On Sunday, Volley Banca Macerata won the promotion play-off in game 3 on the Gabbiano Mantova court and won Serie A2. The success went from a final in three acts: from the defeat suffered in the first leg, to the incredible comeback of the Banca Macerata Forum, which saw the red and whites manage to overturn 3-2 after having been two sets down, driven by a arena more involved than ever; until the final match on Sunday, where Volley Banca Macerata dominated at Mantua, finishing 3-0.
Coach Castellano is the architect of this success on the field, together with the boys and the staff, and commented on the final as follows: “We faced a solid team, which makes little mistakes and which played some good matches in this promotion play-off. We had to deal with some ailments and above all with the absence of Casaro which forced us to change the game system; However, the team reacted in the best way and I think this is the most important aspect. Changing a key role like the opposite is not easy, however the group has demonstrated all its solidity, it has always come together in difficult moments of the season. I have to congratulate Penna and D’Amato, the guys who replaced Casaro, they proved to be players worthy of this category. The group is full of players who want to stand out and this has given us an extra push. We worked a lot during the year and the boys deserved the Serie A2 finish.” One of the decisive moments, as regards the promotion play-off, was match 2 at the Banca Macerata Forum, “We have to thank Gabbanelli, he was decisive in some key episodes of the match, then the team found character and conviction again and it started from there the comeback. Then in game 3 we had something more. The team was in excellent condition, perhaps the specific work penalized us a bit in the first match but then it came out: in the last match we managed to sustain a high pace for the entire match, putting Mantua in difficulty. We managed to play some good volleyball, which is not a given in hard-fought finals like the one we saw. The ability to win and play well is the reflection of our season.” The statistics also speak clearly on this, “In addition to having finished the Regular Season at the top of the Blue Group, we are among the top both in terms of team statistics and individual athlete statistics. In the championship we controlled the advantage gained, keeping the opposing teams at a distance, winning several direct clashes.
