Champions volleyball, Trentino wins 3-0

Itas Trentino-Ach Volley Ljubljana 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-21)

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Trento’s Champions League started off well, beating former Tine Urnaut’s Ach Volley Ljubljana with a round but far from easy 3-0, where former Latina and Verona player Toncek Stern and former Perugia player Gregor Ropret also played. The result was a tense, very intense match with the serve as the protagonist and moments of great balance. It is precisely the serve that decides the first set. Alessandro Michieletto’s first serve turns into a 7-0 run (with two aces from the Italian world champion) which threatens to crush Ljubljana. But he can’t. The Slovenians collect, stagger then patiently begin to gnaw point after point. A block here, an ace there, Urnaut and his teammates reduce the deficit until the final sprint closed with difficulty by Trento. From then on the match is played on the edge of a delicate balance. Toncek Stern carries Ljubljana on his shoulders and keeps them in the game in the moments when Trento breaks away trying to escape. Theo Faure also hits the serve together with Jordi, Urnaut responds but Trento is always one step ahead. And when he finds himself chasing in the third he makes the overtaking sprint, he doesn’t give in to the temptation to prolong the game. In the end a well-deserved MVP goes to Michieletto. The next match for Itas is on January 6th at the home of the Tour which they lost 3-1 in Ankara.