Italy - Serie A1 2015/16



  • Participating teams:

    1. Pomì Casalmaggiore - Champions League 2015/16
    2. Igor Gorgonzola Novara - Champions League 2015/16
    3. Liu•Jo Modena
    4. Nordmeccanica Piacenza - Champions League 2015/16
    5. Unendo Yamamay Busto Arsizio
    6. Imoco Volley Conegliano
    7. Metalleghe Sanitars Montichiari
    8. Foppapedretti Bergamo
    9. Savino Del Bene Scandicci
    10. Il Bisonte Firenze
    11. Sudtirol Neruda Bolzano - Winner of Serie A2 2015/16
    12. Obiettivo Risarcimento Vicenza - Winner of Serie A2 playoff 2015/16
    13. Club Italia

  • Pomì Casalmaggiore


    Coach:
    Massimo Barbolini


    Setter:
    Carli Lloyd
    Carlotta Cambi


    Opposite:
    Margareta Kozuch
    Tereza Rossi Matuszkova


    Outside Hitter:
    Francesca Piccinini
    Valentina Tirozzi
    Lucia Bacchi
    Marianna Ferrara


    Middle Blocker:
    Jovana Stevanovic
    Lauren Gibbemeyer
    Rossella Olivotto


    Libero:
    Immacolata Sirressi
    Giada Cecchetto

  • Igor Gorgonzola Novara


    Coach:
    Luciano Pedullà
    Marco Fenoglio


    Setter:
    Noemi Signorile
    Francesca Bosio


    Opposite:
    Samanta Fabris
    Magdalena Wawrzyniak


    Outside Hitter:
    Nicole Fawcett
    Aurea Cruz
    Caterina Bosetti
    Helene Rousseaux
    Tijana Malesevic


    Middle Blocker:
    Martina Guiggi
    Cristina Chirichella
    Sara Bonifacio
    Noura Mabilo


    Libero:
    Stefania Sansonna
    Eleonora Bruno

  • Liu•Jo Modena


    Coach:
    Alessandro Beltrami


    Setter:
    Francesca Ferretti
    Giulia Carraro
    Marta Galeotti


    Opposite:
    Valentina Diouf
    Sanja Starovic


    Outside Hitter:
    Dora Horvath
    Chiara Di Iulio
    Jessica Rivero
    Lana Scuka


    Middle Blocker:
    Raphaela Folie
    Laura Heyrman
    Floriana Bertone
    Bernarda Cutuk


    Libero:
    Chiara Arcangeli

  • Nordmeccanica Piacenza


    Coach:
    Marco Gaspari


    Setter:
    Maja Ognjenovic
    Alessandra Petrucci


    Opposite:
    Indre Sorokaite
    Marika Bianchini
    Veronica Taborelli


    Outside Hitter:
    Floortje Meijners
    Francesca Marcon
    Giulia Pascucci
    Federica Valeriano


    Middle Blocker:
    Christina Bauer
    Yvon Beliën
    Laura Melandri


    Libero:
    Giulia Leonardi

  • Unendo Yamamay Busto Arsizio


    Coach:
    Marco Mencarelli


    Setter:
    Jenna Hagglund
    Caterina Cialfi


    Opposite:
    Karsta Lowe
    Giulia Angelina


    Outside Hitter:
    Helene Rousseaux
    Gözde Yilmaz
    Alice Degradi
    Valeria Papa


    Middle Blocker:
    Jaimie Thibeault
    Giulia Pisani
    Silvia Fondriest


    Libero:
    Celeste Poma

  • Imoco Volley Conegliano


    Coach:
    Davide Mazzanti


    Setter:
    Alisha Glass
    Marta Bechis
    Valentina Serena


    Opposite:
    Serena Ortolani
    Anna Nicoletti


    Outside Hitter:
    Megan Hodge Easy
    Kelsey Robinson
    Alice Santini
    Anthi Vasilantonaki


    Middle Blocker:
    Rachael Adams
    Valentina Arrighetti
    Jenny Barazza
    Lucia Crisanti


    Libero:
    Monica De Gennaro
    Chiara De Bortoli

  • Metalleghe Sanitars Montichiari


    Coach:
    Leonardo Barbieri


    Setter:
    Ludovica Dalia
    Lisa Zecchin


    Opposite:
    Berenika Tomsia


    Outside Hitter:
    Maren Brinker
    Cristina Barcellini
    Gilda Lombardo
    Camilla Mingardi


    Middle Blocker:
    Simona Gioli
    Dominika Sobolska
    Giuditta Lualdi


    Libero:
    Luna Carocci

  • Foppapedretti Bergamo


    Coach:
    Stefano Lavarini


    Setter:
    Eleonora Lo Bianco
    Eva Mori


    Opposite:
    Katarina Barun


    Outside Hitter:
    Celeste Plak
    Alessia Gennari
    Miriam Sylla
    Benedetta Mambelli


    Middle Blocker:
    Freya Aelbrecht
    Paola Paggi
    Vesna Djurisic
    Laura Frigo


    Libero:
    Paola Cardullo

  • Savino Del Bene Scandicci


    Coach:
    Massimo Bellano
    Mauro Chiappafreddo


    Setter:
    Giulia Rondon
    Chiara Scacchetti


    Opposite:
    Emiliya Nikolova


    Outside Hitter:
    Sara Loda
    Valentina Fiorin
    Judith Pietersen
    Silvia Lotti
    Matea Ikic


    Middle Blocker:
    Bahar Toksoy
    Federica Stufi
    Cándida Arias
    Sara Alberti


