Padua will hold a joint training session with ACH Volley (Ljubljana), whose squad includes a number of Slovenian national players. The test match is today, October 21, at 5:30 PM Bulgarian time in the "Kione Arena" and will be open to the public.
The control match is part of the Italian team's preparation for their away game against Cucine Lube (Civitanova), where Bulgarian national players Aleksandar and Simeon Nikolov play.
Padua's opponent is far from an ordinary sparring partner. ACH Volley boasts an impressive group of Slovenian national players, including the captain of the national team Tine Urnaut, opposite hitter Tonček Štern, middle blocker Alen Pajenk, setter Gregor Ropret, and libero Jani Kovačič. The squad also includes Uroš Planinšič, Luka Marovt, and Rok Bračko.
The concentration of national team players in the Slovenian champion is so high that at the start of preparations in August, eight club players were engaged with their national teams. This forced head coach Igor Kolaković to begin the training process with a severely limited group.
Over the summer, ACH Volley strengthened its squad with six new additions, including Slovenian national players Uroš Planinšič and Rok Bračko, Austrian Sebastian Sablatnig, and experienced Serbian outside hitter Marko Ivović.
For Padua, the match comes after an unsuccessful start to the season in the Italian SuperLega. In the first round, the team lost at home to Gas Sales Bluenergy (Piacenza) with a score of 0:3.
The next challenge is even more serious. On Sunday, October 25, at 7:00 PM Bulgarian time, Padua will visit Cucine Lube at the "Eurosuole Forum."
The Nikolov brothers' team started the championship with a convincing away victory over Rana (Verona) with a score of 3:0 and will be looking for a second consecutive success in their first home match of the season.
Padua will hold its last training session on Saturday morning, after which it will depart for Civitanova. Today's test match against the Slovenian champion is an opportunity for the Italians to test their interactions against an opponent with rich international experience before facing one of the leading teams in the SuperLega.
photo:legavolley.it
