One match on Saturday and three on Sunday get the quarterfinal round started in Italy – watch it all live on VBTV
Published 09:00, 07 Mar 2025
Milano and Vallefgolia went to five sets both times they met this season (Photo: Lega Femminile)
After six months of action and 182 regular season matches, it’s crunch time in the 2024-2025 Lega Volley Femminile Serie A1 Tigotà with the playoffs beginning this weekend in Italy.
The postseason begins with the quarterfinals, which will feature battles between the eight best teams in the regular season, who will compete in four best-of-three series over the next 11 days for the four semifinal spots in the Italian League.
Igor Gorgonzola Novara and Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri ’76 will open the playoffs in Italy, playing their first match on Saturday, at 18:00 local time (17:00 GMT). Sunday’s match schedule will feature a tripleheader, with Prosecco Doc Imoco Conegliano and Bergamo going first at 16:00 (15:00 GMT), followed by Savino Del Bene Scandicci and Eurotek Uyba Busto Arsizio one hour later and Numia Vero Volley Milano and Megabox Ondulati Savio Vallefoglia at 19:00 (18:00 GMT).
After producing the best-ever campaign in the Italian League regular season, securing 26 victories to collect 77 points, Conegliano enter the playoffs as the top-seeded team. The Panthers, who will try to win their seventh straight and eighth overall national title, continue to be the team to beat in the country in 2024-2025.
Their star-studded squad features elite players from all over the world, such as Swedish opposite Isabelle Haak, the team’s top scorer in the season with 347 points, Brazilian national team captain Gabriela ‘Gabi’ Guimarães, Chinese star outside hitter Zhu Ting and Italian Olympic champion libero Monica De Gennaro.
Bergamo, who won the Italian title eight times, the last of which was in 2010-2011, returned to the playoffs this season after missing out in 2023-2024. One of the most traditional teams in the country, they completed their regular season campaign in eighth place with 36 points, obtaining 11 victories and 15 losses.
A new face with the team this season, Cuban outside hitter Ailama Cesé has been a revelation for Bergamo, appearing in sixth place among the league’s top scorers with 410 points. Czech outside hitter Michaela Mlejnková, American setter Ashley Evans and 18-year-old middle blocker Linda Manfredini, the league’s second-best server with 44 aces, are other key players for them.
Conegliano enter the series haven’t lost to Bergamo in ten years – the Panthers won the last 23 duels and didn’t drop sets in the last seven.
The bronze medalists of the 2024 FIVB Women’s Club World Championship, Milano made it to the playoffs in second place, with a campaign of 21 wins and five losses, which generated 60 points. The team will go for its first national title after finishing second in 2021-2022 and 2022-2023.
Despite missing part of the regular season due to surgery, Paris Olympics MVP Paola Egonu still managed to rank seventh among the top scorers in the league with 375 points. The star opposite is one of four Olympic champions to be a part of the team’s squad alongside setter Alessia Orro, middle blocker Anna Danesi, who ranks second in blocks (81), and outside hitter Miriam Sylla, who's third in passes (241).
Their opponents Vallefoglia made it to the playoffs for a second-straight time after they collected 38 points with 11 wins and 15 losses, ranking seventh. If they make it past the quarterfinals, they will have their best-ever campaign in the Italian elite after joining it, in 2021-2022.
Vallefoglia also have an Olympic champion of their own in outside hitter Gaia Giovannini, who scored 232 points in the regular season and leads the league in passes with 303. The team has two other elite scorers in Albanian opposite Erblira Bici and American outside hitter Simone Lee, who ranked fourth (494 points) and eighth (365) in the regular season, and two top blockers in Sonia Candi, who’s first in the league with 94 stops, and German Camilla Weitzel, who’s fourth with 72.
Milano have prevailed in eight of the nine times the teams met in the Italian League so far, but the last three duels have been incredibly competitive, with Vallefoglia winning of them and taking their opponents to the tie-breaker on the other two.
Last year’s runners-up Scandicci were the third-best team in the regular season, earning 58 points with 19 wins and seven losses. Lat year’s second-place finish is the team’s best campaign to date in the Italian League – they were third on three occasions.
Scandicci heavily rely on Olympic champion Ekaterina Antropova offensively and the opposite has been in great form, leading the league in points (569) and aces (60). Other international stars in their squad are Serbian world champion setter Maja Ognjenović, Brazilian Olympic medalist middle blocker Ana Carolina ‘Carol’ da Silva and Dominican libero Brenda Castillo.
Scandicci and Busto split wins during the regular season (Photo: Lega Femminile)
Busto returned to the playoffs after missing out last season thanks to their campaign of 15 wins and losses, which placed them sixth in the regular season, with 41 points. The club won the Italian title in 2011-2012, but hasn’t made it to the semifinals since 2017-2018.
The team’s top scorer with 357 points, outside hitter Rebecca Piva has been a key piece in Busto’s playing system this season alongside opposite Josephina Obossa, who’s the league’s third-best server with 36 aces. Swiss outside hitter Laura Künzler and Belgian middle blocker Silke Van Avermaet are also regular starters for the team.
Historically, Scandicci have the edge over Busto, having triumphed 18 times in the 26 duels between the teams. This season, however, the teams split wins, with Busto taking the match in the first round and Scandicci coming out on top in the second.
The fourth-best team in the Lega Femminile regular season, Novara get to playoffs with a campaign of 20 wins and six losses, which earned then 56 points. The team claimed the Italian title in 2016-2017 and has won 11 more medals, including eight silvers.
This year, Novara has Japanese star outside hitter Mayu Ishikawa as their leading scorer with 344 points. German outside hitter Lina Alsmeier and Russian opposite Tatiana Tolok come very close, with 340 and 336 points respectively, highlighting the great work of setter Francesca Bosio.
Novara and Chieri will get the quarterfinal round started on Saturday (Photo: Lega Femminile)
Their opponents Chieri were fifth, collecting 43 points with a campaign of 16 wins and ten losses. They are yet to win a medal in the Italian League, having the fifth place obtained in the last two seasons as their best results.
Between French opposite Lucille Gicquel (352 points), American Olympic medalist Avery Skinner (346) and Olympic champion outside hitter Loveth Omoruyi (216), Chieri have tremendous firepower. Another Olympic champion, libero Illaria Spirito is another key contributor for them.
Novara has a 14-7 lead over Chieri over the years, but considering only the last five meetings, competition has been intense between the two sides, with their advantage being three wins to two. In 2024-2025, the score is even after Chieri triumphed in the first round of the regular season and Novara prevailed in the second.
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