To start the Scudetto Play Offs in the right way, a victory was needed and Savino Del Bene Volley was able to seize the success by winning 3-1 in Game 1 of the quarter-finals.
Megabox Ondulati Del Savio Vallefoglia was beaten and, dealing with important absences such as those of Dijkema, Mancini and Mingardi, resisted for two hours and three minutes of play.
In fact, the results of the first two sets, clearly won by Savino Del Bene Volley, must not be deceived, because the match was more competitive than the partial results suggest.
Having won the first two parts of the game by 25-16 and 25-17, Savino Del Bene Volley suffered in the third set, being defeated 21-25 by a Vallefoglia team that was practically always in control of the third part of the match.
The fourth and final portion of the game was the most balanced, with the two teams fighting point by point until the decisive extension by Savino Del Bene Volley, who with determination took the set 25-23 and thus won the race.
MVP of the match was an excellent Zhu Ting, protagonist of 25 points and 2 blocks, but above all an excellent match in attack (43% efficiency) and reception (64% efficiency). The top scorer of the match was Ekaterina Antropova with 31 points, 6 aces and 2 winning blocks. Finally, it should be noted that in the ranks of Barbolini’s team, given the absence of a feverish Alberti, the young Sara Pedrolli, born in 2007 and part of the roster of Savino’s second team, was called up for the first time in a Serie A1 match. Del Bene Volleyball.
For Vallefoglia there were three players in double figures for points, with Degradi being the best scorer, the Pavia native in fact ended the match with 20 points on the scoresheet.
Having taken a 1-0 lead in the series, Savino Del Bene Volley will go to Pesaro on Saturday to face Game-2, a challenge in which Barbolini’s girls will need to offer a better performance to prevail.
The news
Coach Barbolini, orphan of Sara Alberti struggling with a fever, lines up his team with Di Iulio as setter and Antropova as opposite. Herbots and Zhu Ting are the two starting spikers, while the center pair is the one with Washington and Carol. The role of libero is entrusted to Armini.
The Megabox Ondulati Del Savio Vallefoglia takes to the field with the 6+1 made up of Kobzar as setter, Grosse Scharmann as opposite, Aleksic and Cecconello as central defenders, with Degradi and Kosheleva on the wing and Panetoni as libero.
1st Sep
Sparkling start to the match for Savino Del Bene Volley who flies to 3-0 and forces coach Pistola to resort to the first time out of the match. After the break the set does not change and the score rises to 5-0 scored by Carol with a winning block. Vallefoglia’s first point comes thanks to the former Scandiccese player Kosheleva (5-1), but Savino Del Bene Volley leaves no chance for their opponents and takes the lead to 7-1 thanks to an attack by Zhu Ting. The same Chinese spiker also scores the point of 10-3 and forces Vallefoglia to request a new time out. The advantage of Savino Del Bene Volley reaches +8 on the occasion of the 11-3 produced by Zhu Ting, but Vallefoglia manages to shorten it and reaches 12-8 with Degradi. Barbolini stops the match with a “tempo”, but Cecconello, when hostilities resume, scores the ace to make it 12-9 and completes a partial score of 0-5 in favor of Megabox Vallefoglia. The visiting team gets close to Degradi’s 13-11, but fails to equalize and actually slips back to -6 (18-12). The advantage of Savino Del Bene Volley continues to increase up to +10 produced by an attack by Antropova (24-14). The set ends with a nice diagonal dunk by Zhu Ting (25-16).
2nd Sept
The second half opens in a sign of balance, with the two teams going hand in hand until the score is 5-5. Vallefoglia took the first lead and took command of the set at 5-8 and forced Barbolini to stop the set. Once the time out is over, the visiting team still scores and finds, thanks to an ace from Cecconello, the point of 5-9. Savino Del Bene Volley produced a run of four consecutive points and, with Carol as the protagonist on the block, achieved a draw at 10-10. Vallefoglia takes refuge in a time out call, but Savino Del Bene Volley sets the tone and overtakes their opponents with Carol’s second attack (11-10). Barbolini’s team goes +2 with Di Iulio’s ace, while two consecutive points from Zhu Ting bring the result to 14-11. Vallefoglia, overwhelmed by an 8-1 run, again had to call a time out, but after reaching -1, Pistola’s team missed the lead. What allowed Savino Del Bene Volley to put an end to the opponent’s comeback was an impressive turn of serve by Antropova, who made four aces in a row and set the score at 22-14. Antropova herself puts an end to the set with a splendid pipe dunk (25-17).
