Yesterday I wrote about the 3 receiver lineup that Trentino Volley has used to great effect in the current Italian Superlega season. I am reminded, and was by a couple of Twitter followers as well, that Trentino coach Angelo Lorenzetti has a history of manipulating his lineup in interesting, non-specialised ways. Indeed in 2009, coaching Piacenza he won the Italian Championships using 3 receivers and no recognised middle. Interestingly, he did it in a completely different way than now. The basic background is that Leonel Marshall was a converted opposite, but he was a better receiver than Hristo Zlatanov. Joao Paolo Bravo was an excellent receiver. This lineup maximises the reception, by minimising Zlatanov’s participation in it, and uses Marshall almost as a ‘real’ opposite. Here is how.
P1 – The first thing to see here is that the 3 receivers are Marshall (opposite the setter), Zlatanov (here is position 6) and Bravo (in position 3). Yes, that means the middles and receivers are flipped in the rotational order. For the record, Meoni is the setter and Rak and Bjelica are the middles, Durante is the libero.
P6 – Meoni lines up on the other side of the court. Zlatonov stands out of the reception completely for what is actually a very simple float serve (see the video below). In the case of a jump serve, Zlatanov can easily receive and Meoni can start further to the right.
P5 – Pretty simple set up. Marshall as the a ‘receiving opposite’ steps back in position 2.
P4 – 4 receivers are possible. Either Marshall or more likely Zlataonov could step out of the reception line if necessary, although having Durante and Bravo covering most of the court is an excellent solution.
P3 – With a float serve reception, Marshall can easily step out to become the backrow option. Or Zlatanov can step back to receive the jump serve, again leaving Bravo and Durante with the biggest chunk of court.
P2 – This is the difficult rotation. Marshall lines up to receive and Zlatanov is the backrow option.
Here is the lineup in action is Match 3, I think, of the Championship Final. Here is the link to the match report.
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