Legavolley Femminile A1 - 2021

Laura Dijkema back in Italy

The Dutch star joins the ranks of Unet e-work Busto Arsizio

Published 12:00, 25 Mar 2022

Laura Dijekema has joined Unet e-work Busto Arsizio hoping to be able to help the club in the upcoming Italian league playoffs.

The 32-year-old setter of the Dutch national team arrived from Leningradka Saint Petersburg this week and is already training with her new team, although she is yet to be officially registered to play.

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It will not be the first time Dijkema plays in Italy. She competed for Il Bisonte Firenze for three seasons between 2017 and 2020. Before that, she spent a season with Igor Gorgonzola Novara and won the national title.

In her club career, the Dutch playmaker has also triumphed as a national champion and earned Best Setter awards in the Netherlands, Germany and Russia, three of the other four leagues she has played in. With the national team, she picked up a 2016 FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix bronze and two European Championship silvers. She also helped the Netherlands reach the semifinals of both the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and the 2018 FIVB Volleyball World Championship.

Dijkema arrives in Busto Arsizio at a time when both of the team’s setters, USA’s Jordyn Poulter and Italy’s Sofia Monza, are struggling with injuries. Unet have already locked in their spot in the top five of the Lega Volley Femminile A1 regular season. With two games to go before the playoffs, the Butterflies have a 16-8 win-loss record and 49 points, two short of fourth-placed Savino Del Bene Scandicci and nine clear of sixth-placed Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri.