Weekend Review: Everything you missed and should know

Argentina’s Ciudad Voley could become the next national champions to be crowned in the 2022-2023 club season after the team of star outside hitter Facundo Conte won the first two matches of their best-of-five final series against UPCN Voley this weekend and now need only another victory to celebrate its first Argentinean title.

The day of crowning new champions is also coming in Japan now that the finalists of the V-League are known. The Toray Arrows and the NEC Red Rockets will fight for the women’s title while the defending champions Suntory Sunbirds and the Wolfdogs Nagoya will repeat last year’s men’s final next weekend.

In Italy, Itas Trentino are just one win away from the SuperLega Credem Banca final after they topped Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza for the second time while Allianz Milano and Cucine Lube Civitanova are tied after their first two encounters. Among the women, the Lega Pallavolo Serie A1 Femminile playoffs began this weekend, with Prosecco Doc Imoco Conegliano, Savino Del Bene Scandicci and Vero Volley Monza getting a head start in their series.

The Beach Pro Tour was in Brazil for a second-straight week and saw Italy’s Marta Menegatti/Valentina Gottardi and Brazil’s Evandro Gonçalves/Arthur Lanci emerge as the winners of the Saquarema Challenge.

Here’s all that happened over the weekend around the world:

Volleyball

Ciudad one win away from the Argentinean title

Ciudad Voley are just one win away from their first title in the Argentinean men’s league after the team from Buenos Aires prevailed over rivals UPCN Voley in the first two matches of their best-of-five series, winning 3-0 on Friday and 3-1 on Sunday. Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist Facundo Conte led his team with 18 points on the first encounter and 28 on the second. The third match between the teams will be held on Friday. Here’s the report from the Argentinean League website.

Japanese V-League finalists confirmed

The Final Four of the Japanese V-League ended this weekend and the two teams in each gender that will compete for the titles are now confirmed. The women’s Final, which will take place on Saturday in Tokyo, April 22, will reunite the Toray Arrows and the NEC Red Rockets. The following day, defending champions Suntory Sunbirds and the Wolfdogs Nagoya will play for the men’s title for a second-straight season. Here are the V-League’s news pieces for the men’s and women’s Final Four.

Trentino lead Piacenza 2-0 in the SuperLega semis

Itas Trentino continue in great form in their SuperLega Credem Banca semifinal series and topped Coppa Italia champions Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza for the second time in four days on Sunday, positioning themselves just one win away from the Italian League final. On the other side of the bracket, Allianz Milano defeated defending champions Cucine Lube Civitanova in the tie-breaker and evened their series 1-1. Here’s our article with all the information about it.

Conegliano, Scandicci and Monza take first wins at Lega Femminile playoffs

The Lega Pallavolo Serie A1 Femminile playoffs began this week with three matches being played over the weekend. Defending champions Prosecco Doc Imoco Conegliano, Savino Del Bene Scandicci and Vero Volley Monza played at home and secured the first victories in their series against E-Work Busto Arsizio, Volley Bergamo 1991 and Trasportipesanti Casalmaggiore respectively. The second leg of these series will be played during the week.

VakifBank and Eczacibasi to meet in CEV Women’s Champions League Super Final

Defending champions VakifBank Istanbul and rivals Eczacibasi Dynavit Istanbul confirmed that the CEV Women’s Champions League will have an all-Turkish final for the first time after they won their semifinal series this week. VakifBank overcame another team from their own country, Fenerbahce Opet, winning the second leg of their series 3-0 and the Golden Set 15-12, while Eczacibasi topped Italy’s Igor Gorgonzola Novara for the second time, now in straight sets – CEV has the recaps for both duels. The Champions League Super Final will be played in Turin on May 5.

Beach Volleyball

Italians and Brazilians victorious at Saquarema Challenge

Two teams secured their first international victories on the Beach Pro Tour at the Saquarema Challenge, which came to an end in Brazil on Sunday. The men’s title went to Italians Marta Menegatti and Valentina Gottardi, who overcame the home team of Tainá Bigi and Victoria Lopes in the gold medal match. The home fans got to celebrate gold in the men’s tournament, however, with Evandro Gonçalves and Arthur Lanci prevailing over Americans Chase Budinger and Miles Evans. Read our reports on the Italian victory and the Brazilian triumph.

Beach Pro Tour duos triumph at AVP New Orleans

Some teams that regularly compete on the Beach Pro Tour were this weekend in New Orleans, the city that hosted the second event of the 2023 American AVP, and two of them ended up taking the titles. Tepic Elite16 winners Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes triumphed among the women, overcoming Canadians Brandie Wilkerson and Melissa Humana-Paredes. The men’s title went to Tri Bourne and Chaim Schalk, who prevailed over Billy Allen and Troy Field.