Reverse sweep over Firenze places Bergamo in the Italian League playoffs

The 12th and penultimate leg of the second round of the 2025-2026 Lega Femminile Serie A1 Tigotà regular season was completed on Sunday, bringing a pair of important decisions in the Italian League.

While Bergamo left the court celebrating their qualification for the playoffs, Bartoccini-Mc Restauri Perugia couldn't avoid relegation and are the first team confirmed to go down. The eighth and last team to make it to the postseason and the second side that will play in the second division will be known next weekend, when the regular season will be concluded.

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Bergamo had the chance to confirm their presence in the postseason with one leg to spare on Sunday, in a direct duel with Il Bisonte Firenze, and after dropping the first two sets, found strength from within to turn things around and complete a dramatic reverse sweep, triumphing 3-2 (17-25, 24-26, 25-18, 25-21, 15-11) to delight their fans.

With the victory, they reached 33 points (nine wins, 16 losses) and are guaranteed to finish the regular season in seventh place, ahead of both Firenze (28) and Eurotek Laica UYBA Busto Arsizio (27), the two teams competing for the last spot in the playoffs.

With 13 points (12 kills, one block) produced off the bench, American outside hitter Jenny Mosser was critical in Bergamo's comeback and earned the match's MVP award. Another American, opposite Kendall Kipp, led the team's offense with 14 points (ten kills, four blocks).

"It was an intense match," Mosser said. "It's not easy to trail the entire time, but we were strong and never gave up. The last points sum up what the match was, and I'm very happy that we managed to win it."

Firenze's Dutch outside hitter Jolien Knollema topped all scorers with 24 points (22 kills, two blocks).

Currently in eighth place, Firenze will play fifth-placed Igor Gorgonzola Novara in the last match of the regular season and will need to win to qualify regardless of other results.

The only team capable of catching them, ninth-placed Busto will be on the road against Omag-Mt San Giovanni In Marignano. With Firenze's defeat, they could have passed them and entered the qualification zone this weekend, but lost to third-placed Numia Vero Volley Milano 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-14) at home on Saturday and will enter the last and decisive leg behind.

Perugia go down after losing to Conegliano

At the bottom of the standings, Perugia had a difficult task in hand to avoid relegation, and they couldn't deliver it. The team put up a good fight, but lost to league leaders and defending champions Prosecco Doc Imoco Conegliano 3-1 (25-18, 21-25, 25-17, 26-24) on the road and will return to the Italian second division in 2026-2027.

With Peurgia, which have 15 points, confirmed to go down, four other teams - CBF Balducci HR Macerata (21 points), Wash4Green Monviso Volley (21), Honda Cuneo Granda Volley (22) and San Giovanni (23) - will enter the last leg still involved in the fight against relegation.

San Giovanni, which on Sunday lost to fourth-placed Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri '76 3-0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-23), will need two points against Busto next weekend to avoid returning to the relegation zone.

Cuneo took a big step to confirm their permanence in the Italian elite this weekend, beating Novara 3-2 (25-23, 19-25, 18-25, 25-23, 15-13) on the road, and now need another win over sixth-placed Megabox Ondulati Del Savio Vallefoglia to continue in the first division regardless of other results.

The first team outside the qualification zone in 12th place, Monviso earned a valuable point this weekend in a 3-2 (25-23, 23-25, 23-25, 26-24, 15-11) loss to Vallefoglia and now need to earn three points against Conegliano in the decisive leg to make sure they will end the regular season ahead of Macerata.

Inside the qualification zone in 13th place after going down in straight sets (25-15, 25-20, 25-17) to second-placed and reigning world champions Savino Del Bene Scandcci, Macerata need to earn points against Bergamo next weekend and hope that one of their three competitors doesn't do the same.

Lega Volley Femminile - Match Schedule & Results

The 13th and final leg of the second round of the Italian League regular season will have all seven matches starting simultaneously at 20:30 local time (19:30 UTC) next Saturday.

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