Team Preview

European Championship Tour
€ 200,000 European Championships
August 3 - 6, 2023

(15) Samuele Cottafava/Paolo Nicolai, Italy

Samuele Cottafava
Italy

Photo: FIVB

Personal Info

Birth Date:

Nov 1, 1998 (27 yrs old)

Home Town:

Modena

Height:

193 cm (6'4")

Weight:

82 kg (180 lb)

Seasons:

Tournaments:

Career Wins:

Career CEV Best:

4th (2 times)

Career Winnings:

US$198,880.76

Paolo Nicolai
Italy

Photo: FIVB

Personal Info

Birth Date:

Aug 6, 1988 (37 yrs old)

Home Town:

Ortona

Height:

203 cm (6'8")

Weight:

91 kg (200 lb)

Seasons:

Tournaments:

177

Career Wins:

Career CEV Wins:

Career Winnings:

US$788,117.89

Awards

Most Improved Player 2012
Best Offensive Player 2014
Best Blocker 2016

Team Career Summary

Tour	Played	1	2	3	4	5	7	9	13	17	25	Money
CEV	3	0	0	0	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	US$18,404.20
FIVB	34	1	3	3	2	8	0	11	3	3	0	US$319,750.00
Overall	37	1	3	3	4	8	0	12	3	3	0	US$338,154.20

Previous Vienna Results

Year	Partner - Result	Partner - Result
FIVB 2017	Did not play	Daniele Lupo - 17th
FIVB 2018	Did not play	Daniele Lupo - 17th
FIVB 2019	Did not play	Daniele Lupo - 9th
2021	Jakob Windisch - 25th	Daniele Lupo - 9th

Recent Results

Tour	Date	Tournament	Seed	Finish	Points	Money
FIVB	7/26-30/2023	Elite16 Montréal	Q8	17th	400	US$0.00
FIVB	7/20-23/2023	Challenge Edmonton	13	3rd	720	US$7,000.00
FIVB	7/13-16/2023	Challenge Portugal	7	9th	460	US$2,500.00
FIVB	6/15-18/2023	Challenge Jurmala	3	9th	460	US$2,500.00
FIVB	5/31-6/4/2023	Elite16 Ostrava	Q2	17th	400	US$0.00
FIVB	4/26-30/2023	Elite16 Uberlândia	9	9th	600	US$6,000.00
FIVB	3/22-26/2023	Elite16 Tepic	9	5th	760	US$8,000.00
FIVB	2/1-5/2023	Doha Elite16	9	9th	600	US$6,000.00
FIVB	1/26-29/2023	Beach Pro Tour Finals	6	3rd	0	US$50,000.00
FIVB	11/2-6/2022	Cape Town Elite 16	4	5th	760	US$8,000.00
FIVB	9/28-10/2/2022	Paris Elite 16	3	3rd	1000	US$14,000.00
CEV	8/16-21/2022	European Championships	3	9th	460	€ 2,500.00
FIVB	8/10-14/2022	Hamburg Elite 16	7	5th	760	US$8,000.00

European Championships Matches

Date	Bracket	Opponent	Score	Time
Thu, 8/3/2023	Pool B	Daniele Lupo / Enrico Rossi, Italy (18)	Won 21-18, 21-8	0:32
Thu, 8/3/2023	Pool B	Alejandro Huerta / Javier Huerta, Spain (31)	Won 19-21, 21-13, 15-12	0:49
Fri, 8/4/2023	Winner 2	Remi Bassereau / Arnaud Gauthier-Rat, France (4)	Won 21-18, 21-18	0:38
Sat, 8/5/2023	Winner 3	Matthew Immers / Steven van de Velde, Netherlands (10)	Won 21-17, 19-21, 15-10	0:55
Sun, 8/6/2023	Semi-Finals	David Ahman / Jonatan Hellvig, Sweden (3)	Lost 21-12, 15-21, 21-23	0:59
Sun, 8/6/2023	Bronze Medal	Sergiy Popov / Eduard Reznik, Ukraine (13)	Lost 20-22, 13-21	0:37

