VolleyBar70# : Friday August 21,2026

On this day..
Amarcord, Modena, Piacenza and Tours, Adam Lorenc, Qatar U17 World Championship and Alessandro Michieletto

Welcome to the 70th episode of VolleyBar!

On this day in 2008, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings confirmed their status as the undisputed queens of beach volleyball.
Playing in a torrential downpour at Beijing’s Chaoyang Park, the defending Olympic champions defeated China’s Tian Jia and Wang Jie 21–18, 21–18 to claim their second consecutive Olympic gold medal, following their triumph in Athens four years earlier.
The conditions made the final anything but easy, with the rain making the ball heavier and the sand sodden. Yet the Americans remained composed, recovering from an 18–17 deficit in the opening set by winning the final four points, before controlling the second set and closing out another straight-set victory.
Even more remarkable was the way they dominated the entire tournament: seven matches, 14 sets played, and 14 sets won. They never dropped a set on their way to the gold medal, extending an extraordinary Olympic run that had already seen them sweep all seven matches in Athens.
With the victory, May-Treanor and Walsh became the first team in Olympic beach volleyball history to successfully defend the women’s title. It was another defining chapter in one of the greatest partnerships the sport has ever seen.

Meanwhile, on August 21, 2016, Brazil completed a remarkable turnaround at the Rio 2016 Olympics, defeating Italy 3–0 (25:22, 28:26, 26:24) in the men’s volleyball final to claim the gold medal on home soil.
The victory was particularly sweet because Italy had already beaten Brazil in the preliminary round. But when the gold medal was at stake, the hosts produced their best volleyball of the tournament, edging two extremely tight sets before closing out the match in straight sets.
It was Brazil’s third Olympic men’s volleyball gold, after their previous triumphs in Barcelona in 1992 and Athens in 2004. For Italy, meanwhile, it was another Olympic silver — their third in the men’s tournament.

And Happy birthday to Masayoshi Manabe, one of the most influential figures in modern Japanese volleyball, who was born on August 21, 1963, in Himeji, Japan.
A setter during his playing career, he represented Japan at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, finishing tenth with the men’s national team. He later moved into coaching and took charge of the Japanese women’s national team, leading them to one of the highlights of their modern history: the bronze medal at the London 2012 Olympics.
He also guided Japan to a bronze medal at the 2010 World Championship and became known for bringing a more analytical, data-driven approach to the women’s national team. His career is a fascinating example of how a player can reinvent himself on the sidelines and leave an even greater mark as a coach!

But now, let’s return to the present.
In Italy, Modena Volley have officially begun preparations for the 2026/27 season.
Joining assistant coach Roberto Ciamarra, Nicolò Zanni, strength and conditioning coach Oscar Berti and the rest of the staff were setter Leonardo Barbanti, outside hitters Thomas Jaeschke and Nicolò Garello, middle blockers Gabriele Di Martino and Luca Tauletta, and libero Federico Menchetti. A number of players from Modena’s Serie B side were also brought into the group: setter Samuele Curti, opposites Charles Ajayi and Riccardo Soprani, outside hitter Marcello Borsari, middle blockers Alessandro Balatri and Massimiliano Volpe, and liberos Alberto Galvani and Riccardo Piccinini.
Tommaso Rinaldi was also at the PalaPanini and will spend the first ten days of preseason with the team before travelling to Japan to join his new club. Outside hitter Luca Porro also stopped by to greet his teammates and is expected to join the group after completing his commitments with the Italian national team at the European Championship.

“It is an intense summer, but today what matters is being here at the PalaPanini, a place that never loses its magic. We are starting with a mixed group, also involving players from the youth academy. We want to work hard from day one and be ready when the squad is complete,” Ciamarra said in the club’s official statement.
“We are in daily contact with Tubertini and, during this phase, we will be working with Nicolò Zanni, a coach of the highest level. This will not be a period of simply waiting for the others to return: we will focus on the physical side, but above all on the technical aspects, so that we can start building our identity immediately.
Eight of the 14 players have changed, so we will need time to get to know one another and build new relationships. The level of SuperLega rises every year, and we want to be protagonists and continue the path we started last season.
With the national team, we are now in the final stage of our preparations for the European Championship. After being eliminated in the Final Eight, we started again with great determination and want to be ready for the upcoming events in Naples and Modena. Porro, Mati, Tizi-Oualou and Mujanovic are gaining valuable experience with their respective national teams and will return to Modena even more prepared.
Mujanovic was one of the surprises of the VNL. He is a modern, complete opposite with tremendous potential. We will have to give him time to adapt to SuperLega, but he has some very important qualities.”

