 20, 2022 (final match of the 2021/22 regular season) and 3-2 on January 15 of this calendar year, after over two hours and forty of war, in which Michieletto (27 points) and Bayram (16 points) played a leading role. It is precisely in front of the home crowd that Cisterna has found success most frequently: seven times in twenty-three official matches. Among the fifteen Gialloblù victories achieved in away matches, the most recent is dated November 1, 2020, by a 3-1 scoreline.
THE REFEREES The match will be directed by Armando Simbari (first referee from Milan, in Serie A since 2007) and Vincenzo Carcione (from Rome, in Serie A since 2014).
RADIO, INTERNET AND TV The match will be reported live on Radio Dolomiti, media partner of Trentino Volleyball. Frequencies to listen to the regional network can be found at www.radiodolomiti.com, where it will also be possible to follow the live play-by-play on streaming.
Also confirmed is the live video streaming on the OTT platform "Volleyball TV” (paid service). For additional information consult https://it.volleyballworld.com/volleyball-tv-it.
On television, the highlights of the match will be aired on Wednesday, Oct. 25, at 9:50 p.m., on RTTR - Trentino Volleyball's media partner.
On the Internet, there will be live updates on the Volleyball League's Serie A website (www.legavolley.it) and on www.trentinovolley.it; updates will always be available on yellow-blue social networks (www.trentinovolley.it/facebook, www.trentinovolley.it/instagram and www.trentinovolley.it/twitter).

Trentino Volley Srl
Press Office