The Lega Volley Femminile is back with some lineup revamps that boast the biggest stars who deliver big plays for an excitement-filled 2023-2024 season.
Let's take a look at the four top teams and their star-studded rosters this season.
Lega Volley Femminile A1 2023
LVF 2023-2024: Meet the top teams
Big names, big plays, big hearts that will highlight the 2023-2024 season
Published 03:17, 11 Oct 2023
Allianz Vero Volley Milano
After settling for silver in the last two seasons, Milano made arguably the biggest signing of the off-season, bringing star opposite Paola Egonu back to Italy after one year in Türkiye. Egonu was one of several relevant additions made by the team, which also signed Dominican star libero Brenda Castillo, Belgian middle blocker Laura Heyrman and a strong trio of outside hitters in American Kara Bajema, Dutch Nika Daalderop and French Héléna Cazaute. Milano were also able to keep several of their key players, most notably setter Alessia Orro, outside hitter Myriam Sylla and middle blockers Dana Rettke and Raphaela Folie. Among the team’s most noticeable departures are American outside hitter Jordan Larson, Serbian middle blocker Jovana Stevanović and opposites Magdalena Stysiak and Jordan Thompson.
Igor Gorgonzola Novara
The third-placed team on the Lega Femminile in 2022-2023, Novara underwent some significant changes ahead of the upcoming season. Gone are Olympic champion American setter Jordyn Poulter, Turkish star opposite/outside hitter Ebrar Karakurt and veteran Cuban outside hitter Kenia Carcaces, among others. Italian national team setter Francesca Bosio will call the shots on offense while Turkish Melis Durul and Russian Vita Akimova will fight for the starting spot at opposite. Novara also signed outside hitters with international experience – Dutch Anne Buijs and Hungarian Gréta Szakmáry – to join 2022 VNL champion Caterina Bosetti. The middle remains unchanged, with Anna Danesi, Cristina Chirichella and Sara Bonifacio providing options, as well as libero, with Eleonora Fersino starting her third season with the team.
Prosecco Doc Imoco Conegliano
Five-time defending champions Imoco will try to continue to reign supreme in the Lega Femminile in 2023-2024. Maintaining the core of the team that lifted the trophy last season was the club’s priority and, despite the departure of their Finals super-sub Alexa Gray, Imoco achieved that, bringing back ten of the 14 players that dressed for the last match against Milano – while also adding American outside hitter Khalia Lanier. Imoco continue to have one of the strong rosters in the world, featuring Polish Joanna Wołosz at setter, Swedish Isabelle Haak at opposite, Americans Kathryn Plummer and Kelsey Cook and Italian Alessia Gennari at outside hitter, Italians Federica Squarcini, Sarah Fahr and Marina Lubian and Dutch Robin De Kruijf at middle blocker and Italian Monica De Gennaro at libero.
Savino Del Bene Scandicci
Savino Del Bene were third in the Italian League last season, falling to Milano in the semifinals, but lifted the trophy of the CEV Cup. The team lost several pieces, such as setters Di Yao and Ofelia Malinov, opposite Camilla Mingardi, outside hitter Elena Pietrini, middle blocker Yvon Beliën and libero Brenda Castillo, but also made several additions and somehow remains just as competitive. Among the most impressive signings were Serbian star setter Maja Ognjenović, Belgian high-scoring outside hitter Britt Herbots and Brazilian middle blocker Ana Carolina ‘Carol’ da Silva. Pairing these three with returning opposite Ekaterina Antropova, Chinese superstar Zhu Ting and American Olympic champion middle blocker Haleigh Washington, Savino Del Bene continue with a stellar squad.