The 2024-2025 Lega Volley Femminile Serie A1 Tigotà semifinals begin this weekend and, for a sixth-straight season, Prosecco Doc Imoco Conegliano, Numia Vero Volley Milano, Savino Del Bene Scandicci and Igor Gongonzola Novara are the teams competing in the Italian League Final Four.

The two best-of-five series will get going over the next two days, with Conegliano and Novara opening their duel on Saturday, at 18:00 local time (17:00 GMT), at the Palaverde, in Villorba, and Milano and Scandicci facing off for the first time on Sunday, also at 18:00 (17:00 GMT), at the Allianz Cloud, in Milano.

• Watch the Lega Volley Femminile Serie A1 Tigotà playoffs live on VBTV

The winners of the last six editions of the Italian League, reigning world champions Conegliano are yet to lose a match in 2024-2025 as, after navigating the regular season with an undefeated campaign of 26 victories, they eliminated Bergamo with back-to-back sweeps in the quarterfinals.

The Panthers get to the semifinals somewhat fresh as, besides having only played six sets against Bergamo over the last two weeks, they also managed to rotate their squad, keeping setter Joanna Wołosz, outside hitter Zhu Ting and middle blockers Sarah Fahr and Marina Lubian off the court in one of the two matches.

“Novara have many alternatives, versatile players and they can beat anyone, as they did against Milano and Scandicci,” head coach Daniele Santarell said. “It's going to be a long series and we'll need to work on the details and manage our energy level as we continue to work. At this point of the season, there's a lot of emphasis on the tactical side of each opponent, but I still believe we can improve technically on some aspects.”

Novara, the fourth-best team in the regular season, had a much more challenging path to make it to the semifinals as they needed all three matches and a tie-breaker in the third and decisive one, held on Wednesday, to knock Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri ’76 out in the quarterfinals, playing as many as 11 sets in as many days.

German outside hitter Lina Alsmeier emerged as a key contributor for Novara in the quarterfinals, producing 43 points across the three matches against Chieri. Libero Eleonora Fersino also had a central role in the series, delivering strong performances on the backcourt.

“Facing Conegliano is always exciting,” Fersino reacted. “They’re the best team in the world and, as players, it’s always nice to face those kinds of challenges. We’ll give everything to try to make the series long and even. It’s not going to be easy, but I believe in our team’s potential.”

The two teams met in the Italian League semifinals in the last two seasons and Conegliano triumphed on both occasions, winning the best-of-three series with back-to-back victories in 2022-2023 and needing a third and decisive match to move forward last season. Historically, the Panthers have been vastly successful, with 40 victories to Novara’s 11.

Lega Volley Femmnilie – Match Schedule & Results

Milano and Scandicci duel on Sunday

The teams that faced Conegliano in the last three finals, Milano and Scandicci will play a critical match one on Sunday, repeating a semifinal duel that happened in the last two years, with Milano winning in three matches in 2022-2023 and Scandicci prevailing in two in 2023-2024. There’s a great deal of balance over the years in the encounters, with Milano leading 16-15.

The home team on Sunday, Milano finished second in the regular season and moved past Megabox Ondulati Savio Vallefoglia with a sweep at home and a 3-2 road win in the quarterfinals.

“It's the first match of what's going to be a demanding series for both sides,” head coach Stefano Lavarini reflected. “All matches between the teams this season went to five sets and that shows that both sides have the same aspirations. We'll need to keep our level high and consistent in a series that will certainly be long. We're ready to face Scandicci and we want to start strong in front of our home fans.”

Star opposite Paola Egonu, with 41 points, outside hitter Miriam Sylla, with 26, and Serbina middle blocker Hena Kurtagić, with 24, were the team’s most productive players in the quarterfinals.

The third-best team in the regular season, Scandicci followed a very similar path to the semifinals, but had to play one more set, overcoming Eurotek Uyba Busto Arsizio 3-1 in front of their home fans and prevailing in the tie-breaker on the road.

“It's going to be a long series and I definitely expect to see tactical adjustments from both sides as it progresses,” head coach Marco Gaspari revealed. “They have some physical and powerful hitters, so we need to be aggressive with our serving and not let Orro (Alessia, setter) work in the best conditions. Our defense is going to be pivotal in this match as our blockers will probably have a hard time trying to stop their hitters. Above anything, we'll need to be patient because there will be many matches and each set will be different.”

Olympic champion opposite Ekaterina Antropova was the team’s top scorer in both matches against Busto, registering 27 points in the first encounter and 32 in the second. Belgian outside hitter Britt Herbots and Brazilian middle blocker Ana Carolina ‘Carol’ da Silva produced 25 points each across the two matches.

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