Numia Vero Volley Milano secured an important win on Wednesday ahead of the first Derby of the 2024-2025 Lega Volley Femminile Serie A1 Tigotà and are now tied with defending champions Prosecco Doc Imoco Conegliano at the top of the standings of the Italian League.

Playing at home, Milano defeated Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri ’76 in a match anticipated from the 13th leg of the first round of the regular season and can now turn their entire attention to Sunday’s Derby against Igor Gorgonzola Novara, which is set to start at 16:00 local time (14:00 GMT).

• Watch the Lega Volley Femminile Serie A1 Tigotà live on VBTV

Still without star opposite Paola Egonu, Milano counted on an excellent performance from French outside hitter Héléna Cazaute, who has been replacing the Olympic champion in their starting lineup, to overcome Chieri, who like them had won their first two matches of the season, 3-1 (25-20, 26-24, 25-27, 25-14).

A Paris Olympian, Cazaute led Milano’s offense with 20 points (18 kills, two aces) and received the match’s MVP award. Outside hitters Miriam Sylla, with 17 points (16 kills, one ace), and Nika Daalderop, with 16 (14 kills, two blocks), and middle blocker Laura Heyrman, with 12 (11 kills, one block), also had important roles in the team’s victory.

“We’re headed in the right direction,” Cazaute said after the match. “We’re training very well and tonight, even when we lost the third set, we fought for every ball. The atmosphere in our stadium was amazing and that can be an important factor for the season.”

For Chieri, Olympic champion outside hitter Loveth Omoruyi led the team with 19 points (14 kills, three aces, two blocks), followed by American Avery Skinner, who contributed 15 points (13 kills, two blocks).

On Sunday, Milano will have another strong opponent across the net as they will face Novara. The historical series between the teams is very close, with Novara showing 12 victories to Milano’s ten and having triumphed in their most recent meeting last season.

Conegliano also win

Defending champions Conegliano also went on the court during the week, facing Bartoccini-Mc Restauri Perugia on the road on Thursday, and triumphed 3-0 (25-14, 25-17, 25-21), getting to the same nine points in the standings as Milano.

Star Brazilian outside hitter Gabriela 'Gabi' Guimarães led Conegliano with a team-high 13 points (12 kills, one ace), one more than 18-year-old opposite Merit Adigwe. Chinese star outside hitter Zhu Ting made it to the gameday roster for the first time with the defending champions, but wasn't used by head coach Daniele Santarelli. Perugia's Hungarian opposite Anett Németh led all scorers with 16 points.

The defending champions will be back in action on Sunday, when they visit Smi Roma Volley in the Italian capital, at 16:30 local time (14:30 GMT).

The Italian League’s third leg will begin on Saturday, when Wash4Green Pinerolo host Honda Olivero Cuneo at 18:00 local time (16:00 GMT).

Lega Volley Femmnilie – Match Schedule & Results

Four other matches will be held on Sunday, with Chieri meeting Il Bisonte Firenze and Savino Del Bene Scandicci facing Perugia at 17:00 local time (15:00 GMT), Bergamo welcoming Cda Volley Talmassons Fvg at 17:30 local time (15:30 GMT) and Megabox Ondulati Savio Vallefoglia and Eurotek Uyba Busto Arsizio battling at 18:00 local time (16:00 GMT).

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