Team Finishes By Tournament Type

Tournament Type	Played	Gold	Silver	Bronze	4th	5-6th	7-8th	9-12th	13-16th	17-24th	25th	Lower	Winnings (US$)
Olympic Games	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	$0.00
World Championships	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	$22,000.00
World Tour Finals	3	0	0	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	$77,500.00
Elite/Major Series/Five Star/Grand Slam	22	1	2	1	2	6	0	4	3	3	0	0	$194,000.00
Challenge/Four Star/Open	6	0	1	1	0	1	0	3	0	0	0	0	$26,250.00
Confederation Championship	3	0	0	0	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	$16,500.00
Total	37	1	3	3	4	8	0	12	3	3	0	0	$336,250.00

Individual Finishes by Tournament Type

Samuele Cottafava												Paolo Nicolai
Played	Gold	Silver	Bronze	4th	5-8th	9-16th	17-24th	25th	Lower	Winnings (US$)	Tournament Type	Played	Gold	Silver	Bronze	4th	5-8th	9-16th	17-24th	25th	Lower	Winnings (US$)
1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	$0.00	Olympic Games	4	0	1	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	$0.00
2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	$11,000.00	World Championships	8	0	0	0	0	1	4	3	0	0	$41,500.00
4	0	0	1	0	1	1	0	1	0	$40,750.00	World Tour Finals	8	0	0	2	1	3	1	1	0	0	$99,250.00
26	1	2	1	2	6	10	4	0	0	$103,750.00	Elite/Major Series/Five Star/Grand Slam	77	2	6	6	4	10	27	16	4	0	$423,700.00
18	0	1	1	1	2	4	4	1	0	$26,750.00	Challenge/Four Star/Open	50	2	4	4	1	15	10	8	5	0	$134,337.50
11	3	1	1	0	2	2	2	0	0	$2,575.00	Futures/Three Star/Two Star/One Star	3	0	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	$6,250.00
											U21 World Championships	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	$0.00
											U18/19 World Championships	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	$0.00
5	0	0	0	2	0	1	0	2	0	$8,750.00	Confederation Championship	14	3	0	1	3	1	4	1	1	0	$52,875.00
67	4	4	4	5	11	21	10	4	0	$193,575.00	Total	168	9	13	14	9	32	47	30	10	0	$757,912.50

Team Finishes by Season

			Results												Matches
Season	Assoc	Played	Gold	Silver	Bronze	4th	5-6th	7-8th	9-12th	13-16th	17-24th	25th	Lower	Winnings (US$)	Won	Lost	Pct
2022	FIVB	12	1	1	2	0	3	0	3	1	1	0	0	$149,250.00	38	22	63.3 %
2022	CEV	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	$2,500.00	2	1	66.7 %
2023	FIVB	8	0	0	1	0	1	0	4	0	2	0	0	$32,000.00	15	14	51.7 %
2023	CEV	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	$7,000.00	4	2	66.7 %
Total	FIVB	20	1	1	3	0	4	0	7	1	3	0	0	$181,250.00	53	36	59.6 %
Total	CEV	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	$9,500.00	6	3	66.7 %

