Women's Volleyball Serie A. Omag Mt, President Manconi: "A tough start, but what a great challenge!"

A certain amount of optimism is filtering through the ranks of Omag Mt San Giovanni . The schedule looks challenging right away for Consolini Volley , but then again, we're talking about Serie A1 , and a newly promoted team can't sleep soundly with anyone, so it's worth starting with the big matches right away. So President Stefano Manconi immediately reveals a key point: "It's true that we're starting with Novara and Conegliano at home, interspersed with an away trip to Bergamo, another big league team," the president says, "but it's also true that we can capitalize on the fact that the championship begins exactly one month after the World Cup in Thailand, and perhaps some teams won't have some of their players at their best due to various national team appearances and the World Championship tournament. Therefore, we'll have to try, especially at home, to make the most of this advantage and the support of the crowd. After all, every match will be a battle, and we'll face many very strong teams, so it's best not to feel sorry for ourselves but to prepare as best we can."

The championship will feature only two relegations, and they will be direct, for the teams last and second to last in the standings: "Our primary objective remains survival ," confirms Stefano Manconi. "As a newly promoted team , we can't think about anything else, then we'll see as we go along." The championship will have 14 teams, some of which are out of competition or almost out of contention: "The top four—and I'm referring to Conegliano, Milano, Scandicci, and Novara—continues the president—seem unattainable to me at the moment, then I'd put Chieri, Bergamo, and Megabox Vallefoglia right behind them, followed by all the others. We'll be playing, I repeat, to avoid survival , then we'll see game by game." Meanwhile, there's a lot of enthusiasm among the fans, and the season ticket campaign kicks off on Friday, August 1st: "Right now, many have asked us for information and seem interested," comments the president. "We'll see the actual season ticket numbers in a few days." But there's a lot of enthusiasm throughout Romagna, from Cervia to San Giovanni, for a team that wants to impress, and right away. See you on October 6th for a thrilling debut against Novara at home.

Luca Pizzagalli