Marta Menegatti (born 16 August 1990)[1] is an Italian beach volleyball player who plays as a left-side defender with her partner Viktoria Orsi Toth.

[9] She thus moved to Ravenna and spent the next five years playing in the Serie B1 and B2,[10] the third and fourth tier of the Italian volleyball league system respectively.

[15] National team coach Lissandro Carvalho introduced her to Greta Cicolari,[19] and the two began competing together on the Challenger and Satellite circuit, winning one silver and three bronze medals in 2009.

They defeated Rebecca Moskowitz and Kristina May of Canada in three sets to qualify for the double-elimination main draw, eventually finishing 13th after losing to Shelda Bede and Ana Paula Connelly of Brazil in the third round of the losers bracket.

[18] One month later at the $190K Sanya Open, the pair came through the qualifiers and upset two of the top-three seeds on their way to the semifinals where they lost to Angie Akers and Tyra Turner of the United States.

[18] In May 2010, Menegatti and Cicolari competed in their first World Tour major event at the $300K Rome Grand Slam, where they were knocked out by eventual champions Jennifer Kessy and April Ross of the United States to tie for ninth.

She was the silver medalist at the U23 European Championships with Giombini in August, following a loss to the Czech team of Kristýna Kolocová and Markéta Sluková in the gold-medal match.

They advanced to the semifinals undefeated, including a 19–21, 21–19, 15–11 quarterfinals win over the USA's third-seeded Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings.

[25] In the semifinals, they lost to the second-seeded Juliana Silva and Larissa França of Brazil, but came back the next day to beat another Brazilian team of Maria Elisa Antonelli and Talita Antunes to claim the bronze medal.

In their semifinal match against the Czech Republic's tenth-seeded Lenka Háječková and Hana Skalníková, they rallied from a first-set loss to win 19–21, 21–13, 15–13.

[39] They won their first knockout match against Spain's Elsa Baquerizo and Liliana Fernandez to progress to the quarterfinals where they faced May-Treanor and Walsh Jennings.

[40] A few days after the Olympics, they entered their last tournament of the year at the $300K Stare Jablonki Grand Slam; they came in second with a loss to Juliana and Larissa in the gold-medal match.

[42] The duo took part in the World Championships the following month, advancing to the quarterfinals where they were defeated by Brazil's Liliane Maestrini and Bárbara Seixas.

[43] After Gstaad, Carvalho decided to separate the pair, and Menegatti entered the $220K Long Beach Grand Slam one week later with Viktoria Orsi Toth, who she last played with at the 2010 U21 World Championships.

[45] At the beginning of 2014, Carvalho abruptly[46] left the national team programme and his coaching duties were handed over to Paulo "Paulao" Moreira Da Costa.

[47][48] Menegatti and Orsi Toth had a slow start to the season, failing to reach the podium in their first ten World Tour events.

[51] Seeded 11th, they upset the second-seeded Walsh Jennings and April Ross of the United States in the quarterfinals, followed by the ninth-seeded Madelein Meppelink and Marleen van Iersel of the Netherlands in the semifinals.

[49] In the finals against Brazil's seventh-seeded Larissa and Talita, Menegatti and Orsi Toth were unable to capitalise on several match points, eventually losing with a score of 21–18, 21–23, 19–21.

[53] Carvalho returned as their coach in early 2015,[54] and Menegatti and Orsi Toth started off the year with a bronze medal at the $300K Moscow Grand Slam in May.

[49] However, Menegatti was troubled by injuries in the first half of the season,[55][56] and they could not repeat the Moscow feat in their next eight tournaments, failing to advance to the knockout stage in three of them.

[62] On 2 August, three days before the start of the Olympics, Orsi Toth was found to have tested positive for the banned substance clostebol and was suspended from competition.

[67][60][c] Instead, Laura Giombini, who Menegatti last played with at the 2010 U23 European Championships, was brought in as she was the only Italian athlete who met the FIVB's eligibility criteria.

[60] With only three practices together beforehand,[72] commentators observed in their opening match against Canada that the two had difficulties coordinating on defense, resulting in positioning errors and confusion between the blocker and defender.

Menegatti reunited with Giombini for the first half of 2018,[81] although the plan was for her to resume her partnership with Orsi Toth once the latter's doping ban expired midway through the season.

[82][83] No longer having sufficient ranking points to play in the major events,[81][83] Menegatti and Giombini commenced 2018 competing at the $10K Shepparton Open.

[85] Orsi Toth served a two-year suspension and returned to international competition in July at the $50K Agadir Open, resuming her partnership with Menegatti.

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

[92] While she has worked on developing her leadership skills and says she enjoys taking on this role,[92] Spada noted that there are times when she loses her edge and struggles to lead the team.

[106][107] According to the subsequent investigation, the accused parties had allegedly sent threats and insults via text and social media in the years following the acrimonious 2013 split between Menegatti and Cicolari.

[106][107] The case was brought to trial and,[108] in November 2018, Menegatti testified in court that the alleged harassment was still ongoing and that she has had to see a psychologist to deal with the resulting anxiety.