110. Timeouts in Focus: Coppa Italia Final 2025-2026
There’s always something to learn from the biggest stages of volleyball. Today, we dive into the 2025-2026 Coppa Italia Final.
⚡ What’s inside this article?
We pull back the curtain on the timeouts from both coaches. What tactical messages are they sending out when everything is on the line?
Using audio clean-ups, we isolate what is said — then translate (Italian ↔ English) so you can capture exactly what the coaches meant.
👥 The coaches on the bench
This match features Fabio Soli, head coach of Rana Verona, who many of you already know from our VolleyBrains 2-part Masterclass.
VolleyBrains
VolleyBrains
On the other side is Marcelo Méndez, head coach of Itas Trentino and former Argentina national team coach (2018–2025).
💡 Match details
Rana Verona beat Itas Trentino 3–0 (25–21, 25–22, 25–20) in the 2025-2026 Coppa Italia Final, sealing the club’s first national cup with a dominant performance from start to finish.
Verona’s offense was led by U.S. setter Micah Christensen, who fed their main scorers Noumory Keita, Darlan Souza and Rok Možič throughout the match.
Trentino arrived short-handed to the final four: Alessandro Michieletto missed the match due to a back issue, and Daniele Lavia had only just returned after a long time out, so he didn’t play in the final.
That imbalance showed up in side-out and transition, where Verona repeatedly won the key rallies. Verona’s attacking dominance was clear, closing the match at 57% spiking efficiency.
Stat Sheet:
📺 Highlight Reel
Important reminder
We are of course missing context on what was said during game prep, in the practice gym, in 1-on-1's and a 100 other things.
The clip is a look into what is going on during the TO's, not/never a critique on what was said, why and how.
