Final Game 5:
Tonno Callipo Calabria Vibo Valentia – Globo Banca Pop. Frusinate Sora 1-3 (25-20, 23-25, 19-25, 28-30)
TONNO CALLIPO CALABRIA VIBO VALENTIA – GLOBO BANCA POPOLARE DEL FRUSINATE SORA 1-3 (25-20, 23-25, 19-25, 28-30) – TONNO CALLIPO CALABRIA VIBO VALENTIA: Pinelli, Korniienko, Marra (L), Casoli 8, Michalovic 29, Forni 7, Vedovotto 8, Maccarone 1, Sardanelli, Silva De Araujo 6, Presta 6. DNP Ferraro, Corrado. Coach. Mastrangelo.
GLOBO BANCA POPOLARE DEL FRUSINATE SORA: Fabroni 1, Mariano 18, Festi, Santucci (L), Rosso 21, Hoogendoorn 16, Buzzelli, Giglioli 5, Marrazzo, Sperandio 10. DNP Lucarelli, Bacca, Mauti. Coach. Colucci.
In a packed PalaValentia arena (almost three thousand), it is the visitors who had the last word and celebrated promotion in the SuperLega 2016-17.
The game was expected to be a real battle and the suspense and quality was there till the very end. The hosts had the better start but Sora fought back from the second set. Sora had the momentum in the fourth and escaped 10-5, but Vibo, with two aces confirmed by the video check against the referee decision, tied it and even went ahead 12-11. Some stunning points followed until 21 all. Eventually, it is Hoogendoorn who gave Sora its first match point, cancelled by a foul whistled. Michalovic put Vibo 25-24 up but that was not it either. It would go on until Mattia Rosso scored the winning 30-28 that sent Sora in the elite of Italian Volleyball.
The Italian Volleyball League CEO, Massimo Righi, was there to hand the trophy to captain Fabroni and congratulate the Sora team on their special achievement.
Sora was born in 1975, founded by a group of friends. It started in the low divisions until it reached the Serie A2 in 2009 thanks to a playoff victory over Gela. On its debut, the club bought its first foreigner (the Brazilian Giacomini) and finished 5th. In 2012, the club inaugurated the PalaGlobo “Luca Polsinelli” arena. The last few years brought excellent results but frustration too as the promotion in the top division remained a dream for years… until Mattia Rosso made it reality.
Mattia Rosso (Globo Banca Popolare del Frusinate Sora): “This is a special victory. The joy is overwhelming. The club had been waiting for this for years. We won away from home in a heated atmosphere against a very strong team that was at the top all season long with us. It was great to see all those fans coming over from Sora and celebrate with them”.
