Novara and Casalmaggiore ready for round two

The second weekend of the 2023-2024 Lega Pallavolo Femminile Serie A will bring several duels between Italian clubs that will be happening for the first time in the season, but that won’t be the case for Igor Gorgonzola Novara and Trasportipesanti Casalmaggiore.

Set to face each other on Sunday at 17:00 local time (19:00 UTC), the teams will meet for the second time in just three days as they battled on Thursday in a CEV Challenge Cup match. A third encounter between them is scheduled for next Thursday, in the second leg of their Challenge Cup series.

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

Novara, who won the Challenge Cup first-leg duel in three sets, will be at home again on Sunday in the Lega Femminile and will be looking to get their second win in the season following a road sweep of Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri last weekend.

“Playing the same opponent three times in a week so early in the season creates some sorts of difficulties for both teams,” middle blocker Ludovica Guidi said. “It takes a lot of determination as both sides are still getting in rhythm and in every match, we have the opportunity of making adjustments based on the previous encounters. For us, besides getting good results, the goal is to continue to grow as a team.”

Casalmaggiore, who lost the first battle of the three-match duel, will already be looking to implement some changes this weekend. The team was upset by Volley Bergamo at home in the opening weekend of the Italian League and will try to do the same to Novara on Sunday.

“Novara are really strong and have players with technical and physical skills that makes of them difficult opponents, but I feel like we let an opportunity slip away in the first match,” outside hitter Emma Cagnin reflected. “We were ahead in the first two sets, but couldn’t keep the same level at the end of sets and allowed them to come back, so that’s one thing that we need to do better this time. This first match showed it’s not impossible for us to beat them, but we’ll need to do something more for it to happen.”

Lega Femminile - Match Schedule and Results

The Lega Femminile weekend begins on Saturday, with two matches – Honda Olivero S. Bernardo Cuneo vs. Prosecco Doc Imoco Conegliano, at 18:30 local time (20:30 UTC), and Itas Trentino vs. Allianz Vero Volley Milano, at 20:30 local time (22:30 UTC).

On Sunday, three other matches begin at 17:00 local time (19:00 UTC) – Volley Bergamo vs. Megabox Ondulati Savio Vallefoglia, Uyba Volley Busto Arsizio vs. Savino Del Bene Scandicci and Roma Volley Club vs. Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri – and one at 19:30 local time (21:30 UTC) – Il Bisonte Firenze vs. Wash4Green Pinerolo.

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Lega Pallavolo Femminile Serie A1
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