Italy - Serie A1 2014/15

    Now we can say that Conegliano is close to the finals, its hard for Pomi to win 3 matches back to back....in this second match there was a balanced Conegliano..many players contributed..i think Glass should think of setting to Barazza much more to surprise the opponents..especially in possible finals against Novara

    Got to like Novara's team balance. Klineman attaching with power but serve and reception terrible. Hill attach weak but digging and reception excellent. Chi with great blocking. Right through the lineup everyone brings something special and combined they overcome individual weaknesses and produce a great effort. 2-1 Novara

    Novara is leading 2-1 in the sets against Piacenza that is playing much better than the first match. Van Hecke and Sorokaite are positive in attack and on serve but the middles aren't used (Leggeri) or sent out of the match being blocked too many times (Vargas). On the other side Chirichella is solid in blocking, Barun and Klineman are having good times in attack. Both Sansonna and Cardullo are playing great! Dirickx is a bit too much predictable...

    Piacenza played better than the first match but they lack key attacker at crucial times.Novara has at least Barun Who was bad after first set but in the last part of the game played well...the most consistent attacker of Piacenza was Van Hecke and Novara's Klineeman..Sorakaite and Diluio werre inconsistent.Vargas was the worst,the other middle was better...Novara's worst attacker was Hill.
    Novara is an interesting team..they consist of tall players but play with fast low sets..Chiricella was good at blocking..


    i think its very hard for this Piacenza to beat Novara..

    PLAYOFF SEMIFINALS (Match 2)


    Nordmeccanica Rebecchi Piacenza - Igor Gorgonzola Novara 1-3 (0-2)
    Van Hecke 22, Sorokaite 14, Di Iulio 10 / Barun 21, Klineman 20, Hill 12, Chirichella 10
    http://www.legavolleyfemminile…linoGara.asp?IdGara=81817


    Imoco Volley Conegliano - Pomí Casalmaggiore 3-0 (2-0)
    Nikolova 14, Adams 11, Neriman Özsoy 11, Fiorin 9 / Gennari 14, Ortolani 12, Stevanovic 11
    http://www.legavolleyfemminile…linoGara.asp?IdGara=81818

    Now that was a playoff game!
    Despite having nothing but trouble from the middles, thus making Novara life easier allowing them to double team the wing spikers, Piacenza somehow manages to survive until a hard-fought fourth set.
    My two cents: this is as close as Piacenza can get to Novara.


    In the other semifinal, Casalmaggiore under pressure plays "one of the worst matches of the season" in the coach's words. Their strong middle attack was off. They fall two games behind a team with a strong home-field advantage.
    If Conegliano keeps playing this well, not only will they beat Casalmaggiore, but they will also match up with Novara, like they did twice in March. At least, I hope so. The crowd loves a tightly contested final.

    Karch Kiraly visited Novara at the beginning of the season. I think that he was concerned that Novara might play a style that undermines the growth and confidence of his star pupil, Kim Hill. Novara is incorporating a lot of what we saw from the USNT in the World Championships. Especially the use of their middles as a major part of the attach.


    The Quik Attach style with low sets really puts a lot of pressure on the defense and blocking schemes. The thing that the USANT didn't use much was the pipe attach that Novara likes. Klineman as we know from the USNT is really an opposite playing out of position for Novara as an OH1. Hill will always only be an OH2 because of her body style. She would be a good complement to someone like Koshleva.


    Interestingly the USNT plays with two OH2's as that is also Larson's position. They seem to be able to compensate for that with strong attaching MB's and Opposites. Fortunately for the rest of the world it looks like Hooker has temper tantrumed her way permanently into Karch's dog house.


    Loved the fight from both of the teams today and was happy that it was on Raisport 1 because for some reason I just can't get video from Raisport 2. Looking ahead would like to see Novara versus Imoco. I think we would see some five setter's from those two.

    Quote from usantvolleyball

    The Quik Attach style with low sets really puts a lot of pressure on the defense and blocking schemes. The thing that the USANT didn't use much was the pipe attach that Novara likes. Klineman as we know from the USNT is really an opposite playing out of position for Novara as an OH1. Hill will always only be an OH2 because of her body style. She would be a good complement to someone like Koshleva.

    I might be wrong, but Hill is OH1 in Novara. Her body style is... versatile. She is tall but she moves well.
    Usually OH1 is the better attacker from zone 2.

    You are correct in the precise sense. I was using a more broad definition as a way to describe skill sets whereby the OH1 is perceived to have a skill set where attack is #1 followed by block and then the back row defensive skills of reception, digging, passing, and serving.


    The OH2 is defined by a skill set where the defensive skills are ranked first and the attack/block skills comes at the end. For Novara in this sense Klineman would be the OH1 as she is a better attacker/blocker than HIll and Hill would be the OH2 as she has better back row defensive skills.


    For say ECZ Cruz would be described as OH1 because of her superior attack skills and Larson would be seen as OH2 for her defensive skills. And then there is someone like FB's Kim who can seemingly do it all.

    good win by Casalmaggiore..they were very determined to win as team especially tirozzi..contrary to that, Conegliano was sleeping...their reception was not good..Fiorin and Barcellini's reception are worse than Neriman's.....except De Gennaro,Neriman seems to be most reliable receiver of Conegliano..interesting! Conegliano needs Adams to have a good/decent match otherwise they have to apply to mainly Neriman and this cannot work everytime..bcz Nikoleva doesnt seem to be in a good shape..Fiorin is still useful

    I do like Conegliano, but I think that Pomi deserve to be in the final this season. They've been playing regular and what calls my attention is that they don't have so many stars in the team. It is a good team, that fits well... If you analyse, individually Conegliano's team is too much better than Pomi's. I am also happy because Ortolani is getting better and I still think that she can be an important player for Italy NT.

    Quote from volleyball_br

    I do like Conegliano, but I think that Pomi deserve to be in the final this season. They've been playing regular and what calls my attention is that they don't have so many stars in the team. It is a good team, that fits well... If you analyse, individually Conegliano's team is too much better than Pomi's. I am also happy because Ortolani is getting better and I still think that she can be an important player for Italy NT.


    they will have to show how much they deserve to be in the finals on the court :whistle: they have the chance imo...but i think Conegliano will play better at home and could win