Imoco and Milano gearing up for exciting Supercoppa battle

The first title of the 2023-2024 Italian club season will be in play in less than ten days as reigning national champions Prosecco Doc Imoco Conegliano and rivals Allianz Vero Volley Milano are ready to meet in the Italian Women’s Supercoppa on October 28.

The 28^th edition of the event will take place at the Modigliani Forum, in Livorno, starting at 17:30 local time (19:30 UTC), and will reunite the two most successful clubs in the 2022-2023 season as Imoco won the Lega Pallavolo Femminile Serie A, the Italian Cup and the Supercoppa, having Milano as their runners-up in the first two tournaments.

• Watch the Italian Women's Supercoppa live on VBTV.

Imoco have been highly successful at the Supercoppa, having won six of the last seven editions of the event and finished second once, in 2017-2018. The winningest team in the country over the last decade, they will be looking to add another trophy to their cabinet early in the season.

In order to prevail in Livorno, the Panthers will count on the star power of their strong squad, which counts on the likes of Polish setter Joanna Wolosz, Swedish opposite Isabelle Haak, Italian libero Monica De Gennaro and American outside hitter Kelsey Cook.

“I grew up in Pombino, which is very close, and can’t wait to play the Supercoppa in Livorno,” said middle blocker Sarah Fahr. “The structure of our team has remained the same, but it will probably take a few matches for us to find our best rhythm. Milano have strengthened a lot and this match will be incredibly difficult, as were the Italian League Finals last season. But we’ll try and achieve our goals.”

Milano will make just their second Supercoppa appearance after finishing fifth in 2020-2021, when the tournament featured 12 clubs. The team had its best-ever season since joining the Italian elite in 2022-2023, with second-place finishes at both the Lega Femminile and the Italian Cup and a fifth at the CEV Champion League.

Looking to go even further this season and win their first title among the Italian elite, they made the biggest signing of the offseason in the country, bringing star opposite Paola Egonu back to Italy to join a strong core that already included setter Alessia Orro and outside hitter Myriam Sylla.

“I think that if these two teams are at full strength, it’s going to be a great battle,” middle blocker Laura Heyrman commented. “Imoco have several great players but are also very strong collectively, so this is something we need to be aware of.”

Imoco have been dominant in the matches against Milano, having won 27 of the 32 encounters held between the teams since 2016. The defending champions also triumphed in eight of the ten most recent duels, including three in their epic best-of-five series in the 2022-2023 Lega Femminile Finals.

Before battling in the Supercoppa, the Italian giants will both be in action in the Lega Femminile this weekend – Imoco will go on the road against Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri on Saturday, at 18:00 local time (20:00 UTC), while Milano will host Savino Del Bene Scandicci on Sunday, at 17:30 local time (19:30 UTC).

Quick links:
Lega Pallavolo Femminile Serie A1
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