Monza claim the middle against Scandicci to take control

The duel between the two best-ranked teams in the Lega Pallavolo vivo Serie A1 Femminile was decided in the middle. With Dana Rettke and Anna Danesi combining for 26 points, Vero Volley Monza swept Savino Del Bene Scandicci (25-20, 25-21, 31-29) on Saturday and are now clear at the top of the standings of the Italian women’s League.

The two teams entered the sixth round of the second leg of the season tied at the top of the standings, but Monza, contending for their first-ever national title, are now the lone leaders with 43 points (14 wins, four losses). Scandicci remained with 40 points (14 wins, four losses) and have been caught up by defending champions Prosecco Doc Imoco Volley Conegliano (14 wins, two losses).

The team coached by Marco Gaspari counted on stellar performances of both their starting middle blockers to secure a key win. Signed a month ago, 23-year-old, 2.04m-tall American Rettke had a strong showing with 14 points (13 kills, one block) and was awarded as the match’s MVP. Team captain Danesi also had a terrific performance, as the 25-year-old, 1.98m-tall Italian produced 12 points (eight kills, four blocks).

“After so many close matches recently, we certainly don’t take it for granted that we won 3-0 this time,” Danesi commented. “Our level dropped a bit in the third set, but we still managed to win it. It was great to recover from our midweek loss to Novara and the points we won tonight are obviously very important for us.”

In contrast, Scandicci’s middle blockers Ana Beatriz ‘Bia’ Correa and Sara Alberti registered just ten points together. Another important player in Monza’s triumph was Belgian opposite Lise van Hecke, who came off the bench in the second set and delivered 11 points. The match’s top scorer was Scandicci’s outside Natalia Pereira, the Brazilian Olympic silver medallist, who left the court with 17 points (14 kills, two aces, one block).

• All matches of the Italian men's and women's leagues are available to watch live or on demand on Volleyball TV.

In another key match in the weekend, Conegliano managed to move up from third to second with a straight-set (25-21, 25-21, 25-23) road victory against fifth-placed Unet E-Work Busto Arsizio.

The encounter reunited the two main scorers of the Lega Pallavolo vivo Serie A1 Femminile and Italian star Paola Egonu lived up to her reputation, nearly doubling the production of Busto Arsizio’s Camilla Mingardi (29 to 15) in her MVP performance.

Egonu had 25 kills, three blocks and one ace against Mingardi’s 13 kills, one block and one ace. The Italian national team player’s exceptional performance brought her closer to Mingardi in the season scoring stats as the difference between the two was cut to a single point (347 to 346).

Also on Saturday, fourth-placed Igor Gorgonzola Novara defeated Bosca S. Bernardo Cuneo 3-0 (25-16, 25-23, 25-19) with 17 points (11 kills, four aces, two blocks) by Turkish opposite Ebrar Karakurt, while Il Bisonte Firenze went on the road and took VBC Trasporti Pesanti Casalmaggiore down in five sets (24-26, 22-25, 25-20, 25-17, 15-10) with 23 points (17 kills, five aces, one block) by opposite Ruth Enweonwu.

The round was completed on Sunday, when Acqua & Sapone Roma Volley Club benefited from 27 points (25 kills, two blocks) by Belarusian opposite Hannah Klimets to take Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri down 3-1 (26-24, 26-24, 21-25, 25). Also in four sets (25-23, 25-18, 14-25, 25-18), Volley Bergamo defeated Bartoccini Fortinfissi Perugia with American opposite Khalia Lanier as their top scorer (19 points), and Italian setter Isabella Di Iulio as the MVP.

Russian star veteran Tatyana Koshleva shined in the final match of the weekend, leading Megabox Ondulati Del Savio Vallefoglia to a straight-set (25-19, 25-14, 25-19) road victory against Delta Despar Trentino with a 23-point performance (21 kills, one block, one ace) and MVP honours.

The Lega Pallavolo Serie A1 Femminile will feature a pair of midweek encounters on Wednesday, with Firenze playing Scandicci and Busto Arsizio meeting Cuneo, ahead of the weekend’s full round of matches.

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Lega Pallavolo Femminile Serie A1
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