The favourites won all of the playoff matches in Italy’s Lega Pallavolo Serie A1 Femminile that took place over the weekend, but the first game of the best-of-three quarterfinal between Vero Volley Milan and Trasportipesanti Casalmaggiore offered a hard-fought battle that was decided after five sets over well over two hours of play. One of the matches, between Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri and Igor Gorgonzola Novara, was postponed to Wednesday (April 19, 20:30 local time / 18:30 UTC) because of Thursday’s tragic death of Igor’s 18-year-old outside hitter Julia Ituma, in whose memory a minute of silence was observed at all matches over the weekend.

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Twice in the match in Monza on Sunday, the home favourites took a one-set lead before the visitors from Casalmaggiore struck back to level the score. Finally, Vero Volley dominated the tie-breaker to celebrate a 3-2 (25-19, 22-25, 25-20, 18-25, 15-12) victory and edge forward in the series. It was the third time this league season the two teams push their duels to five sets, after Vero Volley won by 3-2 away in Cremona and Trasportipesanti paid back the favour in Monza during the regular season.

Vero Volley’s Polish Generation O opposite Magdalena Stysiak contributed 24 points (including an ace and two blocks) to her team’s success and topped the scorers’ chart of the match one point clear of her Bulgarian counterpart Emiliya Dimirova on Trasportipesanti’s side, who put away three aces and two kill blocks. Belarusian outside Hanna Davyskiba chipped in with four blocking points towards a total tally of 20 points, while the Most Valuable Player award went to American middle blocker Dana Rettke, who came in as a substitution during the fourth set and stayed on for the tie-breaker, hammering out seven points in at attack at an 88% success rate.

“It was a difficult match, especially after what happened to Ituma,” commented Rettke. “The best we could do was stick together and play determined. There were some ups and downs during the game, but, all in all, we played really well as a team and I'm very happy. Starting the playoffs with a win is certainly important and now we're thinking about the next match. I'm really very proud of how we played tonight. Now we head to game two.”

“We expected a game like this because we are aware of our abilities. We had already put Milan in difficulty and even beaten them, so we knew we could do it,” said Dimitrova. “What we missed was definitely the start of the fifth set. We went 5-0 down and struggled to recover. That's all. Otherwise, I'm really happy with the attitude of my team despite the moment that volleyball is going through. We were very aggressive in serving and this helped us carry on in the match. However, we will have to improve our block-defence.”

Earlier on Sunday, Savino Del Bene Scandicci delivered a 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-20) shutout of Volley Bergamo 1991 to take the lead in the series. The home team were seven points down in the first set, but with their Chinese star Zhu Ting subbing in they managed to change the course of the set and the match in their favour. Zhu contributed 16 points, all in spikes, and earned the MVP nomination, while American middle Haleigh Washington impressed with five kill blocks.

“We started with the handbrake on and the first part of the first set was difficult. It was difficult to get into the game and this was also thanks to the opponents, which should be remembered for Thursday's game two,” said Savino Del Bene’s coach Massimo Barbolini. “The girls were good at storming that set and winning it. It's an aspect I’d like to point out, because when we are up by two points and then lose the set it seems like a tragedy, while today we managed to come back from seven points down. We know that game two in Bergamo will certainly be a different challenge, but today we won and now we have to exploit this advantage.”

In Saturday’s playoff opener, Prosecco Doc Imoco Conegliano left no doubts over their superiority in the first quarterfinal match against e-work Busto Arsizio and mastered a 3-0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-19) sweep. Swedish Generation O star Isabelle Haak was on fire, blowing the opponents away with 24 points, including three blocks, and claiming the MVP honour.

“It was a strange game as we expected, especially at the beginning with all that silence and unusual atmosphere. But it was right to commemorate a broken young life. Our fans wanted to honour Julia by starting to cheer from point number 15, her shirt number,” said Imoco’s head coach Daniele Santarelli. “The game then went well in terms of result, but I'm not completely satisfied because we still made a few too many mistakes, especially in the attack from zone four. We have to work and improve, because the playoffs don't allow for distractions. We'll try close the series on Tuesday to reach the semifinal, but away from home it will be a different match and a better Imoco will be needed.”

Also on Saturday, the best-of-three playoff series in the race for the Challenge Cup ticket started with victories for the home teams. Il Bisonte Florence persevered through a five-set battle, coming back from a set down twice to emerge with a 3-2 (22-25, 25-19, 19-25, 25-19, 15-10) win over Cuneo Granda S.Bernardo on a 24-point match high from Belgian outside Britt Herbots and seven kill blocks from middle Emma Graziani, who took the MVP award.

In the other match, Megabox Ondulati Del Savio Vallefoglia produced a 3-1 (27-25, 23-25, 25-12, 25-21) victory over Wash4Green Pinerolo. Megabox’s American opposite Andrea Drews and her Wash4Green counterpart Valentina Zago shared the top scorer honours with 22 points each.

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

Apr 19, 20:30 local (18:30 UTC): Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri v Igor Gorgonzola Novara

Lega Pallavolo Serie A1 Femminile’s Quarterfinals Leg 2 schedule:

Apr 18, 20:00 local (18:00 UTC): e-work Busto Arsizio v Prosecco Doc Imoco Conegliano

Apr 19, 20:00 local (18:00 UTC): Trasportipesanti Casalmaggiore v Vero Volley Milan

Apr 20, 20:30 local (18:30 UTC): Volley Bergamo 1991 v Savino Del Bene Scandicci

Apr 22, 20:30 local (18:30 UTC): Igor Gorgonzola Novara v Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri

Lega Pallavolo Serie A1 Femminile’s Challenge Cup Playoffs Leg 2 schedule:

Apr 19, 20:30 local (18:30 UTC): Wash4Green Pinerolo v Megabox Ondulati Del Savio Vallefoglia

Apr 19, 20:30 local (18:30 UTC): Cuneo Granda S.Bernardo v Il Bisonte Florence

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