3rd Sept
The third set is approached better by Megabox Vallefoglia, which reaches 2-6 thanks to an attack by Degradi and forces Barbolini to call the first time out of the fraction. Savino Del Bene Volley tries to recover, but Vallefoglia widens the gap and finds the 5-11 with a dunk from Kosheleva. Coach Barbolini, with his team down by six points, also plays the second time out of the set and gets an immediate reaction, so much so that his team reaches 9-12 following an attack by Zhu Ting. Coach Pistola, intimidated by the Scandi comeback, decides to resort to a time out, but despite the “time” Savino Del Bene Volley finds an equalizer with two consecutive aces from Carol and a block from the newly entered Nwakalor (13-13). Vallefoglia immediately stops the set, using the second time out available to Pistola, and upon returning to the court the Marche team regains the lead by two points (16-18). Vallefoglia also reaches +3 with a block from Cecconello (19-22) and then wins the fraction with 21-25 scored by Grosse Scharmann.
4th Sept
Vallefoglia takes the lead in the score also in the initial phases of the fourth set, taking the lead at 2-5 after a missed attack by Antropova. Savino Del Bene Volley recovers the deficit and reaches 6-5 thanks to shots from Antropova and Zhu Ting. Coach Pistola uses a time out, but Antropova doesn’t stop and the Italian opposite player scores the ace to make it 7-5. Savino Del Bene Volley finds the +3 on a couple of occasions (9-6 and 10-7), but the Vallefoglia girls manage to grab a draw at 10-10. The visiting team takes the lead again when, at the end of a long exchange, Aleksic stops Zhu Ting with a block (11-12). Savino Del Bene Volley requests a time out, but after drawing at 12-12, Barbolini’s team slips back to -2, with Cecconello making the block at 12-14. The team from Scandi ties the score at 14-14 with Carol and a phase of the match begins in which the two teams respond point for point.
Tipping the balance in favor of Savino Del Bene Volley are two blocks by Carol and Antropova (21-19), despite the time out called by Pistola, in fact Barbolini’s team maintains the advantage and wins the set with the 25-23 with which Zhu Ting delivers the 3-1 victory over Savino Del Bene Volley.
Coach Massimo Barbolini post match: “A match we didn’t play well. We won the first two sets quite clearly, but we came out thanks to turns of serve and not so much thanks to our game. Afterwards, in the end, the girls fought well, but on Saturday we definitely have to play in another way and approach the match in another way, otherwise it will be difficult, also because it seems to me that these playoffs, from what the results, are proving that they have never been so balanced. Let’s think about doing better, about preparing for this match. We are preparing the matches well, even if today we didn’t play as well. Let’s try to do better on Saturday, also because they will be a different team.”
Savino Del Bene Scandicci – Megabox Ondulati Del Savio Vallefoglia: 3-1 (25-16, 25-17, 21-25, 25-23)
Savino Del Bene Scandicci: Pedrolli ne, Herbots 6, Zhu Ting 25, Ruddins ne, Di Iulio 1, Ognjenovic, Parrocchiale (L2), Armini (L1), Nwakalor 4, Washington 2, Carol 10, Antropova 31, Diop 1, Nowakowska ne. Annex: Barbolini M.
Corrugated Megaboxes of Savio Vallefoglia: Provaroni, Degradi 20, Cecconello 7, Panetoni (L1), Aleksic 6, Mingardi ne, Grosse Scharmann 11, Mancini ne, Giovannini, Kobzar 1, Dijkema ne, Kosheleva 12, Gardini ne, Borghi (L2). Annex: Gun A.
Referees: Knights – Caretti
Duration: 2 h 3′ (26′, 27′, 29′, 32′)
Attack (Pt%): 43% – 40%
Reception Pos% (Prf%): 55% – 51% (30% – 24%)
Winning Walls: 10-5
Ace: 9-2
MVP: Zhu Ting
Spectators: 1633
