Cuneo and Bergamo in a direct battle to avoid relegation

The fight to avoid relegation will be a major topic in the 2023-2024 Lega Pallavolo Femminile Serie A Tigotà when the matches of the fourth leg of the second round of the regular season are held this weekend.

With just ten more matches for each team before the end of the regular season, four clubs are heavily involved in the dispute that will end with the two lowest-ranked teams of the Italian League relegated to the country’s second division next season.

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Ranked right above the red line in 11^th and 12^th places, Honda Olivero S. Bernardo Cuneo (13 points, five wins) and Volley Bergamo 1991 (12 points, three wins) will play each other on Sunday, at 17:00 local time (16:00 GMT) in a match that could strongly impact the race for a spot in the country’s elite.

For both teams, getting a win would not only mean adding three more points and seeing the bottom of the standings from a safer distance, but also preventing a direct opponent from collecting any in a critical weekend of the season.

Cuneo, who will be at home, are going through a difficult moment in the season, having won just one of their last seven matches and entering this weekend’s encounter after back-to-back defeats.

“These head-to-head matches are very important and every weekend we are involved in a battle for better places in the standings,” Cuneo’s German outside hitter Lena Stigrot said. “Bergamo will come here with the same goals and the same motivation as us, so we expect a tough battle. The keys for us will be to avoid mistakes and to remain focused on the gameplan. Despite the bad results, we had some good performances as of late and I’m confident we’ll take advantage of the home factor to secure some valuable points.”

Bergamo enter the match in a similar form after they got a win in their last six matches. A victory, however, would move them above Cuneo, giving the visitors more calm to approach the final weeks of the regular season.

“We all need to be aware of the importance of this match,” American opposite Audriana Fitzmorris commented. “Last week, against Firenze, we had a good performance, but also a lot of ups and downs and we missed the opportunity of collecting more points. We need to play with the intensity we had in the first two sets of that match and work for every ball, until the end. If the opponents are better than us, fine, but we can't give up.”

When the teams met in the first round of the regular season, back in October, Cuneo rallied to secure a dramatic five-set road win. That was, actually, the fourth-straight match between the teams that needed a tie-breaker to be decided, with each side triumphing in half of them.

Trentino to visit Firenze

In a critical condition in the standings, 14^th-placed Itas Trentino (four points, one win) will have a tough match this weekend, facing seventh-placed Il Bisonte Firenze (21 points, eight wins) on the road on Sunday at 17:00 local time (16:00 GMT).

Lega Femminile - Match Schedule and Results

Ranked right above them in 13^thplace, Trasportipesanti Casalmaggiore (11 points, three wins), will also have a big challenge, facing third-placed Savino Del Bene Scandicci (38 points, 13 wins) at home on Sunday, at 21:00 local time (20:00 GMT).

The weekend schedule in Italy will begin on Saturday, when Wash4Green Pinerolo and Megabox Ondulati Savio Vallefoglia play each other at 20:30 local time (19:30 GMT). On Sunday, Roma Volley Club host Prosecco Doc Imoco Conegliano at 17:00 local time (16:00 GMT), Igor Gorgonzola Novara welcome Uyba Volley Busto Arsizio at the same time and Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri face Allianz Vero Volley Milano at 19:30 local time (18:30 GMT).

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