Leaders enjoy prolific weekend in Italian League

A weekend of volleyball without any major upsets in Italy ended with the country’s top five teams all winning their matches and further solidifying their spots at the top of the standings in the Lega Pallavolo vivo Serie A1 Femminile.

After the conclusion of the seventh round of the second leg of the regular season, Vero Volley Monza continue at the top with 46 points (15 wins, four losses). They’re followed by Savino Del Bene Scandicci, with 45 points (16 wins, four losses), Prosecco Doc Imoco Volley Conegliano, with 43 (15 wins, two losses), Unet E-Work Busto Arsizio, with 41 (13 wins, seven losses), and Igor Gorgonzola Novara, with 40 (14 wins, two losses). Sixth-placed Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri are far behind with 29 (ten wins, seven losses).

Leaders Monza had a dominant performance against Acqua & Sapone Roma Volley Club, triumphing at home in straight sets (25-19, 25-21, 25-18) to secure their third-straight victory.

Belarusian outside hitter Anna Davyskiba led Monza’s offence with 13 points (12 kills, one ace), followed by Polish opposite Magdalena Stysiak, with 12 (all in kills), and received the match’s MVP award. The top scorer of the duel was Roma’s captain, German outside hitter Lena Stigrot, who tallied 14 (13 kills, one ace).

Second-placed Scandicci had to work harder to triumph as the team were pushed to five sets by Chieri, but pulled off a dramatic 19-25, 34-32, 25-20, 19-25, 15-11 road victory.

Russian opposite Ekaterina Antropova had another top performance as the 18-year-old rising star produced 32 points (23 kills, six aces, three blocks), twice as many as outside hitter Elena Pietrini, to take home the MVP award. Chieri’s solid match was helped by 22 points (20 kills, two blocks) by Belgian opposite Kaja Grobelna and 19 (17 kills, two blocks) by American outside hitter Alexandra Frantti.

Defending champions Conegliano needed four sets (25-23, 25-16, 23-25, 25-23), but took care of Bosca S. Bernardo Cuneo. Star opposite Paola Egonu received MVP honours after she produced 29 points (26 kills, two blocks, one ace). Cuneo’s French opposite Lucille Gicquel was the second-best scorer of the encounter, with 21 (16 kills, three aces, two blocks).

Ranked fourth, Busto Arsizio celebrated an important road victory over Il Bisonte Firenze. With match MVP and opposite Camilla Mingardi tallying 19 points (16 kills, two blocks, one ace) and Serbian middle blocker Jovana Stevanovic adding 15 (nine kills, three blocks, three aces), Busto prevailed 3-1 (25-21, 19-25, 25-18, 26-24). The match’s top scorer was Firenze’s opposite Sylvia Nwakalor, with 26 (22 kills, four aces).

Closing a prolific weekend for the top five, Novara dominated Volley Bergamo, also in four sets (25-20, 21-25, 27-25, 25-19). Turkish star opposite Ebrar Karakurt was the match’s MVP after she produced 18 points (16 kills, one block, one ace), the same amount as Bergamo’s American outside hitter Khalia Lanier.

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

The other two matches of the weekend ended with Bartoccini Fortinfissi Perugia benefiting from 20 points by opposite Bintu Diop to take Delta Despar Trentino down in five sets (22-25, 24-26, 25-20, 25-21, 15-13) and Megabox Ondulati Del Savio Vallefoglia downing VBC Trasporti Pesanti Casalmaggiore in three (25-15, 25-20, 25-15) on the back of 17 points of Russian veteran Tatiana Kosheleva.

The Lega Pallavolo vivo Serie A1 Femminile will feature four more matches during the week (three on Wednesday and one on Thursday) ahead of the weekend’s full set of encounters.

Quick links:

Lega Pallavolo SuperLega Credem Banca
Lega Pallavolo Femminile Serie A1
Volleyball TV
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