    Libero:
    Enrica Merlo
    Alice Giampietri

  • Il Bisonte Firenze


    Coach:
    Francesca Vannini


    Setter:
    Marta Bechis
    Ilka Van de Vyver
    Fiamma Mazzini


    Opposite:
    Carmen Turlea


    Outside Hitter:
    Senna Usic
    Tereza Vanzurova
    Chiara Negrini
    Elena Perinelli
    Giulia Pietrelli


    Middle Blocker:
    Natasa Krsmanovic
    Raffaella Calloni
    Nadja Ninkovic
    Linda Martinuzzo


    Libero:
    Beatrice Parrocchiale

  • Sudtirol Neruda Bolzano


    Coach:
    Stefano Micoli
    Fabio Bonafede


    Setter:
    Bernarda Brcic
    Anna Newsome


    Opposite:
    Marianne Steinbrecher
    Gina Mambru


    Outside Hitter:
    Brayelin Martinez
    Prisilla Rivera
    Brittney Page
    Matea Ikic
    Rabecka Lazic
    Kathrin Waldthaler


    Middle Blocker:
    Ilaria Garzaro
    Elisa Manzano
    Sara Bertolini
    Tiziana Veglia


    Libero:
    Sara Paris
    Martina Boscoscuro

  • Obiettivo Risarcimento Vicenza


    Coach:
    Delio Rossetto


    Setter:
    Lora Kitipova
    Vittoria Prandi


    Opposite:
    Marta Drpa
    Katie Carter
    Karolina Goliat


    Outside Hitter:
    Bianka Busa
    Laura Partenio
    Elisa Cella
    Francesca Trevisan


    Middle Blocker:
    Lucia Crisanti
    Arielle Wilson
    Mina Popovic
    Valentina Pastorello


    Libero:
    Alessia Lanzini
    Veronica Bisconti

  • Club Italia


    Coach:
    Marco Bonitta


    Setter:
    Ofelia Malinov
    Alessia Orro


    Opposite:
    Elisa Zanette
    Vittoria Piani


    Outside Hitter:
    Paola Egonu
    Anastasia Guerra
    Sofia D'Odorico


    Middle Blocker:
    Anna Danesi
    Beatrice Berti
    Alexandra Botezat


    Libero:
    Simona Minervini
    Ilaria Spirito
    Ilaria Bonvicini

  • Excuse the length of this post. It is something worth discussing.


    For those of you who don't know, Club Italia is a developmental team controlled by the federation and trained by the National team juniores/youth staff. The athletes, about 17-19 years old, are selected among the most promising Italians of their group of age. In the 2014-15 season Club Italia competed in serie A2 with surprising success (7th place). It used to be in serie B before (third tier), and it would have been relegated to the lower tier almost every year but the federation is allowed to include it in *whatever* league they wish.


    http://www.oasport.it/2015/04/…-azzurro-campionato-a-13/


    http://www.legavolleyfemminile…eggi.asp?tipo=2&ID=138990


    The participation of Club Italia to the next serie A1 was approved with enthusiasm by the Italian volleyball league. It will be the thirteenth team.
    I know that it's still early to draw conclusions, but the league and the federation had already decided in April.


    1) Club Italia is in serie A1 exceptionally in view of the 2016 Olympics. Then, it may or may not continue its activity (planning :thumbup: ). This thing will have made sense if Egonu Danesi D'Odorico and the like make the Olympic team. Don't get me wrong: they are good, and full of olympic spirit, but it's hard to believe they will (Egonu is a phenomenon, but only 16). Even then, why don't they just sign for a pro team and prove their worth? Like Nicoletti in Conegliano, Bonifacio in Novara.


    2) A 13-team championship is a "questionable" decision. It happened before to have odd numbers, but it was by accident (like the absence of Cuneo in our last Superlega). Instead, why not promote Forlì back into serie A1? Who doesn't miss the annual promotion of Forlì?!
    No way. Unfortunately, the next club season is too short. 14 teams would make it last way too much longer than 13 :aww:


    3) The league president is proud to be a pioneer, an innovator, the creator of a model that delegates from other countries and other sports will admire and imitate. :obey: Pioneering aside, his main interests should be competitiveness and marketability of the league. As far as competition goes, perhaps Club Italia will be good enough, but I am skeptical. Will Club Italia attract more audience and more investors? Apparently, they hope so. Let's go to the next point.


    4) What will the home court be? A few weeks ago they played their playoff home games in the opponent's arena. Their facility for the last few years has been "centro federale Pavesi", a gym in Milano. The proposition is to be itinerant, that is: today here, next week no one knows. The purpose is to promote top level volleyball throughout the country, maybe outside the traditional places. The championship is composed of 10 out of 12 teams based in Padania & Alps and 2 just below the gothic line. Who is the lucky winner of a road game in Bari?


    Conclusion: 2014-2015 has been a successful and exciting year for women's volleyball in Italy. To make it last, you can try two things: leave it as is, or change something. In my opinion, the players, the teams, the audience, the won't benefit from this change.

  • I agree with you! On all the points you've written... firstly they can be good players, but I think they will have to continue to work hard in A2, showing the same good things they showed this year. Of course Forlì won't be missed, but it would be a wiser decision to make these girls play in a league that is suitable for them in terms of task. Let's not forget that they also have to finish their high school, ok volleybal is their prime issue, but I think it is good also for their future if they would get a diploma.
    It won't be good to travel through out Italy searching for new gyms and palas where to train and play. Better to play in A2 with teams at your right level and develop eve more.


    I wonder if this is a way to give to Bonitta a double role, in NT and in a sort of "club"...

  • During the press conference of yesterday, the club of Busto Arsizio made it clear that they won't take part to the Challenge Cup because they want to focus on Italian league.


    Update: Conegliano gave up Challange Cup too. Piacenza will ask a wild card for Champions League.