36 Facts About Marta Menegatti

Marta Menegatti is the 2011 European champion and the 2013 Mediterranean Games champion, both achieved with Cicolari.

Marta Menegatti debuted on the World Tour with Cicolari in 2009.

Marta Menegatti then teamed up with Orsi Toth and reached the podium five more times over the next three years, including her first World Tour title in 2015.

Orsi Toth's return in the summer of 2018 brought about a return to form, with Marta Menegatti climbing from a low of No 81 back into the top 25 of the world rankings.

Marta Menegatti has been noted as a complete player who can impact games on defense.

Marta Menegatti's father Maurizio was an amateur footballer, while her mother Cinzia was an indoor volleyball player in the Serie C, the fifth tier of the Italian volleyball league system.

Marta Menegatti's younger brother Pietro is a footballer who has played as a goalkeeper for various Serie C and D clubs.

Marta Menegatti's mother described her as a quiet and resolute child.

Marta Menegatti first played for a youth team in Taglio di Po, then later for a team in Jolanda di Savoia where her mother coached.

In 2004, prior to her 14th birthday, Marta Menegatti successfully tried out for the indoor volleyball club ASD Teodora Ravenna.

Marta Menegatti thus moved to Ravenna and spent the next five years playing in the Serie B1 and B2, the third and fourth tier of the Italian volleyball league system respectively.

Marta Menegatti began playing beach volleyball in the summer of 2005 or 2006, but did not take to it at first, partly because of the difficulty of playing on sand.

Marta Menegatti took it as a personal challenge to get better on the beach; she said years later that the challenging aspect of beach volleyball was probably what won her over from indoor.

Marta Menegatti was selected to the junior national team after coming in second at the event.

Marta Menegatti continued to play both beach and indoor volleyball over the next few years, entering beach tournaments during the summer indoor off-seasons.

Marta Menegatti made her international debut on the Challenger and Satellite circuit in August 2006, where she and her partner Debora Pini placed ninth at the $10K Eboli Satellite tournament.

From 2006 to 2008, Marta Menegatti was paired with various partners to represent Italy at the annual U20 European, U19 World and U21 World Championships.

Marta Menegatti won her first international medal in the age-group category when she and Gilda Lombardo were runners-up at the 2007 edition of the U19 World Championships.

Marta Menegatti quit indoor volleyball to focus solely on the beach game.

Towards the end of the season, Marta Menegatti played with Valeria Rosso on the World Tour as Cicolari was recovering from a muscle strain.

Marta Menegatti attained two more podium finishes on the age-group circuit.

The next month, Marta Menegatti briefly teamed up with Viktoria Orsi Toth to claim another silver medal at the U21 World Championships, losing a tight three-setter to the American team of Tara Roenicke and Summer Ross in the finals.

Marta Menegatti closed out the year by medalling at the $190K Phuket Open , this time with a third-place finish with Cicolari.

Marta Menegatti released a statement shortly after to affirm her support for Carvalho's decision.

Marta Menegatti and Orsi Toth did not medal on the World Tour in 2016; their highest finish was a fourth at the $75K Sochi Open, as well as fifth-place finishes at three $400K Majors.

Marta Menegatti reunited with Giombini for the first half of 2018, although the plan was for her to resume her partnership with Orsi Toth once the latter's doping ban expired midway through the season.

Marta Menegatti was similarly ranked within the top four for serve efficiency in 2016.

Olympic gold medalist Dain Blanton commented at the 2018 Vienna Major that one of Marta Menegatti's strengths is her ability to turn backcourt defense into offensive plays.

Marta Menegatti has described herself as a more "explosive" player compared to Orsi Toth's calmer demeanor.

Marta Menegatti graduated from secondary school with a diploma in accounting, specialising in foreign languages.

Marta Menegatti went on to enroll in the Faculty of Motor Sciences at the University of L'Aquila.

Marta Menegatti has been a member of the Centro Sportivo Aeronautica Militare since December 2009, with the current rank of 1st Chosen Airman, and as such receives a monthly stipend from the Italian Air Force.

Marta Menegatti is sponsored by Mikasa Sports, Oakley, Inc and Adidas ; previous sponsors include Red Bull and Smart.

Marta Menegatti has been a brand ambassador for Shiseido and Unet Energia Italiana.

Marta Menegatti was in a relationship with fellow Italian beach volleyball player Alex Ranghieri.

Marta Menegatti submitted a series of complaints to the Public Prosecutor's Office of Bergamo in 2014, accusing Cicolari, and three other individuals associated with Cicolari, of stalking and harassment.