Playing just his third match with Perugia, Tunisian opposite Ben Tara led their comeback in the Supercoppa final, producing a team-high 21 points, with 15 kills, five aces and one block. The 27-year-old player celebrated the biggest title of his career at the club level.
“This is a really special moment for me,” Ben Tara told Volleyball World. “It was just my second match as a starter and to already be able to lift a trophy, which is always the most important thing, and be awarded as the MVP, it’s a great feeling. (Simone) Giannelli helped me a lot today. It was my first final here in Italy and I was struggling a little bit at the beginning, but he kept pushing me. I hope we can continue at this level and celebrate more titles during the season.”
The champions had three players leaving the court with 20+ points as team captain Wilfredo Leon matched Ben Tara’s production with 18 kills, two aces and one block while fellow Polish outside hitter Kamil Semeniuk added 20, all in kills.
“Winning a trophy in Italy is very hard because the level is extremely high and we don’t take it for granted,” Perugia’s setter Simone Giannelli said. “Civitanova are one of the best teams in the world and I’m very happy that we came back after two difficult sets because that’s not an easy thing to do. After set two, we just wanted to keep pushing and playing because in volleyball, at any moment you can find a play that changes the outcome of the match. The Supercoppa is ours, but it’s going to be a long season and we have a lot of challenges.”