Milano reverse two-set deficit and beat Scandicci again in the semifinals

Numia Vero Volley Milano took a massive step to return to the Lega Femminile Serie A1 Tigotà Scudetto Finals on Sunday, when they came back from a very difficult situation to create a 2-0 lead in their best-of-five semifinal series against world champions Savino Del Bene Scandicci.

After opening the series with a road sweep last week, the Supercoppa champions were home at the Allianz Cloud, where they recovered from a difficult start to turn things around and triumph 3-2 (24-26, 13-25, 25-15, 25-16, 15-6), significantly strengthening their position in the series.

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

The reverse sweep keeps Milano in full control of the series, as they now need just one win in the next three matches to progress and return to the Italian League Finals for the fourth time in the last five seasons. Scandicci, on the other hand, will need to be perfect now and win three straight matches to make it to the Finals.

A key piece in Milano's comeback, outside hitter Rebecca Piva earned the match's MVP award after scoring 20 points (19 kills, one ace). The winning side also had the match's top scorer in star opposite and team captain Paola Egonu, who fired 29 points, with 27 kills and two blocks.

"I'm very happy about how the team reacted," outside hitter Elena Pietrini said. "Coming from a tough loss to VakifBank in the CEV Champions League, we knew it wasn't going to be easy, and we struggled at the start. Once we managed to refocus, we did very well, and now we'll work to have that mentality right from the start in the third match."

Scandicci had star opposite Ekaterina Antropova dropping 26 points (21 kills, three blocks, two aces) and Olympic champion outside hitter Caterina Bosetti scoring another 14 (12 kills, two blocks).

"We're obviously very disappointed now for getting a loss after starting the match so well," head coach Marco Gaspari reflected. "Milano made many errors in the first two sets, and we took full advantage of it to build our confidence and push from the service line. They improved a lot in the third set, and I feel like we couldn't keep it together physically."

Lega Volley Femminile - Match Schedule & Results

The third leg of the Italian semifinals will be held during the week, with Prosecco Doc Imoco Conegliano, who lead their series 2-0, hosting Igor Gorgonzola Novara at home on Tuesday and Scandicci returning to Firenze to try to continue alive against Milano on Wednesday.

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