Conegliano go it alone - now at 74 and counting

Prosecco Doc Imoco Volley Conegliano have taken sole ownership of the Guinness World Record of most consecutive wins in women's volleyball after a thundering 3-0 (25-13, 25-11, 25-20) win over Delta Despar Trentino in Round 8 of the Italian league Sunday evening before a sellout home crowd of 3,200 at the PalaVerde in Treviso.

It was Conegliano's 74th win on the trot across all seasons and competitions and betters the previous record of 73 held by Turkey's VakifBank Istanbul from 2012 to 2014 and tied by the Italian side last week.

Conegliano found little resistance from Trentino, but wildly celebrated their 74th win breaking into a dancing lap of honour before their ecstatic fans.

Libero Monica de Gennaro was named MVP of the match for her hard work in the back zone, as Paola Egonu and Loveth Omoruyi shared the match high on 12 points each.

• Watch this historic game and all other matches of the Italian men's and women's leagues, live or on demand, on VolleyballWorld.tv.

The historic win, just a few days before Conegliano embark on their new European Champions League campaign, keeps the defending champions at the top of the Italian League on a 9-0 record, four points ahead of rivals Igor Gorgonzola Novara who are now at 7-1 after sweeping Acqua & Sapone Roma Volley Club 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-18).

Captain Chirichella Cristina with two blocks, an ace and 67% (8/12) in attack was named MVP of the match, while Turkey's Ebrar Karakurt collected the match high of 18 points.

But the high drama of the weekend was played out at Scandicci, where a medical emergency had visitors' coach Fabio Bonafede collapse while his team of Megabox Ondulati Del Savio Vallefoglia was 2-1 and 5-1 up over hosts Il Bisonte of Florence in the fourth set.

The 49-year-old got carried off on a stretcher after the match was interrupted for several minutes.

Despite the shock (though eventually news from the hospital was positive), the match resumed and Vallefoglia built up a 15-7 lead, seemingly on their way to comfortable four-set win.

But the home side erased the eight-point deficit and even cancelled a match point to force a tie-break, which they promptly won for an incredible full 3-2 (15-25, 21-25, 25-13, 26-24, 15-11) comeback.

Indre Sorokaite as MVP of the match, Sylvia Nwakalor as top scorer on 23 points and plenty of blocking from all around (including four from Yvon Belien of the Netherlands and three from Amandha Sylves of France) led the comeback of the hosts.

In other weekend action in Italy, MVP Elena Pietrini, who shared top-scoring honours with her teammate Louisa Lippmann of Germany on 18 points each, led Savino del Bene Scandiccito to a 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-22) shutout of Bartoccini-Fortinfissi Perugia on the road.

And Vero Volley Monza disposed of Vbc Trasporti Pesanti Casalmaggiore 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-18) at home. inspired by an MVP performance of Belarus' Anna Davyskiba and a match high of 18 points by Belgium's Lise Van Hecke.

Unet E-Work Busto Arsizio were also successful on the road, as match MVP Alexa Gray of Canada led them to a 3-1 (22-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-15) after sharing the match high of 25 points with her teammate Camilla Mingardi.

Francesca Villani and Germany's Camilla Weitzel scored 17 points each as they led Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri to a 3-2 (25-18, 14-25, 25-22, 23-25, 15-11) win at home over Bosca S.Bernardo Cuneo that wrapped up the weekend in Italy.

Chieri outblocked Cuneo 19 (seven by Weitzel, six by Alessia Mazzaro) to 7 to counter a match (indeed, the day's high) of 31 points by Cuneo's Sofya Kuznetsova of Russia.

Get all the details from all the matches of the Italian League here.

The League continues next weekend with Round 9 of the Regular Season with all matches streamed live on VolleyballWorld.tv.