Imoco and Milano on the court in Italian League midweek action

Prosecco Doc Imoco Conegliano, Roma Volley Club, Allianz Vero Volley Milano and Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri will finally catch up with their Lega Pallavolo Femminile Serie A counterparts on Wednesday, when they will play their eighth match in the regular season.

Initially scheduled for the start of November, in the fourth round of the Italian League, the duels of Imoco vs. Roma and Milano vs. Chieri had to be postponed because of Imoco’s and Milano’s participation in the Italian Supercoppa and will finally be held on Wednesday.

• Watch Lega Pallavolo Femminile Serie A1 matches live on VBTV.

The only undefeated team in the Lega Femminile, Imoco will host Roma at 20:30 local time (19:30 GMT). The defending champions share the top of the standings with Igor Gorgonzola Novara – both teams have 21 points – and have an opportunity to create a three-point separation from their opponents.

To do that, the team of Polish setter Joanna Wołosz and Swedish opposite Isabelle Haak will need to overcome Roma, who have been getting solid results in their first season in the Italian elite, in the first-ever encounter between the teams.

The team from the Italian capital has four wins in seven matches and currently rank eighth, with ten points. They’re coming from a dramatic five-set victory over Trasportipesanti Casalmaggiore last weekend.

“Roma are one of the surprises at the start of the season,” Imoco’s head coach Daniele Santarelli said. “They had a good start and continued to get good results even after losing a key player like (Celeste) Plak. We respect them a lot, but we also want to continue to grow and give our best regardless of who’s on the other side of the net. We’re trying to use every match to give a step forward and it’s going to be important that we remain focused because opponents give everything to create problems for us.”

Lega Femminile - Match Schedule and Results

Milano can move up to third

For Milano, who have six wins in seven matches, losing only to Imoco, the match against Chieri, set to start at 19:00 local time (18:00 GMT), could help them move up to third place – they are now fourth, with 17 points and could surpass Savino Del Bene Scandicci, who are third, with 19.

Dropping the match in front of their home fans, however, could have the exact opposite effect as Chieri are right below them in the standings, with 14 points.

“Chieri have been making great progress on and off the court these last few years,” Milano’s head coach Marco Gaspari reflected. “They made several changes in their team this season but continue to have an excellent squad and only lost to Novara and Imoco, two of the best teams in the country. They’re very competitive and we’ll need to bring our best game. We played very well this past weekend, but we always aim to give another step forward.”

Milano have been vastly successful when playing Chieri, as they won 13 of the 17 duels between the teams, including the last five.

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