Individual Finishes by Season

Samuele Cottafava													Paolo Nicolai
Played	Gold	Silver	Bronze	4th	5-8th	9-16th	17-24th	25th	Lower	Winnings (US$)	Season	Association	Played	Gold	Silver	Bronze	4th	5-8th	9-16th	17-24th	25th	Lower	Winnings (US$)
											2006	FIVB Age Group WC	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	$0.00
											2007	FIVB Age Group WC	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	$0.00
											2007	CEV Under Age	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	$0.00
											2008	FIVB	5	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	2	0	$7,550.00
											2008	FIVB Age Group WC	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	$0.00
											2008	CEV	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	$900.00
											2009	FIVB	6	0	0	0	0	1	2	2	1	0	$16,725.00
											2009	CEV	5	0	0	0	0	1	2	2	0	0	$2,675.00
											2010	FIVB	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	2	0	$13,450.00
											2010	CEV Under Age	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	$0.00
											2011	FIVB	12	0	0	0	0	3	3	2	1	3	$31,750.00
											2011	CEV	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	$250.00
											2012	FIVB	9	0	1	1	1	1	2	2	1	0	$45,550.00
											2013	FIVB	12	0	1	3	0	0	7	1	0	0	$56,600.00
											2013	CEV	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	$3,500.00
											2014	FIVB	9	2	1	0	1	0	3	2	0	0	$93,500.00
											2014	CEV	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	$10,000.00
											2015	FIVB	11	0	0	1	0	3	5	1	1	0	$58,000.00
											2015	CEV	2	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	$2,250.00
											2016	FIVB	10	1	3	0	0	2	1	2	1	0	$35,287.50
											2016	CEV	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	$10,000.00
											2017	FIVB	9	0	2	3	0	1	0	3	0	0	$64,750.00
											2017	CEV	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	$10,000.00
1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	$0.00	2017	CEV Under Age
											2018	FIVB	8	0	1	1	0	2	2	2	0	0	$47,500.00
											2018	CEV	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	$500.00
6	1	0	0	0	0	2	2	1	0	$2,675.00	2019	FIVB	9	0	0	0	1	6	1	1	0	0	$39,000.00
											2019	CEV	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	$2,000.00
1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	$0.00	2019	CEV Under Age
3	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	$800.00	2020	FIVB	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	$5,000.00
											2020	CEV	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	$5,000.00
8	1	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	4	$3,750.00	2021	FIVB	7	0	0	0	1	4	2	0	0	0	$30,500.00
1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	$250.00	2021	CEV	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	$1,250.00
12	1	1	2	0	3	4	1	0	0	$74,625.00	2022	FIVB	12	1	1	2	0	3	4	1	0	0	$74,625.00
1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	$1,250.00	2022	CEV	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	$1,250.00
8	0	0	1	0	1	4	2	0	0	$16,000.00	2023	FIVB	8	0	0	1	0	1	4	2	0	0	$16,000.00
1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	$3,500.00	2023	CEV	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	$3,500.00
42	4	1	4	2	6	11	8	2	4	$102,850.00	Total	Total	162	9	11	16	7	29	43	33	10	4	$688,862.50

Team Match Records

	Won 1st Set								Lost 1st Set								2 Set Matches		3 Set Matches		By Forfeit		All Matches
Season	Won 2-0		Won 2-1		Lost 2-1		Overall		Won 2-1		Lost 2-1		Lost 2-0		Overall		Overall		Overall		Won	Lost	Overall
Overall	6	50.0%	2	16.7%	4	33.3%	8-4	66.7%	3	75.0%	0	0.0%	1	25.0%	3-1	75.0%	6-1	85.7%	5-4	55.6%	0	0	11-5	68.8%
2022-2023	4	57.1%	1	14.3%	2	28.6%	5-2	71.4%	1	50.0%	0	0.0%	1	50.0%	1-1	50.0%	4-1	80.0%	2-2	50.0%	0	0	6-3	66.7%
Against the Field	4	40.0%	2	20.0%	4	40.0%	6-4	60.0%	2	66.7%	0	0.0%	1	33.3%	2-1	66.7%	8-2	80.0%	8-8	50.0%	0	0	8-5	61.5%

Team Match Records by Round

	Country Quota		Qualifier		Pool Play		Lucky Loser		Elimination Rounds		Semi-Finals		Bronze Medal		Gold Medal		Overall
Tournament Type	Won	Lost	Won	Lost	Won	Lost	Won	Lost	Won	Lost	Won	Lost	Won	Lost	Won	Lost	Won	Lost
Olympic Games	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2
World Championships	0	0	0	0	5	1	0	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	3
World Tour Finals	0	0	0	0	4	8	0	0	1	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	6	10
Elite/Major Series/Five Star/Grand Slam	0	0	10	2	32	27	0	0	10	10	3	3	1	2	1	2	57	46
Challenge/Four Star/Open	0	0	0	0	10	2	0	0	5	4	1	1	1	0	0	1	17	8
Confederation Championship	0	0	0	0	7	0	0	0	4	1	0	2	0	2	0	0	11	5
Total	0	0	10	2	60	39	0	0	22	19	4	7	3	4	1	3	100	74

