Novara Milano

The duel between title contenders Milano and Novara tends to be the most exciting in the Italian League this weekend

The SuperLega Credem Banca playoffs continue at full pace and, with two legs of the best-of-five quarterfinal round taking place in a five-day period, it’s possible that all semifinalists could be determined by the end of the week.

Other national leagues, such as the Lega Pallavolo Serie A1 Femminile, the Brazilian and the Polish leagues are also getting to the end of their regular seasons, meaning that every match has a huge influence in terms of playoff qualification.

The CEV Champions League is also entering the hottest moment of its calendar and over the next three days, we’ll find out who are the four clubs that remain in contention for the women’s title in the 2022-2023 season.

On the sand, the Beach Pro Tour remains in Mexico, but the stakes are higher now, with the second Elite16 tournament of the 2023 season taking place in Tepic and attracting all of the top teams on the planet.

There’s a lot to look out for and here are the highlights of another busy week in volleyball:

Tuesday

CEV Women’s Champions League: Vero Volley Milano vs. VakifBank Istanbul – 20:00 local time (19:00 UTC)

The first semifinalist of the CEV Women’s Champions League will be determined with Italy’s Vero Volley Milano and Türkiye’s defending champions VakifBank Istanbul meeting in the second leg match of their quarterfinal series in Italy – the Turkish won the first leg at home 3-0. While the Italians advanced to the quarterfinals directly after winning Pool B, VakifBank had to go through the first round of the playoffs, where they eliminated Poland’s ŁKS Commercecon ŁÓDŹ.

Wednesday

Beach Pro Tour Tepic Elite16 – Mexico

Watch on VBTV

After an extraordinary event in La Paz, the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour continues in Mexico for another week as the country now hosts an Elite16 tournament in Tepic. Running from Wednesday to Sunday, the event will offer some valuable Olympic Ranking points for the teams involved and will feature some of the top duos in the world, such as reigning world champions and FIVB World Ranking leaders Anders Mol/Christian Sørum of Norway and Eduarda ‘Duda’ Lisboa/Ana Patricia Ramos of Brazil.

SuperLega Credem Banca – Quarterfinals Round 2 – 20:30 local time (19:30 UTC)

Watch on VBTV

The second leg of the four best-of-five quarterfinal series of the SuperLega Credem Banca will have all duels taking place simultaneously in the middle of the week. Sir Safety Susa Perugia, Itas Trentino, Valsa Group Modena and WithU Verona, who won the first encounters, will try to secure another victory and get one step closer to the semifinals while Allianz Milano, Vero Volley Monza, Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza and Cucine Lube Civitanova attempt to level their series.

Thursday

CEV Women’s Champions League

The quarterfinals of the CEV Women’s Champions League will be concluded on Thursday, with two duels that will determine the final two semifinalists. The two Turkish teams involved in the matches of the day have an advantage in their series, as Eczacibasi Dynavit Istanbul will host Developres Rzeszów after beating their opponents in Poland and Fernerbahce Opet Istanbul will go on the road against Italy’s Prosecco Doc Imoco Conegliano after winning their home match.

Friday

Brazilian Women’s Superliga – Dentil Praia Clube vs. Barueri Volleyball Club – 19:00 local time (22:00 UTC)

Brazilian Women’s Superliga leaders Dentil Praia Clube make their final regular season match at home against eighth-placed Barueri Volleyball Club. This duel could be a preview of the first round of the playoffs should Barueri maintain their position for another week. Praia have a star-studded roster with middle blocker Ana Carolina ‘Carol’ da Silva and the Dominican Martínez sister Brayelín and Jineiry while Barueri’s main star is three-time Olympic champion head coach José ‘Zé Roberto’ Guimarães.

Saturday

SuperLega Credem Banca: Itas Trentino vs. Vero Volley Monza - 20:30 local time (19:30 UTC)

Watch on VBTV

The duel between second-placed Itas Trentino and seventh-placed Vero Volley Monza will open the third round of the quarterfinals of the SuperLega Credem Banca, with the series returning to Trento, where it started on Sunday. The other three encounters will all be played on Sunday.

Turkish Men’s Efeler Ligi – Ziraat Bankasi vs. Halkbank Ankara – 18:00 local time (15:00 UTC)

The top two teams in the Turkish Men’s Efeler Ligi, Ankara rivals Halkbank and Ziraat Bankasi will meet with the first place in the standings in play. Both teams have won 19 matches so far in the regular season, but Halkbank have a one-point advantage (55 to 54) and one game in hand. Ziraat, who had the addition of Italian star Osmany Juantorena last month, won the encounter between the two sides in the first round of the season and will need to do it again to move up to first place.

Halkbank

CEV Champions League semifinalists Halkbank will try to retain the top spot in the Turkish League (Photo: CEV)

Sunday

Lega Pallavolo Serie A1 Femminile: Igor Gorgonzola Novara vs. Vero Volley Milano – 17:00 local time (16:00 UTC)

Watch on VBTV

Two of the top teams in the Lega Pallavolo Serie A1 Femminile, Igor Gorgonzola Novara and Vero Volley Milano will clash in the 11th leg of the second round of the Italian season. Although the fourth-placed Novara (45 points, 17 wins) cannot catch the third-placed Milano (52 points, 17 wins) this weekend, a victory in front of their home fans could bring the difference between the teams down to four points with two more matches to be played before the end of the regular season.

Monday

Polish Men’s PlusLiga – PGE Skra Bełchatów vs. Indykpol AZS Olsztyn – 19:30 local time (18:30 UTC)

Currently sitting outside the qualification zone for the playoffs of the Polish PlusLiga, nine-time national champions PGE Skra Bełchatów have a critical home match against Indykpol AZS Olsztyn. With 39 points (11 wins), Bełchatów are currently in ninth place and desperately need to overcome their opponents and improve to 42 points, getting only one behind eight-placed PSG Stal Nysa S.A. ahead of the final weekend of the regular season.