Monza, Novara and Conegliano get room to breathe at the top

The three top-ranked teams in the Lega Pallavolo vivo Serie A1 Femminile ended the weekend with a small, but important lead over the rest of the pack as Vero Volley Monza, Igor Gorgonzola Novara and Prosecco Doc Imoco Volley Conegliano are now at least four points ahead of their next opponents with the regular season approaching its end.

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After winning their weekend matches and adding three points each, the teams remain clear at the top with Monza in the lead with 53 points (17 wins, five losses), followed by Novara with 52 (18 wins, two losses) and Conegliano with 51 (18 wins, three losses).

Fourth-placed Savino Del Bene Scandicci (47) and fifth-placed Unet E-Work Busto Arsizio (44) would now each need multiple positive results to overtake them with only four full rounds and a few postponed matches to be played before the end of the regular season.

A pair of matchups involving those teams were instrumental to the current scenario, most notably Novara’s 3-1 (25-18, 20-25, 25-18, 25-12) victory over Busto Arsizio. Following a remarkable mid-week victory over Conegliano, the team coached by Stefano Lavarini are now undefeated in eight matches.

Italy national team outside hitter Catarina Bosetti led the way with 20 points (18 kills, one block, one ace) and received the match MVP award. She was helped by Turkish star opposite Ebrar Karakurt, who scored 15 (13 kills, one block, one ace). Busto’s top scorer was Canada national team outside hitter Alexa Gray with 19 points (18 kills, one ace).

“We’ve been working very hard every day and this winning streak has been even more important because some of our victories were against direct opponents,” American Olympic champion setter Micha Hancock reacted. “Busto played great defence and we had to be very patient to score points. We managed to play faster in the fourth set and that helped us have some good runs.”

Defending champions Conegliano bounced back from their mid-week loss and also scored a key victory against a direct rival. With their 3-1 (20-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-22) win over Scandicci, the Panthers not only successfully defended their third-place but also kept their opponents four points behind them in the standings.

Star opposite Paola Egonu topped the scorers with 27 points (25 kills, two aces), but it was outside hitter Miriam Sylla, who entered the match in the second set and left the court with nine (seven kills, two blocks), who was picked as the MVP. Scandicci’s most productive player was Russian opposite Ekaterina Antropova, who tallied 19 points (16 kills, two aces, one block).

Monza entered the weekend needing a clean victory to remain at the top and got exactly that in their 25-23, 25-21, 25-20 sweep of Bosca S. Bernardo Cuneo. Polish opposite Magdalena Stysiak registered 22 points (20 kills, two aces) in her MVP performance.

The match also featured the debut of Tokyo Olympics MVP Jordan Larson with Monza. The 35-year-old American, who arrived in Italy during the past week, played the entire third set and left the court with seven points (six kills, one ace).

“It was fantastic – a great atmosphere and a great victory for us,” she said after the match. “I’m very thankful to the team for welcoming me so well and to be on the court after just two days of practise. We played great and it made my debut even sweeter. I hope we continue this way.”

There were also important results in the lower portion of the standings, with the fight to avoid the bottom two spots, which result in relegation to the country’s second division, getting more intense as the clock continues to tick.

Ranked 13th and 14th respectively in the 14-team league, Volley Bergamo and Delta Despar Trentino secured important wins which they hope will ignite a reaction as the season approaches its end. Bergamo were dominant against 12th-placed Acqua & Sapone Roma, claiming a straight-set (25-23, 31-29, 25-19) victory, while Trentino upset VBC Trasporti Pesanti Casalmaggiore on the road in five sets (18-25, 21-25, 25-22, 25-18, 15-10).

Currently, six teams are heavily threatened by relegation – Megabox Ondulati Del Savio Vallefoglia (19 points – six wins, 15 losses), Casalmaggiore (19 points – six wins, 15 losses), Bartoccini Fortinfissi Perugia (17 points – five wins, 13 losses), Roma (16 points – six wins, 15 losses), Bergamo (16 points – five wins, 15 losses) and Trentino (16 points – four wins, 18 losses).

There will be two matches on Wednesday – Bergamo v. Il Bisonte Firenze and Perugia v. Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri – ahead of next weekend’s full set of encounters.