Rok Možič : As the top men’s domestic league in the world, the SuperLega Credem Banca is home to many of the best players in the sport worldwide. A lot rides on the shoulders of these players in the Italian League, and this week we highlight two sportsmen from different eras, Bruno Rezende of Modena and Rok Možič of Verona, who will be competing for opposing sides of the net on Sunday.
An intriguing intergenerational clash will take place on Sunday at 18:00 local time (17:00 GMT) when Valsa Group Modena and WithU Verona square off in the SuperLega Credem Banca.
Modena is entering week 9 as the league’s fourth best team, and they will look to Bruno Rezende, their experienced setter and team captain, to lead the way. In a game that might determine the fate of both clubs’ playoff hopes, the seventh-placed Verona will rely on the tremendous energy and explosiveness of outside hitter Rok Možič.
Bruno, at 36 years old, has had one of the best and longest careers in international volleyball. The tireless setter has been a member of the Brazilian national team since 2006 (captaining it since 2013), and he has also seen great success with clubs in Brazil and Italy.
Rok Možič
In four Olympic appearances, Bruno has won three medals for Brazil, including gold in Rio 2016 and silver in both Beijing 2008 and London 2012. Along with that, he has led the South Americans to four medal finishes at the FIVB Volleyball World Championships (2010 gold, 2014 silver, 2018 bronze).
As a player, he has won the FIVB World League (2006), the FIVB Grand Champions Cup (2009), the FIVB World Cup (2010), the Volleyball Nations League (2021), the FIVB Grand Champions Cup (2017), and the FIVB World Cup (2017). (2007, 2019).
The setter has had an equally fruitful club career. He also has two Italian League trophies, one each with Modena and Cucine Lube Civitanova, and seven Brazilian Superliga trophies with Unisul, Cimed, RJX, and Taubate.
The Brazilian setter won the CEV Champions League and FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship with the club Lube, with which he played from 2018 to 2020, completing the set of major trophies that had been lacking from his impressive resume.
READ MORE : Kalei Mau wants to improve during the next PVL season
Bruno is presently on his third term with Modena and is once again a crucial player for the squad. He is ranked second among the greatest setters in the Italian League with 365 flawless sets. After losing four of their first five matches, the Italian giants have won three in a row and are climbing the rankings.
Verona, on the other hand, has had an up-and-down season so far, with three wins and two defeats in their previous five matches after opening the year with decisive victories against Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza and Itas Trentino.
Možič, who is just 20 years old and in his second season with Verona, has been nothing short of outstanding since he joined the squad. In his first year in Italy, 2021–2022, he led the Italian League in scoring.
He’s still a key cog for the squad, as he’s scored in double figures in six of the seven games he’s appeared in this season. Having scored 106 points thus far this season, he is Verona’s second leading scorer.
Možič has been a part of the Slovenian national volleyball team since he was 17 years old (in 2020), making him one of the most promising young players in the sport. The team advanced to the semifinals of the World Championships and the VNL thanks to his efforts, and they also won silver in the 2021 CEV European Championship.
He won the U20 European championship in 2021 and the U18 continental title two years before to joining Verona, and he also had tremendous success playing beach volleyball.
This past international season, Bruno and Možič squared off against each other twice: once in the VNL and once in the World Championship. In both previous meetings, the Brazilian came out on top with 3-1 victory, but this weekend’s Italian matchup could be just as intriguing as it will feature one of the most seasoned players in the Italian League against one of the sport’s brightest emerging talents.
