A pair of duels involving the top four teams in the 2025-2026 Lega Femminile Serie A1 Tigotà standings should make the tenth leg of the regular season, which is being held this weekend, the most exciting and consequential so far this season.

Even though they will not cause immediate changes in the standings, the encounters between league leaders Prosecco Doc Imoco Conegliano and second-placed Savino Del Bene Scandicci, on Sunday, and third-placed Numia Vero Volley Milano and fourth-placed Igor Gorgonzola Novara, on Saturday, have the potential to determine what these teams will be able to fight for in the remainder of the regular season.

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The tenth leg will begin with the duel between Milano and Novara, on Saturday, at 20:30 local time (19:30 UTC), and will have the highly anticipated match between Conegliano and Scandicci opening Sunday's schedule, at 16:00 (1500 UTC) - five more matches will be held that day.

The only undefeated team in the Italian League, Conegliano are clear at the top of the standings with 29 points (ten wins). Winning or losing, they will end the week ahead of second-placed Scandicci, which have 25 (nine wins, one loss), but when the final whistle blows on Sunday, their lead could be anywhere from one to seven points.

"I'm sure it will be a fantastic match," head coach Daniele Santarelli remarked. "It's the match between the first and the second, two teams that have been very consistent so far, and I hope everyone can enjoy a great game. Scandicci have incredible firepower, and we'll need to be able to understand the game and adjust to it to stop them. We have many consecutive matches at home coming up, and we'll need to manage our energy to get the best possible results."

To Scandicci, on the other hand, Sunday's match offers a rare opportunity for them to make Conegliano drop points in the regular season, something they typically don't do against lower-ranked opponents. Bringing the difference between the teams down to one point while having the benefit of playing at home when they meet again in the second round seems to represent their best chance of potentially ending the regular season at the top of the standings.

The match will present an interesting duel between two of the best opposites in international volleyball, who are both pivotal for their teams - Conegliano's Isabelle Haak, the league's third-best scorer with 184 points, and Scandicci's Olympic and world champion Ekaterina Antropova, who ranks second in the table with 205 points accumulated.

Set to represent Italy at the 2025 FIVB Women's Volleyball Club World Championship in Brazil in a few weeks, the teams have met 35 times in Italian League history, with Conegliano getting the better of Scandicci 29 times. They also triumphed in the last six encounters, and in nine of the last ten.

Milano look to close the gap

For both teams set to play on Saturday, the clear goal is to close the gap to the top of the standings. Currently in third place with 22 points (seven wins, three losses), Milano cannot move up to second even if they get a sweep because of their lower number of victories, but with the two teams ahead of them facing off and at least one of them dropping points, they have a great opportunity to get closer.

"I expect a great match as both teams have been playing at a very high level," libero Eleonora Fersino said. "We're looking forward to playing in front of 12,000 people at the Unipol Forum. We know of their quality and we need to be aggressive from the start."

Novara, which dropped a whopping nine points in their last six matches, just recently moved up to fourth place, but still appear a little behind with 18 points (six wins, three losses). They cannot pass Milano this week, but can close the gap to them, while also staying ahead of fifth-placed Reala Mutua Chieri '76, which have 17 (six wins, three losses).

A former Novara player, Paris Olympics MVP Paola Egonu is a key player for Milano and the Italian League's top scorer with 213 points - she recently became the third-highest scorer in Italian League history, with north of 6,000 points. Novara, on the other hand, rely on Japanese national team captain Mayu Ishikawa, who scored 20 points in their midweek victory over Megabox Del Savio Vallefoglia and is the team's most productive player in the season with 113 points.

They have had 24 meetings over the years in Italian League history, with Novara leading the series 14-10. They also won the last three duels and six of the most recent ten.

Lega Volley Femminile - Match Schedule & Results

Five other matches will be held on Sunday, three of which start at 17:00 local time (16:00 UTC) - ll Bisonte Firenze vs. Eurotek Laica UYBA Busto Arsizio, Wash4Green Monviso Volley vs. Bergamo and Honda Cuneo Granda Volley vs. Chieri. Vallefoglia and CBF Balducci HR Macerata will follow at 18:00 (17:00 UTC), with Bartoccini-MC Restauri Perugia and Omag-Mt San Giovanni In Marignano completing the schedule at 20:45 (19:45 UTC).

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