Grozer leads Vero Volley Monza squad into new season

Vero Volley Monza entered the 2021/22 club season with a new look and fresh hopes of claiming a place on the SuperLega Credem Banca podium.

The club recently attracted six new players to their roster, all born in 1998 or later, with one substantial exception. 36-year-old German star Gyorgy Grozer, who transferred to Monza after spending his first season in Italy’s top division with Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza, is expected to play a major role in leading Vero Volley to success. In the team’s first match of this season's SuperLega Credem Banca, the experienced opposite produced a match high of 21 points on the way to a four-set victory over Leo Shoes PerkinElmer Modena and earned the MVP nomination.

Thanks to Grozer and 38-year-old Italian setter Santiago Orduna, the average age of the new Vero Volley squad is a solid 26 years, but in fact, as many as nine of their players are 24 years of age or younger. Among them are the only two foreigners who stayed on with the club after last season, Czech striker Donovan Dzavoronok (24) and Belarusian international Uladzislau Davyskiba (20). Dzavoronok impressed with four aces against Leo Shoes, before leading scorers in Vero Volley’s second match, a five-set loss to Allianz Milano, with 19 points to his name.

That younger group of players also includes the other three new foreign additions to the club's roster - Bulgarian national team members, middle blocker Aleks Grozdanov (23), who came in from Consar Ravenna, and opposite Denis Karyagin (19), who made his first transfer from Neftochimik Burgas, as well as Croatian international Tomislav Mitrasinovic (21), who also made his first transfer from HAOK Mladost Zagreb.

The most notable names among the domestic players who stayed on with the club from Monza for the new season are those of middle blockers Gianluca Galassi (24), reigning European champion with the national team, and former Italian international Thomas Beretta (31).

All these players will have to take on the difficult task of filling the gaps left by some notable departures from the previous season’s roster like those of American middle Maxwell Holt and Turkish opposite Adis Lagumdzija, both of whom moved to Piacenza, and of Italian outside Filippo Lanza.

This season, the team will also represent Italy in the second-tier continental tournament, the CEV Cup, but their next chance for a historic first trophy is coming up this weekend, when coach Massimo Eccheli’s squad join the four-team race in Italy’s Del Monte Supercoppa 2021.

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