One thing is certain when Numia Vero Volley Milano and Il Bisonte Firenze meet on Wednesday, at 20:30 local time (18:30 GMT), in the fifth leg of the 2024-2025 Lega Volley Femminile Serie A1 Tigotà – hitters from both sides will need to work extra hard to score points.

Both ranked inside the top three in the Italian League when it comes to scoring blocking points, the teams also have the two best-ranked players in that skill in the entire tournament, Milano’s Anna Danesi and Firenze’s Božana Butigan.

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Milano, who are second in the standings with 12 points (four wins, one loss), and Firenze, who rank seventh with six points (two wins, two losses), have been making of their blocking power one of their main weapons to win matches.

The team coached by head coach Stefano Lavarini leads the league in blocks, having registered 55 stops in their first five matches of the season. Firenze have exactly the same average of block points per match (11), having tallied 44 stuffs in four encounters, and rank third.

Much of Milano’s production at the net comes from their main signing for the season, Italian national team captain Anna Danesi, who leads the Lega Femminile in blocks with 20. The 28-year-old middle blocker has been in great form, having registered seven stops in the team’s last two matches.

Milano enter Wednesday’s match going through some instability as they dropped their first match in the season to Igor Gorgonzola Novara two weeks ago and struggled to beat 14^th-placed Honda Olivero Cuneo in the tie-breaker last Sunday.

“We don’t have a lot of time to stop and think about what happened, we need to prepare for Firenze,” Lavarini said after Sunday’s encounter. “They are a young team with great potential and that plays with a lot of enthusiasm. They’ve created problems for every opponent and got some good results. For this match, besides preparing well from a tactical standpoint, we’ll also need to make sure we recover our energy after playing five sets against Cuneo.”

One of the young players mentioned by Lavarini is middle blocker Butigan, who joined Firenze this season after solid campaigns with Prosecco Doc Imoco Conegliano and Bergamo. The 24-year-old Croatian has been able to make a major impact at the net, ranking second in the Italian League with 14 blocks, eight of which were registered in the team’s opening match against Megabox Ondulati Savio Vallefoglia.

On the occasion, her performance was instrumental to help Firenze claim one of their two victories in the season – the team also triumphed last weekend, sweeping Wash4Green Pinerolo on Saturday.

First match on Tuesday

The first match of the fifth leg of the Lega Femminile will take place on Tuesday, with tenth-placed Pinerolo hosting 13^th-placed Bartoccini-Mc Restauri Perugia at 20:30 local time (18:30 GMT).

Lega Volley Femmnilie – Match Schedule & Results

On Wednesday, four other matches will start at the same time of the duel between Milano and Firenze – Novara vs. Cuneo, Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri ’76 vs. Eurotek Uyba Busto Arsizio, Smi Roma Volley vs. Bergamo and Savino Del Bene Scandicci vs. Cda Volley Talmassons Fvg.

A few minutes later, at 20:45 local time (18:45 GMT), Vallefoglia will welcome league leaders Prosecco Doc Imoco Conegliano in Pesaro.

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