Isabelle prevails as the Haak sisters meet in Italy

The first encounter between the Swedish Haak sisters Isabelle and Anna in the Lega Pallavolo Femminile Serie A was one of the highlights of the second week of play in the Italian League, which took place this weekend.

The most accomplished of the two, the 24-year-old Isabelle led her team, defending champions Prosecco Doc Imoco Conegliano, to a 3-0 (25-20, 25-12, 25-14) win over Anna’s Honda Olivero S. Bernardo Cuneo on Saturday.

• Watch Lega Pallavolo Femminile Serie A1 matches live on VBTV.

The two sisters had central roles in the match, with opposite Isabelle leading Imoco with 17 points (11 kills, five aces, one block) and taking home the match’s MVP award and outside hitter Anna getting a team-high nine points (eight kills, one block) for Cuneo.

While Isabelle is in her fourth season in Italy and her second with Imoco, having helped the team win the title last year, the 27-year-old Anna is just starting her journey in the country’s league, having signed with Cuneo ahead of the current season.

Besides Haak’s scoring, Imoco also counted on a strong serving performance to dominate Cuneo, outscoring their opponents from the service line by an impressive 17-0 and seeing all of their six starters register aces.

“We had a great serving performance and scored several aces, even if the tape helped us on some occasions,” middle blocker Marina Lubian, who tallied two aces, said. “We had some problems on the first set, but outside of that, we played a very good match. When we got into a good rhythm in sets two and three, we played well and that shows our work is progressing well.”

Lega Femminile - Match Schedule and Results

Imoco were the only one of the top four teams in Italy to not drop sets in the second week of league play. Also on Saturday, last year’s second-placed Allianz Vero Volley Milano benefited from 25 points (20 kills, three blocks, two aces) from star opposite Paola Egonu to top Itas Trentino 3-1 (25-17, 25-20, 23-25, 25-18) on the road.

On Sunday, Savino Del Bene Scandicci also needed four sets to top Uyba Volley Busto Arsizio 3-1 (25-20, 20-25, 25-19, 25-23). Italian national team Ekaterina Antropova delivered 31 points (28 kills, two blocks, one ace) and became the first to overcome 30 points in a single match in the season.

On the same day, Igor Gorgonzola Novara defeated Trasportipesanti Casalmaggiore also 3-1 (25-23, 25-21, 22-25, 25-20) with 22 points (20 kills, two aces) from opposite Vita Akimova, 13 from middle blocker Anna Danesi and 12 from outside hitters Anne Buijs and Caterina Bosetti.

The most spectacular victory of the weekend went to Wash4Green Pinerolo, who came back from a two-set deficit to beat Il Bisonte Firenze  3-2 (24-26, 24-26, 25-18, 25-16, 15-13) on the road. Pinerolo’s Swiss opposite Maja Storck led all scorers with 28 points (25 kills, three blocks), followed by Firenze’s Japanese star outside hitter Mayu Ishikawa, who tallied 23 (20 kills, two aces, one block) in her second match with the team.

The other two matches of the weekend saw Megabox Ondulati Savio Vallefoglia beat Volley Bergamo 3-1 (15-25, 27-25, 25-23, 25-23) on the road and Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri get a 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-20) win over Roma Volley Club, also as visitors.

Week three of the Lega Femminile will take place next week, with two matches on Saturday and five more on Sunday.

Quick links:
Lega Pallavolo Femminile Serie A1
VBTV
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
YouTube
Subscribe to Volleyball World's Newsletter