A playoff final that was narrowly missed. One or two plays that ultimately made the difference, as evidenced by the 15-13 tie-break and golden set. Belluno will now face Domotek Reggio Calabria for promotion to Serie A2 Credem Banca: ErmGroup Altotevere’s season has ended competitively, not without a hint of regret, as the goal was already within reach. However, we believe that the white-and-blue team’s excellent season should be emphasized first and foremost, something that a narrow elimination—especially against a theoretically more highly-rated opponent—can’t certainly tarnish. “Describing the state of mind, separating emotion from rationality, experiencing it as a former player or dealing with it as a sporting director… so many emotions, perhaps too many”: 48 hours after the exhilarating match at the VHV Arena, sporting director Valdemaro Gustinelli has reset the scoreboard and is off to a flying start. “I’m proud and honored to represent Volley Altotevere,” he emphasizes, “and today I’m even more so. What do you want to know, am I happy? No, I’m pissed off! I told the boys that the biggest disappointment would be from Game 1, but I didn’t imagine they were this good. They were commendable. It wasn’t a great match from a technical standpoint, but it was exciting: six sets, a tie-break, and a golden set all narrowly finished, 26-24, 25-23… in short, crazy stuff! What can I say to my team? Well done, well done, and well done again: we were up against a battleship that proved to be just that, but if we had won, I don’t think there would have been anything to complain about. With this result, we have consecrated our work and our way of playing volleyball: we brought almost a thousand people to San Giustino, we won eight consecutive three-point matches, seven of them 3-0.
