La Hokkaido is ready to return to the field. Holidays are over, the season starts again today. men’s Serie B volleyball championship and Bologna is awaited by the trip to the pitch of San Severino (kick-off at 17 p.m.), in a match valid for the penultimate matchday of the first half of the season. New year, old problems: the team coach Roberto DeMarco They closed out 2025 by beating bottom-of-the-table Montorio 3-1 and Ravenna 3-1, despite the absences of opposite hitter Ricci Maccarini and libero Imperato, both starters. The break didn’t provide the necessary recovery time, with the long-term injured Ricci Maccarini unlikely to return before March or April due to meniscus surgery. Libero Imperato likely faces a season-ending, having undergone hip surgery due to pain he’d been dealing with since the start of the year. De Marco and Hokkaido had found a new, working balance by fielding Ronchi at opposite hitter, with Bernardis and Serenari on the spikers. The problem is that during the break, the situation worsened instead of improving.
Barring any surprises, this afternoon in the Marche region the coach will also have to do without Serenari and De Cocinis, two spikers, who are dealing with shoulder and back problems, while the club has announced that reserve opposite hitter Tapparo has decided to end his adventure with the rossoblù for personal reasons.
Bottom line: De Marco will field Branco as wing spiker, and the club has signed Popov as opposite hitter (a return; he was also on the roster last season), but he’s not yet fit. The coach doesn’t have much choice; the deck is getting tighter and tighter. Hokkaido, mid-table and safe from relegation battles, has so far beaten the teams below them in the standings.
San Severino is among these, but the conditions make the intersection more dangerous than ever: “We will face it – explains the coach Roberto DeMarco – a tough team that has given a hard time to many teams, even top-ranked ones. We must be very careful with their fast play, trying to put them under pressure right from the start with a good serve. A lot will depend on our approach to the match.”
The other races: Macerata-Grottazzolina, Rubicone-Loreto, Forlì-Falconara, Ravenna-Fermo, Montorio-Osimo, 4Torri Ferrara-San Marino.
The standings: Sab Group Rubicone 31; La Nef Re Salmone Osimo 28; Querzoli Forlì 26; Novavolley Loreto 23; Gemini Med San Marino 22; Cavallino 4Torri Ferrara 19; Paoloni Macerata, Hokkaido Bologna 17; Sabini Falconara 15; Sios Novavetro San Severino 13; M&G Grottazzolina 9, Don Celso Fermo 6; Montorio 3; Consar Pietro Pezzi Ravenna 2.
AloJapan.com