Head to Head Results
Cottafava/Nicolai trail the series against the field 16-20 (Lead 9 Series, Trail 7 Series, 2 Series Tied)

Date	Tour	Tournament	Round	Winning Team	Seed	Losing Team	Seed	Score	Time
Trail the series against # 1 Mol/Sorum, Norway 0-6
4/27/23	FIVB	Elite16 Uberlândia	Pool A	Mol/Sorum	1	Cottafava/Nicolai	9	21-19, 21-15	0:33
3/23/23	FIVB	Elite16 Tepic	Pool A	Mol/Sorum	1	Cottafava/Nicolai	9	21-19, 21-13	0:31
2/2/23	FIVB	Doha Elite16	Pool A	Mol/Sorum	1	Cottafava/Nicolai	9	21-15, 19-21, 15-12	0:47
1/29/23	FIVB	Beach Pro Tour Finals	Semi-Finals	Mol/Sorum	2	Cottafava/Nicolai	6	21-15, 14-21, 15-10	0:58
1/28/23	FIVB	Beach Pro Tour Finals	Pool B	Mol/Sorum	2	Cottafava/Nicolai	6	23-25, 21-16, 15-12	0:53
3/25/22	FIVB	Rosarito Elite 16	Pool B	Mol/Sorum	2	Cottafava/Nicolai	15, Q7	20-22, 27-25, 15-7	0:54
Trail the series against # 3 Ahman/Hellvig, Sweden 0-3
8/6/23	CEV	European Championships	Semi-Finals	Ahman/Hellvig	3	Cottafava/Nicolai	15	12-21, 21-15, 23-21	0:59
2/3/23	FIVB	Doha Elite16	Pool A	Ahman/Hellvig	8	Cottafava/Nicolai	9	21-19, 21-9	0:28
8/19/22	CEV	European Championships	Winner 2	Ahman/Hellvig	16	Cottafava/Nicolai	3	15-21, 21-8, 15-9	0:41
Lead the series against # 4 Bassereau/Gauthier-Rat, France 1-0
8/4/23	CEV	European Championships	Winner 2	Cottafava/Nicolai	15	Bassereau/Gauthier-Rat	4	21-18, 21-18	0:38
Lead the series against # 5 Carambula/Ranghieri, Italy 1-0
1/28/23	FIVB	Beach Pro Tour Finals	Winner 1	Cottafava/Nicolai	6	Carambula/Ranghieri	10	21-18, 21-11	0:35
Trail the series against # 6 Ehlers/Wickler, Germany 0-1
4/29/23	FIVB	Elite16 Uberlândia	Winner 1	Ehlers/Wickler	6	Cottafava/Nicolai	9	24-22, 21-17	0:37
Lead the series against # 8 Horl/Horst, Austria 1-0
5/31/23	FIVB	Elite16 Ostrava	Qualifier 1	Cottafava/Nicolai	Q2	Horl/Horst	Q15	21-16, 21-18	0:36
Lead the series against # 9 Gavira/Herrera, Spain 1-0
7/21/23	FIVB	Challenge Edmonton	Pool A	Cottafava/Nicolai	13	Gavira/Herrera	12	25-23, 19-21, 16-14	1:01
Lead the series against # 10 Immers/van de Velde, Netherlands 1-0
8/5/23	CEV	European Championships	Winner 3	Cottafava/Nicolai	15	Immers/van de Velde	10	21-17, 19-21, 15-10	0:55
Trail the series against # 12 Brouwer/Meeuwsen, Netherlands 3-4
2/4/23	FIVB	Doha Elite16	Winner 1	Brouwer/Meeuwsen	3	Cottafava/Nicolai	9	21-17, 28-30, 15-12	0:56
1/29/23	FIVB	Beach Pro Tour Finals	Bronze Medal	Cottafava/Nicolai	6	Brouwer/Meeuwsen	3	22-20, 19-21, 16-14	0:57