Strength and conditioning coach Oscar Berti also spoke about the first days of work: “The first day at the PalaPanini is always special. We will begin by working on endurance, alternating between the weight room, the court, the swimming pool and the sand, with particular attention to injury prevention and jump preparation. It is a programme developed together with Tubertini, the coaching staff and the medical team, designed to gradually bring the players towards volleyball-specific work.
We have several interesting young players, and with them we will need time to build an important physical foundation. Jaeschke is coming off a minor knee issue, but he can already work physically with the team, while Russo is following his own rehabilitation programme.
The goal is to provide the coaching staff every day with players in the best possible condition. Modena have a top-level structure, and my involvement with the national team will not be a problem: we have highly qualified collaborators and every training session has already been planned. The team will not be lacking anything.
It has been an intense summer with the national team. The most positive aspect has been the cooperation with the SuperLega clubs’ coaching staffs, allowing us to build the best possible programme for each athlete. Now we continue along the same path as we prepare for the European Championship.”

New arrival Gabriele Di Martino was equally enthusiastic about starting his adventure in Modena: “Walking into the PalaPanini, the Temple of Volleyball, is certainly emotional. I am very excited and happy to have arrived in Modena, to be part of this team and to face this new season.
We are only at the beginning, and at the moment the group is still small because of the players away with their national teams. Looking at the roster, though, I see a very good mix of young players and experienced athletes, and I am very confident. I believe this team can achieve great things.
It will be a long season, especially with our return to European competition and the amount of travelling involved. The level of volleyball continues to rise, and teams are putting together extremely high-quality rosters. There will be moments when we will need to be even more united, and everyone’s contribution will be essential.
Personally, I am coming off a Challenge Cup victory, so I know how special it is to experience and win a European competition. The mix of youth and experience can be our added value. In difficult moments, the more experienced players will have to help the younger ones, but at the same time the young players will push us. If we can bring that relationship from the locker room onto the court, it could become a great strength.
I followed Amir last season and I am very happy to have the opportunity to play with him. He has great qualities, not only in his work in the middle. In his first season in SuperLega, which is never easy, he already showed that he can run the team very effectively.”

Meanwhile, Modena’s neighbours and rivals from Piacenza have announced six preseason friendlies, including four against SuperLega opposition and two against teams from Serie A2 and Serie A3. Their schedule will also feature the Masiera Day Memorial in Schio and the international “Città di Cagliari” tournament.
Piacenza will begin their preseason campaign on Wednesday, September 16, at the PalabancaSport against Serie A3 side Energy Time Campobasso. Three days later, on Saturday, September 19, they will host Serie A2 club Belluno Volley at the same venue.
The schedule will continue on Wednesday, September 23, with a derby against Valsa Group Modena at the PalabancaSport, followed by another home match against Cuneo on Saturday, September 26.
On Tuesday, September 29, Piacenza will return to their home court to face newly promoted Tinet Prata di Pordenone. On Saturday, October 3, they will travel to Schio for the Masiera Day Memorial, where they will take on Padova.
The final preseason match at the PalabancaSport will be played on Wednesday, October 7, once again against Cuneo Volley.
The preseason will then conclude on Saturday, October 10 and Sunday, October 11, with the international “Città di Cagliari” tournament. Alongside Gas Sales Bluenergy Volley Piacenza, the four-team event will feature Itas Trentino, Germany’s Lüneburg and Czech Republic’s Karlovarsko.

In France, Tours have also opened their 2026/27 campaign at the Palais des Sports while, in Poland, Jastrzębie Barkom have added Adam Lorenc to their roster, strengthening their attacking options ahead of the new season.
He will join the team as an opposite after moving from Jastrzębski Węgiel. The transfer means he will remain in Jastrzębie-Zdrój, where he will begin another chapter of his volleyball career.

Mexico suffers second loss in Qatar U17 World Championship falling 0-3 (20:25, 22:25, 22:25) to Argentina in Pool C.
In Pool E, Iran down Pakistan with the same result, 3-0 (25:23, 25:22, 25:18) while, in Pool B, Italy needed four sets to prevail over India, winning the game with the score of 3-1 (25:20, 18:25, 25:19, 25:18). In Pool A, France sweep hosts Qatar to celebrate second win in as many games with a triple 25-11 while, in Pool D, Bulgaria won in four sets over Spain (30:28, 25:22, 19:25, 25:16).

Alessandro Michieletto, the MVP of the last World Championship, continues to train on a limited schedule as Italy prepares for the upcoming European championship.
During Italy’s open training session in Verona, Michieletto and Roberto Russo reportedly limited their work to stretching and cycling, skipping the active portion of the session.
This does not appear to be a tactical decision from head coach Ferdinando De Giorgi, with the situation reportedly continuing since last week.
Meanwhile, there is still no official update regarding Russo, who has also been training at reduced intensity. Lorenzo Cortesia has therefore been brought into the group.
Pardo Mati continues to impress in the middle, while Yuri Romanò is showing increasingly strong form as the tournament approaches.
Michieletto’s availability could be crucial for Italy. Will the World Championship MVP be fit in time for EuroVolley?

In any case, we’ve decided NOT to take a break this weekend either (don’t get too used to it, though!), because otherwise, where would our Italian friends get their news from? 😏

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