With the new SuperLega Credem Banca season in Italy just a few days away, let’s take a look at some of the teams most likely to play major roles in the battles for Italian men’s volleyball domination. Of course, let’s start with defending champions Itas Trentino Trento.
Superlega 2023
Trentino to defend title with some major changes in squad
Rychlicki and Kozamernik are the Italian champions’ new foreign additions
Published 12:01, 17 Oct 2023
World champions Michieletto, Lavia and Sbertoli are among Trentino’s returning players for the new season
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Trentino had a fabulous 2022-2023 season. They reached the 2022 FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship final and the Coppa Italia final before crowning the season with the national championship title. Trentino finished the regular season in second place on a 14-8 win-loss record, way behind undefeated winners Sir Safety Susa Perugia, went on to overcome Vero Volley Monza by three victories to one in the best-of-five quarterfinal playoffs, needed five matches to get past Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza in the semifinals, and another five to overcome the resistance of the defending champions at the time, Cucine Lube Civitanova, and celebrate the fifth national title in the history of the club.
“Winning the championship in May gave us great awareness and self-esteem,” Trentino’s player Daniele Lavia said. “After a fluctuating season and some avoidable defeats, we shifted gears thanks to the success in game five of the semifinal playoff. A strong bond was created within this group. Being the team to beat is very stimulating.”
The Trentino squad was led and inspired by their 38-year-old captain Matey Kaziyski. The Bulgarian star was the best scorer and the best attacker of the SuperLega season and celebrated a well-deserved MVP award. However, he transferred away to Allianz Milan after the end of the season and his beloved club from Trento had to find replacements, not only for him, but also for a couple of other foreign players, who left. After five seasons with Trentino, top-calibre Serbian middle blocker Srecko Lisinac moved to Poland’s Projekt Warsaw. Czech striker Donovan Dzavoronok transferred to Rana Verona.
Two new foreign players, each towering at 2.04 m, were added to Trentino’s roster for the new season. One is 27-year-old Luxembourgish opposite Kamil Rychlicki, who came in from club world champions Sir Safety, and the other – 28-year-old Slovenian star middle blocker Jan Kozamernik, who came in from Poland’s Asseco Resovia Rzeszow.
Meanwhile one Italian player, 20-year-old setter Niccolo Depalma, was replaced by two Italian players, 24-year-old playmaker Alessandro Acquarone and 22-year-old outside hitter Giulio Magalini.
Among those, who continued with the club, are Serbian star middle and new team captain Marco Podrascanin, Belgian middle Wout D’heer and reigning world champions with the Italian national team Alessandro Michieletto, Daniele Lavia and Riccardo Sbertoli.
“I am truly proud to hold this role in one of the most important clubs in Europe and the world. Doing it after Kaziyski is a great honour,” said captain Podrascanin. “I ask the fans for a little patience, at least in the first two to three weeks because until now we have never trained together and it will take some time to get to playing at a high level. We all look forward to getting on the court and trying to relive the emotions of the previous season."
Between the seasons, Trentino also underwent a change in the head coach position with Angelo Lorenzetti being replaced by Fabio Soli, who was at the helm of Top Volley Cisterna over the last couple of seasons.
“I believe that each of the players is fundamental in trying to achieve our goals, but let's start building an idea of ‘us’ together that will prove decisive for our season,” said Soli.
In addition to the five Italian championship titles, Trentino’s club showcase also features five Club World Championship titles, three CEV Champions League crowns, one CEV Cup trophy, three national cups and three national super cups.
Their quest towards a sixth domestic crown will start on Sunday, October 22, with a visit to Cisterna Volley at 18:00 local time (16:00 UTC). Their first home game in Trento will be against Gioiella Prisma Taranto on October 28 at 20:30 (18:30). The team will then travel to Biella for the Supercoppa Italiana event, where they will face Sir Susa Vim Perugia in one of the semifinals on October 31, at 17:30 (16:30).
