Novara, Conegliano and Milano on to the Italian League semifinals

Igor Gorgonzola Novara, Prosecco Doc Imoco Conegliano and Numia Vero Volley Milano triumphed on the road on Wednesday and secured the first three spots in the 2025-2026 Lega Femminile Serie A1 Tigotà semifinals.

Set to start on March 14, the Italian League semifinal lineup could be completed on Thursday, when Bergamo and Savino Del Bene Scandicci play at 20:30 local time (19:30 UTC) - Scandicci won the first match and will qualify with another victory.

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

The fourth-best team in the regular season, Novara confirmed their presence in the semifinals for a ninth-straight season in dramatic fashion. After beating Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri '76 3-1 on the first round on Sunday, they need all five sets to win 3-2 (25-20, 22-25, 21-25, 25-18, 18-16) in Torino on Wednesday and confirm their progress.

Russian opposite Tatiana Tolok again carried Novara's offense, following up on her 29-point performance from Sunday with another 33 (31 kills, one block, one ace) and earning the match's MVP award.

"Congratulations to Chieri for a great match," Belgian outside hitter Britt Herbots said. "We were ready for a long and tough match, and that's what happened. I'm very glad that we managed to come back and end the series here. Now we move forward and start preparing for the semifinals."

Chieri had two very productive players in the match, with Hungarian opposite Anett Németh leading the team with 25 points (19 kills, three blocks, three aces) and world champion outside hitter Stella Nervini adding another 22 (21 kills, one block).

Their semifinal opponents Conegliano needed less time to eliminate Eurotek Laica UYBA Busto Arsizio. After triumphing in four sets on Sunday, the defending champions needed only three to win 3-0 (25-16, 25-17, 25-15) on the road on Wednesday and continue their title defense.

Without star outside hitter Gabriela 'Gabi' Guimarães, who's recovering from an injury sustained in their last match, Conegliano relied on Swedish opposite Isabelle Haak, who dropped 17 points (14 kills, three blocks) and earned the MVP award, and Chinese outside hitter Zhu Ting, who scored 13 (12 kills, one block), to get the points they needed to win.

"We're very happy to have achieved our goal of qualifying for the semifinals," middle blocker Cristina Chirichella reflected. "We have several elimination matches in front of us right now, but we have a week to recover and prepare for the next one."

Outside hitter Alessia Gennari was the only player on Busto's side to get to double digits in scoring - she ended the match with ten points (eight kills, one block, one ace).

Lega Volley Femminile - Match Schedule & Results

Milan advance with another sweep

The only team to win in straight sets on Sunday, Milano did it again on Wednesday, topping Megabox Ondulati Del Savio Vallefoglia 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-22) to advance with a clean record.

Star opposite Paola Egonu made a difference for Milano, leading the team to victory with 24 points (18 kills, four blocks, two aces). Olympic and world champion middle blocker Anna Danesi took home the MVP award after contributing 11 points (five kills, five blocks, one ace).

"Playing in this stadium is really hard and we struggled a lot in the regular season," setter Francesca Bosio revealed. "Winning here makes me very proud of the team. We were very solid, especially in the first two sets. This team matured a lot during the season and it showed today. I hope we can continue on this path for the semifinals."

Albanian opposite Erblira Bici and middle blocker Sonia Candi were Vallefoglia's top performers in the second and last match of the series, scoring 13 and 11 points, respectively.

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