The still undefeated Prosecco DOC Imoco Volleyball, after its debut success in Champions with Mladost on Thursday, leaves tomorrow for Piedmont ahead of Sunday’s match-event that will see it engaged LIVE ON RAI DUE at 3:20 pm on the court of Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri. Coach Santarelli’s team has been on a roll so far, 7 games played and leading alone thanks to 7 three-point wins, while Chieri is traveling in 6th place with 11 points, the result of 5 wins and 2 losses. The team is at full strength under coach Santarelli. After the match, the team will remain in Piedmont to leave Turin on Monday for Plovdiv, Bulgaria, where the second round of the Champions League will be staged on Tuesday night.
REFERENCES: Brancati and Brunelli
MEDIA: Live free-to-air television on RAI 2 and streaming on www.volleyballworld.tv (subscription required). Updates and post-match interviews on Imoco Volleyball’s Facebook and Youtube page.
PRECEDENTS AND EX: Olympian Loveth Omoruyi, Frenchwoman Gicquel and Carletti (in youth) are three former Panthers. Precedents with 13 wins by Conegliano in as many matches played.
STATEMENTS COACH DANIELE SANTARELLI
“We have entered a very hot phase of the season, we are playing at a fast pace and commitments are coming up, but I am happy with my team’s responses. After the first relatively quiet month, now the season presents us with these rhythms and I am pleased with how the whole squad, young and veteran, is responding to the stresses of the calendar. The physical condition is good and I have all of them available, that is the main aspect, but it is equally fundamental that all of them are ready when called upon, in big teams with so many high-level athletes it is essential if you want to have big goals, considering that we are running on so many fronts. In Champions for example on Thursday I gave space to the young girls and they did very well, maybe for some it is a surprise, but we know how valuable our young people are and the commitment they put in every day even in training.
On Sunday we have a tough away match in Chieri, the Piedmontese are by now a certainty in the Italian league, they have now entered permanently among the top five forces in the league and also this season they have the staff to be protagonists and play with anyone. It is one of the most insidious away matches, Chieri has a long roster with important weapons, especially in attack and wall-defense, although we face this and the next matches with little training to prepare them, I am confident in my team and in the possibility of giving continuity to our results. The girls know that we will have to play our best volleyball on Sunday, so we leave with confidence for this double trip, as we will then go directly to Bulgaria for the Champions League match in Plovdiv..”