Italian SuperLega Credem Banca club Modena Volley announced Luciano De Cecco as the new setter of the team for next season. The Argentinean star replaced another star playmaker, Bruno Rezende, who had conducted the team for three consecutive seasons before returning home to Brazil. De Cecco headlines a number of incoming transfers announced by Modena in recent days and they include the likes of Simone Anzani, Jose Miguel Gutierrez, Paul Buchegger and Pardo Mati.
Superlega 2024/25
De Cecco replaces Bruno in Modena, headlines a number of new transfers
Anzani, Gutierrez, Buchegger and Mati also join the club for next season
Published 02:29, 10 May 2024
De Cecco as a Lube player during their most recent match against Valsa Group Modena
35-year-old De Cecco arrives at Modena Volley after four consecutive seasons at Cucine Lube Civitanova. With some short interruptions, the 1.94m-tall Argentinean playmaker has played for Italian clubs since 2007, starting with Acqua Paradiso Gabeca Montichiari and moving through Andreoli Latina, Copra Elior Piacenza, Sir Safety Perugia and Lube. During that time, he won three national titles, four Coppa Italia crowns and two Supercoppa Italiana trophies, as well as the CEV Challenge Cup trophy in 2013. With his national team, De Cecco is a Tokyo 2021 Olympic bronze medallist and a 2023 South American champion, with Best Setter awards at both competitions among the numerous other individual awards in his career, highlighted by Best Setter honours at the 2010 FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship, the 2011 FIVB Volleyball World League and the 2011 FIVB Volleyball World Cup.
32-year-old Simone Anzani returns to Modena after spending five seasons with Lube and winning one club world title, two national championships and two national cups. Right before that, he competed for Azimut Leo Shoes Modena for a season and conquered the Italian super cup, right after a golden treble with Sir Safety Conad Perugia the previous season, and a Challenge Cup trophy with Calzedonia Verona two seasons before that. The 2.04m-tall middle blocker is a reigning world champion with Italy from 2022. He also won the CEV European Championship in 2021.
Jose Miguel Gutierrez is a talented 22-year-old Cuban international, who moves to Modena after a season with Gioiella Prisma Taranto, when he topped the best receivers’ chart in the SuperLega. Before that, the 1.94m-tall outside hitter made his SuperLega debut in 2022 with Top Volley Cisterna. He has also played for clubs from Cuba, France and Qatar, winning several national trophies. As a Cuban national team player, Gutierrez won the NORCECA Final Six trophy in 2022, a Central American and Caribbean Games gold in 2023 and a NORCECA Championship bronze in 2023, after collecting several continental titles and individual awards at the youth and junior levels.
Austrian scoring machine Paul Buchegger transfers to Modena from Farmitalia Catania, where he spent one season and became the best spiker and the second best scorer of the SuperLega regular season. The 28-year-old Austrian international opposite, towering at a height of 2.04 m, has played for several Italian clubs since first arriving in the southern European country in 2016. In 2018, Buchegger triumphed in the Challenge Cup with Bunge Ravenna and picked up the MVP award. It will be his second season in Modena, after competing for Leo Shoes Modena in 2020-2021.
17-year-old Italian middle blocker Pardo Mati is another new addition to coach Alberto Giuliani’s squad. The 2.03m-tall hopeful arrives from the second-division team of Kemas Lamipel Santa Croce. For the 2022 CEV U18 European Championship gold medallist and Dream Teamer, it will be the first season in the SuperLega.
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