1/26/23	FIVB	Beach Pro Tour Finals	Pool B	Cottafava/Nicolai	6	Brouwer/Meeuwsen	3	22-20, 24-22	0:40
10/1/22	FIVB	Paris Elite 16	Semi-Finals	Brouwer/Meeuwsen	5	Cottafava/Nicolai	3	27-25, 23-25, 15-9	1:01
8/13/22	FIVB	Hamburg Elite 16	Winner 1	Brouwer/Meeuwsen	9	Cottafava/Nicolai	7	23-21, 21-16	0:41
3/24/22	FIVB	Rosarito Elite 16	Pool B	Brouwer/Meeuwsen	7	Cottafava/Nicolai	15, Q7	16-21, 21-11, 16-14	0:50
3/18/22	FIVB	Tlaxcala Challenge	Pool B	Cottafava/Nicolai	14	Brouwer/Meeuwsen	2	21-19, 16-21, 15-9	0:46
Series tied with # 13 Popov/Reznik, Ukraine 1-1
8/6/23	CEV	European Championships	Bronze Medal	Popov/Reznik	13	Cottafava/Nicolai	15	22-20, 21-13	0:37
7/22/23	FIVB	Challenge Edmonton	Winner 2	Cottafava/Nicolai	13	Popov/Reznik	7	25-23, 21-16	0:39
Lead the series against # 14 Canet/Rotar, France 1-0
11/4/22	FIVB	Cape Town Elite 16	Pool D	Cottafava/Nicolai	4	Canet/Rotar	13, Q6	21-14, 21-16	0:29
Trail the series against # 16 Berntsen/Mol, Norway 0-2
7/23/23	FIVB	Challenge Edmonton	Semi-Finals	Berntsen/Mol	16	Cottafava/Nicolai	13	21-18, 21-18	0:39
7/6/22	FIVB	Gstaad Elite 16	Pool F	Berntsen/Mol	27	Cottafava/Nicolai	6	21-19, 21-13	0:32
Series tied with # 18 Lupo/Rossi, Italy 1-1
8/3/23	CEV	European Championships	Pool B	Cottafava/Nicolai	15	Lupo/Rossi	18	21-18, 21-8	0:32
3/23/23	FIVB	Elite16 Tepic	Pool A	Lupo/Rossi	16, Q10	Cottafava/Nicolai	9	21-15, 21-19	0:39
Lead the series against # 19 Nolvak/Tiisaar, Estonia 2-0
3/24/23	FIVB	Elite16 Tepic	Winner 1	Cottafava/Nicolai	9	Nolvak/Tiisaar	11	21-11, 21-16	0:28
4/15/22	FIVB	Itapema Challenge	Pool A	Cottafava/Nicolai	13	Nolvak/Tiisaar	12	21-15, 21-18	0:32
Lead the series against # 21 Semerad/Sepka, Czech Republic 2-0
8/16/22	CEV	European Championships	Pool C	Cottafava/Nicolai	3	Semerad/Sepka	30	21-15, 21-16	0:36
5/27/22	FIVB	Ostrava Elite 16	Pool D	Cottafava/Nicolai	13, Q3	Semerad/Sepka	12	21-16, 21-17	0:34
Trail the series against # 22 Knasas/Stankevicius, Lithuania 0-1
7/15/23	FIVB	Challenge Portugal	Winner 1	Knasas/Stankevicius	21, Q8	Cottafava/Nicolai	7	21-12, 21-18	0:40
Trail the series against # 23 Kantor/Zdybek, Poland 0-1
6/17/23	FIVB	Challenge Jurmala	Winner 1	Kantor/Zdybek	19, Q9	Cottafava/Nicolai	3	21-18, 21-17	0:34
Lead the series against # 31 Huerta/Huerta, Spain 1-0
8/3/23	CEV	European Championships	Pool B	Cottafava/Nicolai	15	Huerta/Huerta	31	19-21, 21-13, 15-12	0:49