Homecourt advantage played a factor in the first round of the 2024-2025 Lega Volley Femminile Serie A1 Tigotà quarterfinals as the four teams that had the support of their fans in the first match of the playoffs in Italy started their best-of-three series ahead.

The four teams with the best campings in the regular season, Prosecco Doc Imoco Conegliano, Numia Vero Volley Milano, Savino Del Bene Scandicci and Igor Gorgonzola Novara had no trouble triumphing and can book their tickets to the semifinals next weekend, when the second-round matches will be played.

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

From all four, Scandicci were the only ones to drop sets at the start of the playoffs as the third-best team in the regular season topped sixth-placed Eurotek Uyba Busto Arsizio 3-1 (25-14, 23-25, 25-144, 25-17) on Sunday at the Palazzo Wanny, in Florence.

The top scorer of the Italian League this season, Olympic champion opposite Ekaterina Antropova delivered a strong performance to start the playoffs and registered 27 points, with 24 kills and three aces. Brazilian middle blocker Ana Carolina ‘Carol’ da Silva also shone for the winning side, producing 14 points, with 12 kills and two blocks.

“Busto are a team that can create problems for anyone this season”, head coach Marco Gaspari said. “Except for the start of the second set, we played good volleyball. I thought our side out was good and our counter-attacking too. Our blocking could probably have been better, but Busto didn’t make it any easy for us either.”

Busto had their two middle blockers, Belgian Silke Van Avermaet and Italian Benedetta Sartori, producing ten points each.

Novara sweep Chieri

The first match of the playoffs, Saturday’s duel between Novara, the fourth-best team in the regular season, and Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri ’76, the fifth, was expected to be the most competitive of the weekend, but that wasn’t the case as Novara were dominant from start to finish to begin the series with an emphatic 3-0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-18) victory.

Taylor Mims and Mayu Ishikawa carried Novara’s offense, combining for 34 points, as the American opposite tallied 19 (11 kills, four blocks, four aces) and the Japanese star outside hitter contributed another 15 (13 kills, one block, one ace). Outside hitters Avery Skinner and Anne Buijs scored ten points each for Chieri.

“We’re very happy to have started the series in the best possible way, with an undisputed victory and a high-level performance,” said libero Eleonora Fersino, who was given the match’s MVP award. “I feel that everyone who stepped on the court contributed to our victory and I want to congratulate all of my teammates for their performances.”

Lega Volley Femmnilie – Match Schedule & Results

On Sunday, defending champions Conegliano continued undefeated, securing their 27^th victory in the season by downing eighth-placed Bergamo 3-0 (25-18, 25-11, 25-16) in Villorba, despite the absences of star setter Joanna Wołosz and Olympic champion middle blocker Sarah Fahr.

Japanese setter Nanami Seki, who replaced the Polish in the starting lineup, earned the MVP award, while Swedish opposite Isabelle Haak, with 18 points (ten kills, six blocks, two aces), and Olympic champion middle blocker Marina Lubian, with 11 (nine kills, two aces), led the Panthers offensively. Outside hitter Alessia Bolzonetti was the only Bergamo player to get to ten points, with nine kills and one block.

“We did a great job today,” Lubian reflected. “We needed to start the playoffs with a win and that’s what we did. We had some good and bad moments and will work on it for the upcoming matches. It’s a key moment of the season and it’s important that we are in a good place mentally now because every match matters.”

In the last match of the weekend, Milano, the second-best team in the regular season, handed seventh-placed Megabox Ondulati Savio Vallefoglia a 3-0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-16) victory to start the quarterfinals.

Star opposite Paola Egonu led the way with 17 points (13 kills, three blocks, one ace), followed by fellow Olympic champion Miriam Sylla, who delivered 13 (ten kills, three aces), and Serbian Olympian Hena Kurtagić, who produced 11, with five kills and six blocks and was the match’s MVP. American outside hitter Simone Lee scored 11 points for Vallefoglia, with nine kills and two blocks.

“Winning today was very important for us as we have the second leg of the CEV Champions League quarterfinals coming up this week and we want to avoid a third match, if possible,” setter Alessia Orro reflected. “We could have played better, but I’m happy that we managed to win the match in three sets today.”

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