Il Bisonte Firenze looking to ride the wave of their historic victory

Just four days after starring in the biggest upset of the 2021-2022 Italian Women’s League so far, Il Bisonte Firenze return to the court on Sunday looking to keep the good momentum going against Vero Volley Monza.

The team from the Tuscan region shocked international volleyball followers on Wednesday, when they took reigning world, European and Italian champions Prosecco Doc Imoco Volley Conegliano down in a five-set battle on the road. The match marked the end of a Guinness World Record 76-match winning streak by Conegliano, who hadn’t lost a match in nearly two years.

The victory pushed Firenze up to sixth place in the standings and the team coached by Massimo Bellano have another opportunity to keep climbing the rankings on Sunday, at 17.00 local time/16.00 GTM, when they play on the road against third-placed Vero Volley Monza. A Firenze victory and a pair of favourable results in other matches of the tenth week of the season could move the team to as high as third place at the end of the weekend.

To upset a Monza team that hasn’t lost in their last four matches, Firenze will need their offensive trio of Sylvia Nwakalor, Celine van Gestel and Indre Sorokaite to step up again. The three combined for 53 points (24 by the Italian opposite, 16 by the Belgian outside hitter and the 13 by the team captain) against Conegliano and will need to have another productive night for Firenze to be in position to win on the road one more time.

Monza have had a good run of form recently despite multiple injuries that made outside hitters Brankica Mihajlovic, Katarina Lazovic and Alessia Gennari all lose playing time over the last few weeks. All three players as well as star setter Alessia Orro could miss this weekend’s match.

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Belgian opposite Lise van Hecke has been instrumental in Monza’s latest victories and produced 67 points over the last three matches. Polish opposite Magdalena Stysiak has started twice in the period, delivering 23 and 21 points in those matches. Middle blocker Anna Danesi, the eighth best blocker in the league with a total of 22, has also been performing at a really high level for the team.

The first matches of the weekend will be played on Saturday. Leaders Conegliano host Bartoccini Fortinfissi Perugia at 18.00 local time/17.00 GMT, second-placed Igor Gorgonzola Novara play Megabox Ondulati Del Savio Vallefoglia at 19.00 local time/18.00 GMT and Volley Bergamo face Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri at 20.30 local time/19.30 GMT.

On Sunday, there will be two more meetings starting at 17.00 local time/16.00 GMT, with VBC Trasporti Pesanti Casalmaggiore clashing with Bosca S. Bernardo Cuneo and Acqua & Sapone Roma going up against Savino Del Bene Scandicci. The final match of the weekend will start at 19.30 local time/18.30 GMT and will reunite Delta Despar Trentino and Unet E-Work Busto Arsizio.

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