The Lega Pallavolo Serie A1 Femminile’s 18th round, played from Saturday through Monday in Italy, produced a number of surprising results. On Sunday, Bartoccini-Fortinfissi Perugia, Il Bisonte Firenze and Volley Bergamo 1991 all claimed wins against teams placed higher in the table to add three points to their totals.
Legavolley Femminile A1 - 2022
Perugia, Firenze and Bergamo produce big upsets in Italy
The top three in the standings widen the gap at the top
Published 07:58, 14 Feb 2023
Perugia’s Galkowska spikes past Casalmaggiore’s block
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Twelfth-placed Perugia faced few issues in shutting out sixth-placed Trasportipesanti Casalmaggiore to claim a 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-22) home victory, improve to 12 points and a 4-14 win-loss record, and move further away from the relegation zone. Spiking at a success rate of 65%, 19-year-old outside hitter Beatrice Gardini contributed 16 points (including one ace) towards the win and earned the Most Valuable Player award. Captain Anastasia Guerra scored 13 points (2 aces), while Polish opposite Monika Galkowska added another 12 (1 block). American outside Alexandra Frantti was Casalmaggiore’s best scorer with 13 points.
“We redeemed ourselves with respect to the first match, which ended with the same result, but in their favour. It was a sort of revenge, not so much towards them, but towards how we had approached that game,” said Perugia’s middle blocker Linda Nwakalor. "We were generally good, apart from the second set, when we started slow, but then we were also good in recovering. I am confident about the continuation of the season because we have a lot of anger and desire for redemption.”
Cassalmaggiore stayed in sixth place, on 28 and 9-9, but now it is only the set ratio that separates them from seventh-placed Bergamo, who claimed their third consecutive win in the league. Bergamo delivered a 3-1 (25-21, 25-20, 14-25, 25-19) home victory over fourth-placed Igor Gorgonzola Novara, who are now four points away from the third place, on 38 and 14-4. American outside Khalia Lanier led the way with 23 points, all in attack at a 58% success rate, to take the MVP nomination. Brazilian opposite Lorrayna Da Silva (11 points) and 34-year-old middle blocker and captain Federica Stufi (10) also reached double digits in scoring. So did Novara’s Turkish star Ebrar Karakurt (16 points) and Italian outside Caterina Bosetti (15).
“We made a great team effort!” Lanier commented after the match. “I'm really happy, because we played a great match and now we want to keep surprising and being amazed. Our goal is to finish in the top eight at the end of the regular season.”
Firenze on the other hand mastered their fourth league win in a row to stay close to the top eight in the race for the playoffs. The ninth-placed team from Florence improved to 24 and 8-10 after a 3-0 (25-16, 25-14, 26-24) sweep of visiting Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri, fifth in the standings, now on 36 and 12-6. With a 56% success rate in reception, Firenze’s libero Sara Panetoni was named MVP of the match. Belgian outside Britt Herbots and Italian opposite Sylvia Nwakalor led the scorers with 16 and 15 points, respectively.
“Compliments must be made to the girls, because they were very good in approaching the match and in interpreting it at their best, especially in the third set when Chieri raised the level and we kept going. At that moment it seemed that the momentum could go to the other side. Instead, we were good at two very important points,” said Firenze’s head coach Carlo Parisi. “It goes without saying that we are all happy, but I say 'feet on the ground and let's continue like this', because now we have two very important matches against Cuneo and Vallefoglia. We have to stay focused, and now we have the positive energy to go back to the gym and keep working and improving."
The four remaining matches did not produce any upsets. In Saturday’s weekend opener, third-placed Vero Volley Milano hammered out a 3-0 (25-14, 25-23, 25-21) away victory over bottom-placed CBF Balducci HR Macerata, with setter and captain Alessia Orro claiming the MVP award. Milano improved to 42 and 14-4, widening the distance to Novara to four points.
On Sunday, defending champions and table leaders Prosecco Doc Imoco Conegliano continued their winning run, pleasing the home crowd at the Pala Verde with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-14) shutout of Cuneo Granda S.Bernardo to reach 49 points and a 17-1 win-loss record. The game’s best scorer, American outside Kathryn Plummer (15 points) was named MVP.
Second-placed Savino Del Bene Scandicci also added three points to their record. They closed the round on Monday with a 3-1 (25-18, 23-25, 25-22, 25-16) home victory over Wash4Green Pinerolo. The MVP nomination went to their outside hitter Sara Alberti, who shared the team’s top scorer honours (14 points each) with 19-year-old Russian prodigy Ekaterina Antropova. Scandicci upped their record to 45 and 14-4.
Finally, in a direct clash between two teams near the cut-off line for the playoffs, e-work Busto Arsizio made sure to keep Megabox Ondulati Del Savio Vallefoglia at bay for now with a 3-0 (25-18, 27-25, 25-12) sweep. The win helped the Butterflies stay above the line, in eighth place on 25 and 8-10, five points above 10th-placed Vallefoglia (20, 7-11). Busto Arsizio’s American setter Carli Lloyd was honoured as the MVP of the match.
The 19th round will begin on Saturday and end next Tuesday.
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
