Coach Kento Hayashi: "Becoming champion in such a big tournament is a rare experience, so I'm honestly very happy." Interview with the winner of the European CEV Cup Women's Volleyball Team

In the second leg of the European Volleyball Confederation CEV Cup final, Chieri (Italy), coached by Hayashi Kento, faced NUC (Switzerland) on Wednesday, March 20th local time, and won 3-1 (25-9, 25-20, 20-25, 25-11) to take the championship.

Interview with Coach Kento Hayashi

Toshiki: Congratulations on winning!

Kent: Thank you!!!

Toshiki: Please tell us honestly how you feel right now.

Kent: I'm very happy. The venue was packed, and it's a rare experience to become the champion at such a big tournament, so I'm not sure how to describe it, but I'm really happy.

Toshiki: Who do you most want to tell your feelings to?

Kent: First of all, my wife. It's still early in the morning in Japan so they're probably asleep, but I want to tell my wife first, then my family, my mom and dad.

Toshiki: What kind of preparations have you made since the first leg away last week, and how did that apply to today's match?

Kent: (In the first leg) the key point was that we were hitting too many crosses against the outside of the opponent's court, but we were able to fix that and get more than 10 block points in all four sets, which was great. Also, we were attacking our serves well from the first set and were able to get serve points one after another, so I think we were able to show our greatest strengths in the final match, our serving and blocking.

Toshiki: What kind of team is Kieri?

Kent: No, I think it's amazing. I think I've come to a really interesting team. It's the same in the domestic league, but I think it's great that I've come to a team where I can have this kind of experience and put my efforts into it. It's an honor and a team I'm proud of.

Toshiki: There are still domestic leagues remaining. Please give us a message for the rest of the season.

Kent: First of all, we've finished one game, so I think there will be a party after this, so we'll have a good time there. The rest is for the playoffs, and the rankings have already been decided, so I'd like to do my best from Sunday's match against Casalmaggiore towards the playoffs. I'd like to use this as a springboard to head to the playoffs.

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