Lega Volley Femminile A1 2023

Stars ready to shine as Imoco and Scandicci open Lega Finals

Watch the opening match of the Scudetto Finals live on VBTV on Wednesday

Published 01:38, 16 Apr 2024

Imoco Scandicci 1604

Imoco's Haak and Scandicci's Antroprova will have major roles in the decisive series (Photo: LVF)

There are only two teams still standing in the battle for the title of the 2023-2024 Lega Pallavolo Femminile Serie A Tigotà and Prosecco Doc Imoco Conegliano and Savino Del Bene Scandicci are ready to start the series that will determine this season’s Italian champions.

Defending champions Imoco will be at home in the first of the five duels scheduled to happen over the next 13 days, hosting Scandicci at the Palaverde, in Villorba, on Wednesday, at 20:30 local time (18:30 GMT), in the opening match of their best-of-five series.

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

After winning the last five editions of the Italian League, Imoco are looking for their seventh national title, having also triumphed in 2015-2016. The Panthers are set to extend their supremacy in the country and to continue their quest to become the winningest team in Italian women’s volleyball – they’re currently behind Teodora Pallavollo Ravenna, with 11 titles, and Volley Bergamo, with eight.

Imoco were flawless during the regular season in Italy, completing their schedule with an undefeated campaign of 26 wins to enter the playoffs as the top-seeded team. They had no trouble handling Roma Volley Club in two matches in the quarterfinals, but were defeated for the first time in almost a year in the semifinals before eliminating Igor Gorgonzola Novara 2-1.

Ranked third among the Italian League’s top scorers, Swedish opposite Isabelle Haak has been Imoco’s main offensive weapon this season – she has 544 points scored in the team’s campaign and 105 of them were registered in the last five playoff matches.

Appearing in third place in aces with 43, nine more than Haak, middle blocker Marina Lubian is also well-positioned in the individual statistics.

It will be our first time playing Scandicci in the Finals and they are a different team this year. They have some amazing champions, players who have made and continue to make history in volleyball and it will be very exciting for me personally to play against Maja (Ognjenović). I expect an unpredictable series and I’m happy we have every player available because we’ll need them. Starting at home will be important and playing at the Palaverde this season has been a fantastic experience. Joanna Wolosz – Imoco’s setter

Scandicci to make Finals debut

Scandicci are already enjoying a historic season as the team from the Firenze region has advanced to the Scudetto Finals for the first time after eight seasons in the Italian elite. Entering this campaign, they had third-place finishes in 2017-2018, 2018-2019 and 2022-2023 as their best results.

Undefeated in their last nine matches, Scandicci finished second in the Italian League regular season with 22 wins and four losses and have been in great form in the playoffs, knocking Megabox Ondulati Savio Vallefoglia and Allianz Vero Volley Milano out in two matches, with just one set dropped across the four encounters.

Italian national team opposite Ekaterina Antropova is the second-best scorer in the Italian League with 587 points and leads the way in aces, with 74. Brazilian middle blocker Ana Carolina ‘Carol’ da Silva is sixth among the blockers, with 67.

One of the team’s most experienced players, Chinese star outside hitter Zhu Ting has scored 90 points in the team’s last five matches.

Every team enters the season with the goal of playing in the Finals, and us even more, as Scandicci had never done it, so we'll approach the series with great enthusiasm. We got here in good condition and with a huge desire to do well. We know how strong Imoco are, having won the last five Italian titles and over 40 matches this season, but we need to face them with our chins up. Massimo Barbolini - Scandicci's head coach

Imoco have been historically successful against Scandicci, having triumphed in 24 of the 29 encounters held between the teams in the last decade. The Panthers have triumphed in 17 of the last 18 duels, with Scandicci getting its lone win in the period during the regular season of last year’s Italian League.

Lega Femminile - Match Schedule and Results

After the opening match on Wednesday, the series will then move to Firenze on April 20 and return to Villorba four days later. If needed, matches four and five will be played in Firenze on April 27 and in Villorba on April 30.

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