Happy! Yippee! Yehey! Our American BBs made it to the Playoff Round of the Serie A which starts on April 7th.
The Italian club teams of Americans Sean Rooney & Paul Lotman have qualified for the Playoffs of the prestigious Italian League. Sean Rooney & Team Acqua Paradiso Monza Brianza finished 4th while Lotman, American middle blocker Theo Brunner & Team Marmi Lanza Verona finished 7th after the Regular Season.
(image: gabecapallavolo.it)
Sean and Paradiso will face 5th ranked Casa Modena who is the home team of Dutch stars Kooistra and Kooy, Russian striker Berezhko and Cuban-Italian Angel Dennis. It’d be a great match for sure. Modena has hired Brazilian setter, Bruno, to replace the injured Mikko Esko from Finland.
No doubt that Italian setter Travica will rely on the heavy arms of Rooney when they face the star studded squad from Modena. Sean, the 2009 USAVolleyball’s Male Player of the Year, is his team’s 2nd top scorer with 368 pts after 26 matches during the regular season.
(image: Federico Ambrosi)
On the other hand, Paul Lotman and his squad will face the #2 seeded Lannutti Cuneo (Nikolov, Volkov & Nikola Grbic). In case you didn’t know, Cuneo won the 2010/2011 Italian Cup and Italian Super Cup but will play without its star hitter Simone Parodi who was seriously injured last Sunday. Team Verona is the only team who defeated the #1 ranked Trentino Volley this season. Since their historical win, Lotman (228 pts) & Verona have picked up their game and have what it takes to defeat Cuneo. This is one match we don’t want to miss!
(image: volleytonnocallipo.com)
Matt Anderson and Team Callipo Volley failed to win a playoff spot and finished 9th. Only the top 8 teams advance to the next round. Matt played amazing volleyball throughout the season and was one of Callippo’s most effective scorers. Anderson finished the season with 417 pts. It was Matt’s first time playing in Italy and as far as we know he has received offers from other teams.
We wish Paul, Sean and their respective teams the best in the Playoff Round. It’s going to be a battle! We can’t wait for the matches to start!
For more updates on Americans playing overseas, click THIS.
Side Dish: Lotman, Anderson, Rooney and Brunner debuted in the Italian League this season.
WATCH: Rooney, Travica & Team Paradiso Slideshow.