ErmGroup Altotevere’s first major move for its middle blockers is in preparation for the upcoming Credem Banca Serie A3 championship. Along with the confirmed Augusto Quarta and Flavio Procelli, Riccardo Cengia has arrived from last season’s rival Belluno. A native of Thiene, in the province of Vicenza, he will turn 25 on July 10th and stands 198 cm tall. From Avolley di Schio in Serie C, he moved to Padova in Serie B between 2020 and 22, before making the leap to SuperLega with the Padua team the following season. He has already faced ErmGroup in Serie A3 as an opponent in the 2023-24 championship, when he was playing for Just British Bari. Cengia’s most recent two-year stint was with Belluno; So far, he has a total of 86 points, including 5 in the top division, 50 in attack, 10 serving, and 26 blocking. He showed his calling card to new supporters on April 25th at the San Giustino sports hall, in the first leg of the playoff semifinal, won 3-2 by the white-and-blues. During the second set, he replaced a less-than-perfect Matteo Mozzato and remained on the taraflex until the end, putting in a positive performance. “It was a great match,” Cengia recalls, “even if the result proved our opponents right, but in that moment I saw the real Altotevere, because the two January matches between the regular season and the Italian Cup were certainly not thrilling in a packed arena. In the playoffs, we were down 0-2 and were on the verge of turning things around, but credit to Altotevere, whose team I’ve always received excellent reviews about: they spoke to me of a family atmosphere, and so far I fully agree. The club made me feel at home.” A player who, in addition to his technical skills, also has a good dose of temperament: “I’m naturally competitive, I like to win from card games at home to volleyball games on the court. And when I lose, it takes me a while to get over the bitterness: the nice thing is that my goal aligns perfectly with that of the management.” Even in San Giustino, a peculiarity of Cengia emerged: typically, the middle blockers serve the ball from nine meters; He, on the other hand, tends to load his arm: “The serve – Cengia specifies – is a fundamental in which I feel comfortable, in the sense that it is just me, so I can best express my creativity between floats, hybrids and spins.
