Rinascita Volley Lagonegro continues to take shape ahead of the 2026/2027 Credem Banca Serie A2 championship. Following the signings of Cosimo Balestra, Stavros Mouchlias, and Leonardo Caletti, and the confirmation of Gabriele Tognoni, the fifth addition to the new red-and-white roster is Mario Catinelli, a Roman setter born in 2000, ready to embark on his first experience in the second national division.
For the 190-centimeter-tall setter from Rome, with talent and vision, joining coach Waldo Kantor represents a great opportunity to build a career step by step, season by season, without shortcuts.
His volleyball career began in the capital, playing for the Fenice Roma youth team. At just eighteen, he made his senior debut: between 2018 and 2020, he took his first steps in Serie B, splitting his time between the same Roman team and Anguillara. His technical ability and personality as a playmaker didn’t go unnoticed, and Tuscania recognized this, opening the doors to Serie A3 for him in the summer of 2020.
He stayed with the Viterbo-based club for two consecutive seasons, racking up 55 appearances and 38 wins, numbers that still stand as his personal best. After a stint in Serie B with Foligno in the 2022/2023 season, Catinelli returned to Serie A3, where he played for Sabaudia for two years, making another 46 appearances.
Last season, he was the starting setter for newly promoted Terni. Despite a challenging season for the Umbrian team, president Nicola Carlomagno identified the Roman playmaker as a promising player with personality and decided to offer him the opportunity to make the leap to Serie A2.
