A1 Womens4 July 2023

With a lot of confirms for the upcoming season, Pallanuoto Trieste restarts from a solid foundation to look up

Coach Paolo Zizza: "We need continuity to grow, the Trieste group is crucial for the inclusion of the new grafts."

The Pallanuoto Trieste for the 2023/2024 Serie A1 women's league is mostly finalized. The Samer & Co. Shipping-sponsored club, after formalizing three significant acquisitions in Sara Cordovani (center), Arianna Gragnolati (attacker), and Giusy Citino (center), has retained almost the entire squad from the successful fourth-place finish in the previous season. This group boasts a strong Trieste identity, represented by captain Lucrezia Cergol (who continues her preparation with the Setterosa in view of the World Cup), Giorgia Klatowski, Sara Ingannamorte, Grace Marussi, Gaia Gregorutti, Elisa Sblattero, Beatrice Bozzetta, Rebecca Apollonio, and Anna Zoch (born in 2006, the youngest member of the squad).

Coach Paolo Zizza will once again have the class and experience of Loredana Sparano and Jelena Vukovic at his disposal, both of whom have extended their contracts. The same goes for Francesca Colletta, Isabella Riccioli (for the Montesilvano-born defender and the left-handed player from Catania, it will be their third year in the blue and white), Guya Zizza, and Emma De March, a Turin native born in 2005 and one of the most promising talents in Italian women's water polo. Two players have departed: Daniela Vomastkova and Roberta Santapaola.

"We are coming off a good season," explains coach Paolo Zizza, "and it's important to build on a solid foundation with the aim of achieving better results in the near future. For me, it was my first year at Pallanuoto Trieste, and it was crucial to get to know the players and the environment. Now we need continuity to reach certain objectives. The Trieste players have grown a lot, and their contribution is essential not only during games and training but also for the team's cohesion. From the very beginning, they immediately made themselves available, demonstrating a significant willingness to work, and they quickly helped integrate the new arrivals. For athletes like Sparano and Vukovic, it was almost natural to blend into the team, and there has been great harmony between the veterans and the younger players from the very start."