Conegliano finish first, Roma and Trentino go down as Lega ends regular season

The final round of the regular season - the Lega Pallavolo vivo Serie A1 Femminile’s ‘Super Saturday’ - saw defending champions Prosecco Doc Imoco Volley Conegliano able to maintain their top spot ahead of the playoffs, while Acqua & Sapone Roma Volley Club and Delta Despar Trentino failed to move away from the bottom of the standings and will play in the Italian second division next season.

The conclusion of the regular season also determined the matchups of the quarterfinal playoff, starting next weekend. Conegliano will take on eighth-placed Il Bisonte Firenze, second-placed Igor Gorgonzola Novara are set to meet seventh Bosca S. Bernardo Cuneo, third-placed Vero Volley Monza will play sixth Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri and Savino Del Bene Scandicci, who finished fourth, will clash with Unet E-Work Busto Arsizio, fifth.

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Defending champions Conegliano entered the final round at the top of the standings and depended only on their own result against Volley Bergamo to remain there. The reigning European champions gave their opponents no chance and won 3-0 (25-13, 28-26, 25-16) on the road. The Panthers ended their regular season campaign with 66 points (23 wins, three losses).

Star opposite Paola Egonu led all scorers with 23 points (22 kills, one block) while outside hitters Kathryn Plummer, with 14 (12 kills, one ace, one block), and Miryam Sylla, with 12 (11 kills, one ace), also reached double digits in scoring.

“We’re really happy that we managed to finish the regular season in the first place,” said setter Joanna Wolosz, who was the match’s MVP. “We had some ups and downs today and we knew that Bergamo would fight because they had the risk of being relegated, but I’m happy that we won and got the three points we needed. The playoffs are the most important part of the season and we want to do well to take the title again.”

Novara and Monza also won their matches to finish second and third, respectively. The team coached by Stefano Lavarini benefited from 17 points (15 kills, two blocks) by Turkish opposite Ebrar Karakrut and 14 (11 kills, two blocks, one ace) by team captain Caterina Bosetti to down Chieri in straight sets (25-12, 25-19, 25-21) and tie Conegliano’s 66 points and 23 wins.

Monza ended the regular season with 63 points (20 wins) after they defeated Trentino 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 29-27) and confirmed their opponents’ relegation. Belgian opposite Lisa van Hecke scored 20 points (17 kills, two blocks, one ace), seven more than Belarusian outside hitter Hanna Davyskiba, who had 12 kills and one ace.

Ranked fourth and fifth, Scandicci and Busto ended the regular season in different ways. While the recently-crowned CEV Challenge Cup winners downed Firenze 3-1 (25-20, 23-25, 25-19, 25-20), Busto were upset by Cuneo in five sets (30-28, 24-26, 19-25, 25-22, 15-13).

At the bottom of the standings, Roma and Trentino didn’t do enough to avoid relegation. Roma won their match, pulling off a hard-fought, five-set (25-23, 19-25, 18-25, 25-19, 15-12) road win against Megabox Ondulati Del Savio Vallefoglia, but both teams ended up a single point behind Bergamo with 19 and will play in the second division next season.

Quick links:

Lega Pallavolo SuperLega Credem Banca
Lega Pallavolo Femminile Serie A1
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