Savino Del Bene Scandicci and Vero Volley Monza were the biggest winners in a weekend of exciting volleyball in the Lega Pallavolo vivo Serie A1 Femminile as the teams now share the top of the standings in the Italian League.
Legavolley Femminile A1 - 2021
Monza and Scandicci ahead after massive weekend in Italy
Victories against top teams propel the two teams into the lead
Published 08:15, 07 Feb 2022
Monza players celebrate one of their most important victories of the season (Photo: Vero Volley Monza)
The fifth round of the second leg of the regular season in Italy featured a pair of duels involving the top four teams in the league, and after their victories, Scandicci and Monza share the first place with 40 points (Monza have one match more to play before the end of the regular season). Defending champions Prosecco Doc Imoco Volley Conegliano (37) and Unet E-Work Busto Arsizio (35) complete the top-four, who now have a four-point lead over fifth-placed Igor Gorgonzola Novara (31).
- All matches of the Italian men's and women's leagues are available to watch live or on demand on Volleyball TV.
Ranked third at the start of the matchday, Monza bounced back from a midweek loss to Turkey’s VakifBank Istanbul in the CEV Champions League and claimed perhaps the most important victory of the weekend as they took leaders Conegliano down 3-1 (23-25, 25-20, 27-25, 25-13) on the road at the Palaverde.
It was the first time since December 2018 that the winners of the 2019 FIVB Volleyball Women’s Club World Championship lost a match in the Italian League in less than five sets, and it was Monza’s 11th-straight victory of the season.
Opposite Magdalena Stysiak was a key piece in Monza’s triumph as the 21-year-old, 2.03m-tall Polish player produced 23 points, with 20 kills and three aces. Belarusian outside hitter Hanna Davyskiba, with 16 (13 kills, two aces, one block), and American middle blocker Dana Rettke, the team’s latest addition, with 15 (ten kills, three blocks, one ace), also played prominent roles in the match.
“We played a phenomenal match and everyone was at the top of their games today,” Stysiak, who received the MVP award, commented. “Against Conegliano, nothing but your absolute best is enough and we were able to keep a very high level throughout the entire match. It was an important victory and one that strengthens our great moment in the season and validates all our hard work.”
Star opposite Paola Egonu also had an excellent performance and led all scorers with 28 points (23 kills, three aces, two blocks), but her play alone wasn’t enough for Conegliano, who had in fellow Italian and middle blocker Raphaela Folie their second-best scorer with just seven points (five kills, one block, one ace).
Scandicci moved one spot up, from second to first, with a straight-set (29-27, 25-20, 25-15) win over fourth-placed Busto Arsizio. Russian rising star Ekaterina Antropova came off the bench in the first set to lead Scandicci’s victory with an MVP performance as the 18-year-old opposite tallied a match-high 24 points with 14 kills, an impressive eight aces and two blocks.
It was the eighth consecutive victory for Scandicci, who last lost a match in the Italian League back in November 2021. Outside hitter Natalia Pereira, a Tokyo Olympic silver medallist, and Indre Sorokaite added 11 each while Busto Arsizio benefited from 18 points (17 kills, one block) by Italian opposite and the league’s top scorer Camilla Mingardi and 13 (all in kills) by Canadian outside hitter Alexa Gray.
“It wasn’t an easy match even if it may have looked that way,” said Scandicci’s coach Massimo Barbolini. “The first set was as close as it gets, in the second we had to come back from a four-point deficit and in the third, our lead was just of one or two points before we had a good run at the end. I’m proud of my team because it’s not easy to have that kind of performance against Busto and I can’t recall us winning against them 3-0 in recent years. These three points are really important for us.”
The weekend also featured two tie-breakers, with the first of them taking place in the opening match, on Saturday, with Acqua & Sapone Roma Volley Club defeating Il Bisonte Firenze 3-2 (20-25, 25-22, 21-25, 25-21, 15-12) on the road. Firenze’s 22-year-old opposite Sylvia Nwakalor was the match’s top scorer with 28 points (26 kills, two blocks), followed by Roma’s opposite and Belarus national team player Hanna Klimets, who produced 26 (17 kills, seven blocks, two aces).
The other five-setter ended with a dramatic come-from-behind road triumph (23-25, 22-25, 26-24, 25-22, 15-12) for VBC Trasporti Pesanti Casalmaggiore over Volley Bergamo on Sunday. Italian opposite Adhuoljok Malual led Casalmaggiore’s offensive efforts with 27 points (20 kills, six blocks, one ace) and was helped by Russian outside hitter Yana Shcherban, who added 19 (17 kills, one block, one ace). Bergamo had three players reaching 19 points in outside hitters Sara Loda and Khalia Lonier and middle blocker Bozana Butigan.
Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri dispatched Delta Despar Trentino in four sets (22-25, 25-22, 25-18, 25-23) with 27 points by Belgian opposite Kaja Grobelna while Bosca S. Bernardo Cuneo benefitted from 19 points from outside hitter Alice Degradi to take Megabox Ondulati Del Savio Vallefoglia down in straight sets (25-20, 25-23, 25-21) on the road.
The vivo Serie A1 Femminile will feature a single midweek match on Wednesday, when Novara and Monza meet, ahead of the weekend’s seven matches, all scheduled for Sunday.
