Biella, 30 October 2023

Del Monte® Supercoppa 2023 will be awarded in Biella

This Wednesday, in Biella, the first title of the 2023/24 season of Italian men's volleyball will be awarded: the Del Monte® Supercoppa 2023. For the eighth consecutive edition, the competition will feature the four teams with the best placement in the last season, engaged in a Final Four, like the one played mid-season for the Italian Cup. Itas Trentino will take the field in the first semifinal on Tuesday, Oct. 31, against Sir Susa Vim Perugia at 5:30 pm. Live broadcast on RAI Sport Hd, Radio Dolomiti and streaming live on the OTT Volleyball World Tv platform.
ITAS TRENTINO After landing on Sunday evening in Piedmont with the number one rank (as the reigning Italian Champions), the yellow-blue lineup is approaching the first important match of its season and will do so coming off two victories: last Saturday night against Taranto at home and eight days ago against Cisterna in an away match. The two games offered some useful indications to coach Fabio Soli on the condition (technical, tactical, and physical) of his team and, at the same time, confirmed the qualities, also temperamental, of the group; an important element in the process of approaching the match.
"The Final Four of the Supercoppa is a great occasion, which traditionally comes very early and which we want to live to the fullest, knowing very well that we will face Perugia, the most dangerous team of the league, in my opinion - explained Trento’s coach Fabio Soli during the conference - . We come to Biella after two significant matches, which highlighted a decidedly positive team spirit; the group faced difficulties always coming out on top and accepting its own imperfections. Throughout the two matches we played very different individual sets, which showed our potential but also our current limitations. But I prefer to see the glass half full; I appreciate the spirit we have shown so far, because to win a match like the one ahead of us on Tuesday good volleyball won’t be enough, we also need to be a real team when things don't go as we planned."
For his first knockout match on Trentino Volley’s bench, the Emilian coach will be able to count on all fourteen members of the roster, who trained early this afternoon at the Biella Forum.
In the yellow-blue ranks there are thirteen players who participated at least once in the Supercoppa. Marko Podrascanin has won the most (six), including one with Trento: in 2021, along with Cavuto, D'Heer, Lavia, Michieletto and Sbertoli. The only rookie is Acquarone. For Trentino Volley, the semifinal with Perugia will be the 999th official match in its 20-year-long history in the men's division, and the first official one in Biella where just over thirteen months ago it had played a friendly match (Sept. 24-25, 2022, second place finish).
FOURTEENTH SUPERCOPPA FINAL IN GIALLOBLÙ’S HISTORY On Tuesday begins Trentino Volley's fourteenth participation in the Italian Super Cup semifinals. The Club from via Trener  thus boasts thirteen previous ones; in addition to the quarterfinals in the 2016 and 2017 editions, the third place in 2019, 2020 and 2022, the other records in the event for the Trentino Club are related to the matches in Florence 2008 (the first ever, 0-3 loss to Lube), Turin 2010 (0-3 against Cuneo), Cagliari 2011 (3-1 against Cuneo), Modena 2012 and 2015 (2-3 against Lube and 2-3 against the hosts), Trento 2013 (3-0 against Lube), Perugia 2018 (2-3 against Modena) and Civitanova 2021 (3-1 over Monza): three wins out of 13 appearances.
THE OPPONENTS Sir Susa Vim Perugia comes to Biella as the defending champion of the competition and still undefeated in the SuperLega. The two 3-0 victories against Catania and in Monza, respectively, in their 2023/24 SuperLega debut confirmed with facts the leading role the Umbrian club aims to play this season. Compared to the roster that had dominated the previous regular season there are some new faces, such as: Tunisian opposite hitter Ben Tara (who, so far, has found little space on the court, with the Cuban Jaime Herrera playing in the sextet instead), Tim Held (spiker and son of Henk-Jan Held), second libero Toscani and middle blocker Candellaro, who goes to complete a large lineup of former Trentino Volley players that also includes Giannelli, Colaci, Solé, and coach Lorenzetti. This will be Angelo's first match as an opponent after 337 consecutive appearances on the Trentino Volley bench, culminating with the Scudetto won last May 17.
THE PREVIOUS MATCHES With 51 official matches, Perugia is the fourth most frequently faced opponent by Trentino Volley during its twenty-three years of history. On file, amongst other things, are five matches played in the same phase of the 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022 editions of the trophy (with two victories for Trento). The record sees the Umbrians ahead 23-28, with 10 wins in the last 15 matches. A total of nine matches have been played in neutral territory, with the Umbrians winning seven: both of those played in Civitanova Marche, the one played in Bari, two in Bologna, one in Cagliari and one in Betim (Brazil), the most recent. Trento has not won a direct clash since March 30, 2022 (external tie break win in the Champions League semifinal).
THE “FINAL FOUR” SCHEDULE On Tuesday, Oct. 31, the semifinals will be played at the Biella Forum; after Perugia-Trento, the confrontation between Civitanova and Piacenza will be played at 8:30 p.m. The next day, Wednesday, Nov. 1, the final between the two winners is scheduled for 5 p.m. Both the semifinals and the final will be broadcasted live on RAI Sport Hd (channel 58) and Volleyball World TV, which will also stream the other two matches.
TV, RADIO AND INTERNET The match will be a global media event, with simultaneous live coverage on TV, radio and the Internet. On the small screen it will be broadcasted by RAI Sport Hd, channel 58 of the digital terrestrial.
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, Nov. 1, at 9:00 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