The week leading up to the first leg of the playoff semifinals in the Credem Banca Serie A3 championship has begun. The closer we get to Saturday, April 25th (the match will be played at the San Giustino sports hall, kicking off at 6:00 PM), the more the anticipation grows for this match, pitting ErmGroup Altotevere against their “bête noire” par excellence, coach Mastrangelo’s Belluno. Since hope must never die, everyone in the white-and-blue camp is dreaming of finally breaking the spell, or at least being able to hold their own against the Veneto team to make this double-header more exciting, another crucial step on the road to promotion to Serie A2. Even the youngest members of the group are fully engaged; One of them, setter Vitale Tesone (who will be 19 next June), is becoming something of a lucky charm when coach Bartolini sends him out to serve in crucial moments of sets. In the last home match against Sarlux Sarroch, the youngster from Sir Perugia was the protagonist of some important runs from nine meters, which the team built on to victory. “I don’t serve with jump serves, but I still try to make it difficult for the opponents to receive,” says Tesone, “and I’m happy with how things went against Sarroch: four straight serves at the end of the second set; the rest was done by my teammates, who were good at blocking. We deserved credit for finding the right solutions compared to the first leg, when we were a bit under the influence of the Sardinians.” Undoubtedly, coming in cool and serving at the key moment of the set, knowing that I can’t make any mistakes, is another factor that confirms the player’s growth: “Yes, it’s not easy,” he states, “even if I don’t look at the score. I just think about serving.” But against Sabaudia, with qualification already secured, he was able to play his part in the fourth set. “It was a great feeling,” Tesone emphasizes, “because I was finally able to take control of the game, thanks to my teammates who, by closing the game out early, allowed the coach to give us younger players a chance. Even though it had no bearing on the final outcome, that set was crucial for us: being called upon under any circumstances is very important, we must always give our all to make ourselves noticed, and performing in front of the home fans was inspiring.”
