Important clashes coming up in Italy

The 19th round of the Lega Pallavolo Serie A1 Femminile regular season offers as many as three head-to-head encounters between neighbours in the standings table, a guarantee that it will be another interesting volleyball weekend in Italy. In a battle between the fifth and the fourth team, Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri will host Igor Gorgonzola Novara. Near the cut-off line for the playoffs, eighth-placed e-work Busto Arsizio will welcome seventh-placed Volley Bergamo 1991, and across the edge of the relegation zone, Wash4Green Pinerolo, who are 13th, just below the red line, will entertain Bartoccini-Fortinfissi Perugia, placed just above it.

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Both Chieri, now on 36 points, and Novara, on 38, lost their most recent league games last weekend, which means they will be eager to get back on the winning track as they meet on Saturday, February 18, at 20:00 local time (19:00 UTC). Hosts Chieri even lost their match before that and yet another loss would put them on a negative three-game series and widen the gap with the top four. Should Novara lose, on the other hand, it could mean that the top three will get further out of reach.

Igor bounced back from their heavy loss at Bergamo last weekend with a big CEV Champions League win over defending continental champions VakifBank Istanbul. Led by their American outside hitter McKenzie Adams, who earned the MVP award, and their Turkish star opposite Ebrar Karakurt, who topped the team’s scoring chart, the Italian squad secured the first place in their pool and a direct ticket to the continental quarterfinals. So as they visit Chieri, Novara will have the momentum on their side, while Belgian captain Kaja Grobelna and her teammates will have the home crowd as an additional push from the stands.

In November, Chieri produced an emphatic away shutout of Novara in their first meeting of the season, but Novara got back at their opponents, beating them in four sets in their most recent encounter in January’s Coppa Italia quarterfinals. The overall head-to-head stands at 7-3 Igor Gorgonzola’s way.

Also on Saturday, but starting at 20:30 local time (19:30 UTC), 13th-placed Pinerolo will try to shorten the distance to 12th-placed Perugia, which currently spreads to five points. Spearheaded by 19-year-old outside Beatrice Gardini, Perugia celebrated a straight-set upset of Trasportipesanti Casalmaggiore last weekend, for a breath of air in the race to avoid relegation. Rookies Pinerolo, on the other hand, are on a six-game losing streak and now find themselves in a must-win situation, if they want to save a decent shot at staying in the top division for a second season. The two teams put up a spectacular five-set battle when they first met in November. Despite a fantastic blocking performance from Pinerolo’s Anna Gray, Yasmina Akrari and Adelina Ungureanu, it was decided in favour of hosts Perugia.

A hard-fought battle is also expected on Sunday, when Busto Arsizio and Bergamo lock horns at 19:30 local time (18:30 UTC). Both teams are currently within the playoff zone, but at the very bottom of it, in eighth place on 25 points and seventh place on 28 points, respectively. Ninth-placed Il Bisonte Firenze are just a point below Busto Arsizio. When Bergamo and Busto Arsizio met in November, Brazilian opposite Lorrayna Da Silva hammered out 29 points to lead hosts Bergamo to a four-set victory over compatriot Rosamaria Montibeller and her teammates.

Bergamo are on a three-match winning streak in the league, crowning it with a four-set win over Novara on Sunday. Busto Arsizio also won their match against Megabox Ondulati Del Savio Vallefoglia last weekend, after claiming two sets at Novara the previous round. However, the Butterflies suffered a heavy straight-set home defeat at the hands of Türkiye’s THY Istanbul on Wednesday to drop out of CEV Cup contention.

The 19th round will get underway on Saturday with a game between second-placed Savino Del Bene Scandicci and bottom-of-the-table CBF Balducci HR Macerata, and will end on Tuesday with Cuneo Granda S.Bernardo welcoming the playoff candidates from Firenze.

On Sunday, table leaders Prosecco Doc Imoco Conegliano travel to Casalmaggiore, while third-placed Vero Volley Milano take a trip to Vallefoglia.

Lega Pallavolo Serie A1 Femminile’s 19th round schedule:

Feb 18, 18:00 local time (17:00 UTC): Savino Del Bene Scandicci v CBF Balducci HR Macerata

Feb 18, 20:00 local time (19:00 UTC): Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri v Igor Gorgonzola Novara

Feb 18, 20:30 local time (19:30 UTC): Wash4Green Pinerolo v Bartoccini-Fortinfissi Perugia

Feb 19, 17:00 local time (16:00 UTC): Trasportipesanti Casalmaggiore v Prosecco Doc Imoco Conegliano

Feb 19, 18:00 local time (17:00 UTC): Megabox Ondulati Del Savio Vallefoglia v Vero Volley Milano

Feb 19, 19:30 local time (18:30 UTC): e-work Busto Arsizio v Volley Bergamo 1991

Feb 21, 19:00 local time (18:00 UTC): Cuneo Granda S.Bernardo v Il Bisonte Firenze

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