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Macerata enter the new season as big favorites

Trentino had a full refitting and this season they are not in the first line of favorites. The coach Stoychev took all the best individuals to Halkbank while Macerata made up for their departure a lot beter

In the 18th edition of Italian Supercup in Trent we will watch another volleyball classic. The reigning champions and winners of the Cup Trentino face the Cup finalists and vice-champions Macerata. Trentino continued their dominance last year in the national championship by winning their third Cup in only four years and after a year of pause they took the title of the Italian champions from Macerata. Last season Supercup was won by Macerata against Trentino. It was the third title to Macerata while Trentino won it only in 2011.

Trentino started their dominance in Italian volleyball in 2007. The club won three championship titles, three Cups, one Supercup, three Champions League titles and four consecutive titles of World Club Champions. In those seven years many names went through the club and some of them abandoned it last year. The club is starting the season with eight changes in the roster while the blockers Birarelli and Burgstahler, setter Sintini, libero Colaci and receiver Lanza decided to stay. Basically the whole first team departed together with the coach Stoychev who took three players away to Turkish Halkbank. Matey Kazyski-Osmany Juantorena-Mitar Djuric-Raphael de Oliveira are the mentioned four and Jan Stokr decided to find his fortune in Dynamo Krasnodar. They were also abandoned by the libero Andrea Bari who was in the club for the past eight years and Uchikov and Crtiansky Jr. also left.

Stoychev was succeeded by his assistant Roberto Serniotti and as the biggest reinforcement he got the excellent Tsvetan Sokolov who is after a year in Cuneo coming back to Trento where he spent three years. From Drean Bolivar (Argentina) they brought the experienced setter Donald Suxho to whom Trentino is the 14th club in his career and together with him came the young blocker Sebastian Sole. After a season spent in Austria, the receiver David Szabo (Hypo Tirol) came back to Italy while the other reinforcement came from Italian clubs (Ferreira-Castellana Grotte, De Paola-Atripaldi, Thei-Gennova, Fedrizzi-Verona).

 - Before we were the prey and now we are the hunters. Macerata are even stronger than last season. They brought the talented Baranowicz and excellent Kurek and they have a very wide roster. We know they will do everything to stop Sokolov but one players doesn't make the whole team although he is one of the best hitters in the world - said the coach Serniotti.

It is unbelievable that the players who left the club scored 80% of all points made by the team in the championship last season. There will definitely be problems with coordination as the preparations weren't done in full lineup because of European Championship attended by Birarelli, Lanza and Sokolov.

 - There wasn't much time for training and preparations. Everyone showed a lot of will to work which is an excellent starting point ahead of the season and this team needs that because we changed the lineup completely - said the middle blocker Birarelli and commented on the opposing team:

 - The past is the past and we are no longer the favorites. Macerata are an excellent team made to attack all trophies, they have an extremely strong first team. Despite that, we will fight for every ball because we know we have potential. A lot of us already played matches this important and in time we will become a coordinated team - concluded Birarelli and Ferreira added:

 - For us the Supercup is an excellent opportunity to test our abilities against a team such as Macerata. We play in front of our spectators who have already in preparations proven they will be an additional boost for us. There is a difficult task ahead of us but we have potential which, I hope, will come to the light immediately.

Macerata had a refit after the end of the last season and they were very active on the market. Several very important players left the team but the leaders gave their best to bring in worthy replacements. Their biggest loss is definitely the departure of the captain Cristian Savani (Shangai) and setter Dragan Travica (Belgorod) and the departures of the middle blocker Alen Pajenko, receiver Kooy and opposite Starovic should also be mentioned.

Alberto Giuliani will lead the team for the third consecutive year and of last year players he can still count on Henn (libero), Kovar and Parodi (receivers), Zaytsev (opposite) and middle blockers Podrascanin and Stankovic The experienced Lamparielo (receiver) and Monopoli (setter) will be the part of the rotation as well. The players who were brought will definitely be the right reinforcement and it can especially be said for the great receiver Bartosz Kurek who decided for an adventure in Italy after Zaksa, Belchatow and Dynamo Moscow. The other arrivals are the middle blocker Stefano Patriarca (Latina), setter Michele Baranowicz (Modena), experienced opposite Giombini (Corigliano) and libero Paparoni (Castellana Grotte).

Because of European Championship, Giuliani was missing six players during preparations. Kurek played for Poland who didn't reach playoffs so he was first to join this team. Kovar, Parodi and Zaytsev played in the final for Italy and Podrascanin and Stankovic were fighting for the bronze for Serbia. They joined the team on 5th October when Giuliani did the first training with the entire team. Until then they played some preparation matches in which juniors got a lot of opportunities so a loss against a second league team Ortona at the start of the preparations should be no wonder. The crucial thing was to coordinate the new setter Baranowicz with the hitters while all others got a lot of opportunities. They played their only match in full lineup on Monday when they won against the strong MOdena with 3-2 (Zaytsev 23, Podrascanin 13, Kurek 12, Kovar 11, Stankovic 10).

 - We are favorites on paper but from experience I know there are no easy opponents. Trentino are always tricky at home, they have experienced players and it will be a big fight. I will have to develop a good relationship and communication with the hitters in order to function better in time - said the new setter Baranowicz and Zaytsev added:

 - There is an important match ahead of us in front of their fans and we can't wait for it to start. We are full of optimism ahead of this season and we are curious as well when our new players are concerned.

The change of setter is always tricky because the team have to train actions all over again. Travica knew where his players are without looking while Baranowicz will need a certain adaption. But the coach Giuliani doesn't think it will be a long one.

 - I don't think we will have problems with attacking because a lot of players are with us since last year and Baranowicz already knows some players from the national team very well - said Giuliani shortly.

There are statements from the club saying they are aware they are the favorites but that every start to a season is difficult, especially when there was a change of players. They know they are coming to Trentino's court but they announce they came here for the title.

Trentino were dominating every aspect of the Italian volleyball in the last seasons. This season will be different since these are no longer the same Trentino that won everything they possibly could. Coach who created the super team, Stoyhcev, left the club after six years. He decided to take Turskish club Halkbank over and took Trentino's key players along - Kaziyski, Juantoren, Djuric, and Raphael. Stokr, Bari, Uchikov, and Chrtianksy Jr. left the club as well. Only five players from last seasons are still there, Italian internationals Birarelli, Lanza, and Burgsthaler are among the ones worth mentioning. Brilliant Tsvetan Sokolov can be regarded as a good signing, but the rest of the team are just not there. Macerata have been through changes as well, but not as much as Trentino. Savani, Travica, and Pajenk left the team, but the players that were brought in to replace them are considered to be even better. Setter Baranowicz has a lot of talent, and the fact he's acquainted with Zaytsev, Parodi, and Kovar from the national team is a great advantage. Great receiver Kurek stepped in for Savani. Blocking duo Podrascanin-Stankovic are already working together well, but also with the other three national team players who all know each other very well. Macerata are at this point the team that work together much better. They are playing the role of the favorite for the championship title for a reason. Trentino are third with much worse odds. Both teams only had a few days to prepare with the whole team, and that is why Macerata's better teamwork should surface as an advantage, and decide the match. If the match wasn't taking place at Trentino's arena, the wager would be much higher. Because of that, I decided on a moderate wager.