Wash4Green Pinerolo lost to defending champions Prosecco Doc Imoco Conegliano at home, but by winning two sets, they managed to secure their spot among the top eight in the current standings after the end of the first half of Italy’s 2023-2024 Lega Pallavolo Femminile Serie A Tigota regular season and, hence, book a ticket to the Coppa Italia quarterfinals. In another 12th-leg fixture over the weekend, Roma Volley Club Rome also won two sets against mighty Savino Del Bene Scandicci and consolidated their position above the red line, but stopped just short of reserving a national cup berth one leg ahead of the cut-off.
Lega Volley Femminile A1 2023
Wash4green win two sets from Imoco to book Coppa Italia spot
A recap of Italian Serie A’s 12th-leg matches
Published 08:39, 18 Dec 2023
- Watch Lega Pallavolo Femminile Serie A1 matches live on VBTV.
Wash4Green battled their way back from a set down twice during their game against Imoco to level the score and push the match to a tie-breaker, before the table leaders had their way and celebrated a narrow victory to stay undefeated and improve to a 12-0 win-loss record and 35 points on top of the standings. It was, however, the first point they dropped since the start of the season. The team from Pinerolo stayed in sixth place on 6-6 and 18 and can no longer fall below the eighth-place cut-off for the cup quarterfinals.
Imoco’s Swedish Generation O star Isabelle Haak topped the scorers’ chart of the match with 31 points, including three kill blocks, and earned the Most Valuable Player nomination. Three more players reached the double digits on the winners’ side: Khalia Lanier with 19 points, Alessia Gennari with 15 and Federica Squarcini with 12. Romanian outside hitter Adelina Budai-Ungureanu led Wash4green with 16 points, including four aces, followed by Yasmina Akrari with 14 points, Tessa Polder and Maja Storck with 12 each, and Anette Nemeth with 11.
“It was a great result that Pinerolo achieved tonight, also thanks to this great audience. The fans were a great support for us this evening,” Maja Storck said after the game. “Everything is possible at this point. We don't set any limits. We have achieved qualification for Coppa Italia and this was certainly one of our objectives. Let's continue like this…”
“It was a very complicated match for us,” MVP Haak commented. “We expected it, we knew that this was a difficult venue, but there is nothing easy in this championship. We are working as hard as we can and we will do our best to confirm the result of last season.”
Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri '76 also qualified for the cup quarterfinals over the weekend. They claimed a home win over Honda Olivera S.Bernardo Cuneo and improved to 7-5 and 22, standing fifth in the table. The team from Cuneo are in 11th place on 4-8 and 10 and no longer have a shot at the Coppa Italia. The winners’ Belgian captain Kaja Grobelna led the way with 24 points, including two aces, and took the MVP award.
Another candidate for the top eight, Roma, took a point from their visitors Savino Del Bene Scandicci, placed third in the current standings, to improve to 6-6 and 17 in seventh place, but will have to wait for the match results of the 13th leg before they can celebrate a quarterfinal berth. Led by opposite Ekaterina Antropova with 29 points, including three aces and two blocks, Savino Del Bene delivered a victory on Saturday and upped their record to 10-2 and 29.
Roma vs. Scandicci | Highlights | LVF A1 | 12a Giornata
Megabox Ondulati Del Savio Vallefoglia hammered out a home victory over 12th-placed Trasportipesanti Casalmaggiore with a 15-point match high from Camilla Mingardi and positioned themselves in eighth place on 5-7 and 16, well within reach of the coveted quarterfinal spots. Trasportipesanti dropped to 2-10 and 9.
UYBA Volley Busto Arsizio also saved their chances of making the top eight with a shutout of visiting Itas Trentino Trento (in 14th place, now on 1-11 and 2) and an improved record of 4-8 and 14 in 10th place. Martina Bracchi was the best scorer of the match with 15 points for the winners.
Meanwhile, Il Bisonte Florence suffered a heavy home defeat at the hands of second-placed Allianz Vero Volley Milan. The visitors mastered a sweep to narrow the distance to Imoco at the top to four points as they now stand on 11-1 and 31. Il Bisonte are ninth on 5-7 and 14, still with a shot at Coppa Italia. Vero Volley’s Paola Egonu was the most prolific player of that match with 16 points to her name.
Firenze vs. Milano | Highlights | LVF A1 | 12a Giornata
Fourth-placed Igor Gorgonzola Novara did not miss the opportunity to add three points to their record, now 9-3 and 27, as they visited 13th-placed Volley Bergamo 1991 (2-10 and 8) on Saturday. With 16 points from best scorer Vita Akimova, Igor delivered a victory.
The 13th leg, which will bring the first half of the regular season to a conclusion, is set to take place on Friday, December 22, and Saturday, December 23.
