Legavolley Femminile A1 - 2021

Bison stampede brings Conegliano dream run crashing down

Colossal upset marks turning point in Italy women's league

Published 10:57, 01 Dec 2021

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Indre Sorokaite and Celine Van Gestel go up to block Conegliano's Megan Courtney as they lead Il Bisonte of Florence in creating shockwaves in world volleyball.

Prosecco Doc Imoco Volley Conegliano were rudely awakened from a dream run, Wednesday night at home at the PalaVerde in the Treviso suburb of Villorba, as Il Bisonte of Florence brought the reigning world, European and Italian champions crashing down 3-2 (25-22, 28-30, 16-25, 27-25, 15-12) in midweek action of the Italian league.

It was Conegliano's first defeat after 720 days, since losing to Perugia on 12 December 2019, just shy of two years without a loss.

During the course of this run they first broke the domestic record of most consecutive wins, previously held by legendary Teodora Ravenna, and then broke the Guinness World Record of VakiBank Istanbul for most wins on the trot across all competitions - now stopped at 76.

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

Indre Sorokaite, who herself helped build Conegliano's incredible run when she played for the club in the 2019-20 season, was key to putting an end to it.

The 33-year-old outside hitter and captain of the visiting side, who spectacularly put away the last ball of the match, was named MVP on the night - but it was certainly a team effort that also included a brilliant performance by Belgium's Celine Van Gestel and a team high of 24 points by Sylvia Nwakalor.

The match high of 34 came from Conegliano's Paola Egonu - but the home side failed to take advantage of this, or of their opponents' staggering 39 unforced errors.

Despite the loss, Conegliano continue to lead the standings of the Italian league, six points clear of their closest rival Igor Grogonzola Novara - though with two matches extra.

This was a match for the 24th round of the Regular Season, brought forward to Wednesday. The other matches of the round are scheduled for 20 March 2022.

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

The League continues next weekend with Round 10 of the Regular Season with all matches streamed live on Volleyball TV.