Sir Susa Vim Perugia completed a season’s golden quadruple on Sunday evening. Having already won the FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship, the Supercoppa Italiana and the Coppa Italia earlier this season, Sir added the SuperLega Credem Banca title to their impressive collection. Powered by their Cuban-born Polish star Wilfredo Leon, who came in as a substitution to mastermind a turnaround, they won the fourth match of the best-of-five final playoff against Mint Vero Volley Monza to triumph as Italian champions for the second time in history.
Superlega 2023
Super Leon inspires Sir to SuperLega title
Giannelli honoured as MVP of the finals
Published 04:01, 29 Apr 2024
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Captain Wilfredo Leon was not among Sir’s main seven for the game in Monza. He entered as a substitution during the first set and in sets two, three and four he was already among the starters to lead his team from a first-set loss to a 3-1 (19-25, 25-23, 27-25, 25-20) comeback in front of four thousand spectators on the stands, including about four hundred, who arrived from Perugia in anticipation of this important achievement. The outside hitter was on fire. He produced 23 points in attack at a 62% success rate and put away one ace and one kill block to top the charts with a 25-point total.
To add yet another Italian title to his already fabulous showcase, coach Angelo Lorenzetti made a number of other substitutions during the match to bring it to a victorious end. Initially, Leon replaced Ukrainian star Oleh Plotnytskyi, who came back to the court later on to substitute for his Polish teammate Kamil Semeniuk. But then it was Semeniuk, who came back on to score the match winner in the fourth set. There was a change in the opposite position as well, with Tunisia’s Wassim Ben Tara among the seven starters in the first two sets and Cuba’s Jesus Herrera taking over for the third and fourth. Lorenzetti also triumphed last year at the helm of Itas Trentino Trento and now he celebrated his fifth national crown with a fourth different club.
Vero Volley, who also received standing ovation for the successful season and the historic silver medals, were led by Canadian outside Stephen Maar with 20 points, followed by his compatriot, opposite Eric Loeppky with 15 and Japanese outside Ran Takahashi with 14. Middle blocker Gianluca Gallassi put away five kill blocks to finish with 12 points.
The magic touch of Sir’s star setter Simone Giannelli earned him the finals’ Most Valuable Player recognition, a well-deserved reward for his top-level performances throughout this very successful season.
“Without my teammates there would have been none of this. They have been special all year,” said an elated Giannelli. “Last year, after losing in the quarterfinals, I said that we all had to improve and this year we did it – the club, us players and the fans, who have always supported us. This championship belongs to this expanded team, it belongs to Perugia!”
“We must be proud of what we did, of how we played and of this achievement,” Vero Volley’s Galassi commented. “These have been many years of firsts for Monza and this was another one. I think we should be really proud of what we have done, because every day, with work and sacrifice, we have managed to reach this goal and I can't be anything but happy about it.”
Monza vs. Perugia | Highlights | Superlega | Round 3 of the Finals
