Imoco and Milano secure preseason wins in Italy

Two of the main favorites to fight for the title of the 2024-2025 Lega Volley Femminile Serie A1 Tigotà, which starts in October, and which are set to battle in the Supercoppa Fineco on September 28, Prosecco Doc Imoco Conegliano and Vero Volley Milano secured solid wins in their first preseason matches this past weekend.

Six-time defending champions Imoco hosted teams from Germany, Slovenia and Serbia in the second edition of the Trofeo Citta’ di Conegliano between Saturday and Sunday and ended up taking the title while also seeing some of their main signings get on the court for the first time, including Brazilian star outside hitter Gabriela ‘Gabi’ Guimarães.

• Watch the 2024-2025 Lega Volley Femminile Serie A1 Tigotà live on VBTV

Imoco topped Serbia’s Železničar Lajokovac 3-0 (25-14, 25-13, 27-25) on Saturday in the semifinals and overcame Germany’s Dresdner SC 1898 also in straight sets (25-12, 25-20, 25-15) on Sunday’s final.

Gabi was on the court in both matches and scored four points in one set against Železničar and led Imoco with 14 in the final. Star opposite Isabelle Haak had 16 points in the first match and 11 in the second. Another of the team’s new signings, middle blocker Cristina Chirichella was awarded as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

Milano sweep Novara

Home to four Paris 2024 Olympic champions, Milano also got on the court for the first time in the season this weekend, facing Igor Gorgonzola Novara on Friday at the Opiquad Arena, in Monza. Pushed by Paris 2024 Olympics MVP Paola Egonu, Milano dominated their opponents to triumph 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-20).

Egonu led Milano’s offense with 15 points, followed by fellow Olympic champion Myriam Sylla, with ten, and middle blocker Hena Kurtagić, one of the team’s new signings, with nine. Besides the Serbian, four other players made their debuts with Milano - Italian national team captain and middle blocker Anna Danesi, liberos Satomi Fukudome and Juliette Gelin and Greek setter Lampriní Konstantinídou.

“It was a good test for us,” said Milano’s head coach Stefano Lavarini. “The goal was to break the ice and see what we could do against a top-level opponent. We were focusing a lot on our offense and transition and we’ll keep working on those areas going forward. I saw some good things with our blocking and defense too.”

Despite the defeat, Novara saw promising signs from three of their main offseason signings at outside hitter, as Russian Tatiana Tolok led the team with 15 points, followed by German Lina Alsmeier, with nine, and Japanese Mayu Ishikawa, with eight.

Next weekend, Imoco, Milano and Novara will all take part in the Courmayeur Cup alongside Savino Del Bene Scandicci. The four teams will play from Friday to Saturday in the four-team, preseason tournament.