Unfortunately, the playoffs in Italy’s Lega Pallavolo Serie A1 Femminile will start under the shock of Thursday’s tragic death of Igor Gorgonzola Novara’s 18-year-old rising star Julia Ituma shortly after the team’s Champions League semifinal match in Istanbul. A minute of silence in her memory will be observed at all of this weekend’s matches.

The playoff race for the national title will start with the four quarterfinal series to be played in a best-of three format. The first leg of the four quarterfinals will be held this weekend, with one game taking place on Saturday and three on Sunday. Saturday’s programme will also offer the first two matches of the race for the CEV Challenge Cup quota.

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Reigning club world champions and defending Italian title-holders Prosecco Doc Imoco Conegliano, who topped the final regular season standings will open the playoffs with a home game against eighth-placed e-work Busto Arsizio on Saturday at 20:30 local time (18:30 UTC).

The last time the team from Busto Arsizio managed to beat Imoco was back in November 2015. During the seven and a half years that followed, the club from Conegliano managed to defeat their opponents 19 times in a row, including twice during the current season. In October, at home, e-work pushed Imoco to a fifth set before losing the tie-breaker. They also managed to win a set when they paid a visit to Imoco in January.

“We start the playoffs against a tough opponent who could have been further up in the standings, in my opinion, if it weren’t for the injuries,” commented Imoco’s head coach Danielle Santarelli. “We can't make mistakes. We play the first game at home, we have to start very well and we can't take any risks. From tomorrow onwards it will all be games to be played to the fullest and the team is ready to battle.”

“Playing playoffs against Conegliano is an honour and it is our duty to give everything we have against such a strong team,” said e-work’s middle blocker Giuditta Lualdi. “We have nothing to lose; predictions are made to be overturned, so we will try to carry on as long as we can, while also trying to have fun. This is something that could make the difference when you play against such strong teams.”

Regular season runners-up Savino Del Bene Scandicci will open Sunday’s competition day with a home game against seventh-placed Volley Bergamo 1991, starting at 17:00 local time (15:00 UTC), and they will be in a very good mood after winning a continental trophy, the CEV Cup, on Wednesday.

Savino Del Bene have won 14 of the previous 23 encounters with Bergamo, including twice during this regular season, 3-1 at Bergamo in December and 3-0 at home earlier this month. However, when they met in a Coppa Italia quarterfinal on January 25 at Palazzo Wanny, the visitors from Bergamo delivered a five-set upset to knock the opponents out of further contention.

“Scandicci are an opponent that we know well and they will take to the court even more energized after their CEV Cup victory,” said Bergamo’s coach Stefano Micoli. “Our first objective will be to face these matches without feeling the pressure of the playoffs, but rather with the enthusiasm for having reached this milestone. I would like to see the same spirit and the tenacity we had against Scandicci in Florence when we qualified for the Italian Cup semifinals. In short, let's have fun and fight. Let's enjoy this adventure…”

In another quarterfinal encounter on Sunday, third-placed Vero Volley Milan will entertain sixth-placed Trasportipesanti Casalmaggiore at 18:30 local (16:30 UTC).

Vero Volley lead the head-to-head series by 11 wins against Trasportipesanti’s four. Interestingly, each of the two teams managed to claim an away five-set victory at the other’s home venue during the regular season. The girls from Milan took a 3-2 win in Cremona in October and Trasportipesanti returned the favour in Monza in January. The two teams also met in the Coppa Italia quarterfinals, but then Vero Volley were merciless at home, hammering out a straight-set victory.

“We will face a Casalmaggiore team that has given us some hard time this season,” Vero Volley’s head coach Marco Gaspari pointed out. “We have to be very prepared to face an opponent who will hardly give up despite some negative results in the final part of the regular season. Casalmaggiore have quality and are aiming at the semifinal. We're starting from scratch: in this phase, the only thing that counts is winning.”

In what is likely to be the most competitive quarterfinal, fourth-placed Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri will host fifth-placed Igor Gorgonzola Novara on Sunday at 20:30 local (18:30 UTC). Reale Mutua Fenera finished higher in the standings on points (54 against 51), but Igor actually picked up more wins, 19, than their opponents from Chieri, who were victorious 18 times. As many as seven of Igor’s wins were decided in fifth-set tie-breakers.

The team from Novara lead the head-to-head series by eight wins to four, but the girls from Chieri beat them twice this regular season, 3-0 away in November and 3-1 at home in February. However, when the two teams met in a Coppa Italia quarterfinal on January 25, it was Igor that celebrated victorious at home after four sets.

The teams placed from ninth to twelfth in the regular season will also continue the battles towards a possible access to continental competition next season and will get the Challenge Cup playoffs underway on Saturday. In the first phase of the race, these four teams will engage in two best-of-three series, with the winners joining the four losers of the quarterfinal playoffs into the next stage. In the first matches, both starting at 18:00 local (16:00 UTC), ninth-placed Megabox Ondulati Del Savio Vallefoglia will host 12th-placed Wash4Green Pinerolo, while 10th-placed Il Bisonte Florence welcome 11th-placed Cuneo Granda S.Bernardo.

Lega Pallavolo Serie A1 Femminile’s Quarterfinals Leg 1 schedule:

Apr 15, 20:30 local (18:30 UTC): Prosecco Doc Imoco Conegliano v e-work Busto Arsizio

Apr 16, 17:00 local (15:00 UTC): Savino Del Bene Scandicci v Volley Bergamo 1991

Apr 16, 18:30 local (16:30 UTC): Vero Volley Milan v Trasportipesanti Casalmaggiore

Apr 16, 20:30 local (18:30 UTC): Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri v Igor Gorgonzola Novara

Lega Pallavolo Serie A1 Femminile’s Challenge Cup Playoffs Leg 1 schedule:

Apr 15, 18:00 local (16:00 UTC): Megabox Ondulati Del Savio Vallefoglia v Wash4Green Pinerolo

Apr 15, 18:00 local (16:00 UTC): Il Bisonte Florence v Cuneo Granda S.Bernardo

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