Italy - Serie A1 2025/26

Quote from skorost

Novara losing to Perugia get Amber back there

even more shocking that kashauna is the top scorer

Quote from voly

even more shocking that kashauna is the top scorer

Actually both Perinelli and Gardini scored more than her today.

I didn't watch the match but it's a mystery to me why Herbots who finished with 26% attack played the last two sets as OPP instead of Mims who in her time on the court scored 50% attack

Cambi has no idea what to do with Alsmeier and Bernardi overestimates Herbots. She is not who they think she is.

Quote from skorost

Novara losing to Perugia get Amber back there

From what I've seen the biggest problem was too much OH ball, especially once Carraro subbed Cambi the pins were used too much (and also passing/defense didn't look as smooth as they can do). I hope they can regain some of their start-of-season spark once Tolok can play and Baijens get back in form (she had some good moments today but also some very bad moments, she seemed too rusty still but I hope it gets better with playing time )

I really dont understand why they dont play with mims!!

Why Herbots must be on the court? I'm confused.

Quote from skorost

Novara losing to Perugia get Amber back there

Amber: "and deal with that mess? no"

Baijens has 18 points.. not blaming her lol

Quote from Gashina

Baijens has 18 points.. not blaming her lol

Wow, I didn't realise it was that much! I saw the set (2nd?) where she got subbed with Squarcini because she was clearly struggling. She looked better when I returned to this game in sets 4 and 5, but didn't expect she ended up joint top scorer for Novara

A couple of interesting insights and a very important upset this Sunday.

Another slow start en route for a three points win for Conegliano, but Daalderop is becoming a real problem now. I must say I didn't expect her to underperform that much. She's supposed to give some rest to the starters, not being bailed out from Gabi (what an impact off the bench) and making Milano look like the real winner of the trade with Lanier. I suspect Santarelli will have to insist on Sillah, who is responding so much better compared to the Dutch by the way. On the other hand, another great effort from Adigwe, showing regularity and smart choices in attack. I truly hope to see her as a starter next season somewhere else. De Gennaro seems to have shrugged of most the World Championship fatigue too. Coming to Vallefoglia, I do believe their biggest mistake in building the roster was in choosing the setters. Neither of them is showing great things and both tend to mess up a bit too much, let alone the minimum involvement of the MB unit even with good passing. I do believe they day Bici and Omoruyi will both perform at the same time Vallefoglia may snatch some upset results, but at the moment I don't see them going much further than a quarterfinal spot in Coppa Italia and an early exit from the playoffs.

Monviso managed to get their first home win of the season against UYBA. I must say Busto Arsizio threw away the first set and from there kind of derailed, but credits to the hosts in keeping it alive when it seemed lost and build the match from there. Some mistakes from the laterals as usual (Malual on offence and Davyskiba on serving), but Dodson and Sylves were vigilant around the net and ready when involved on offence. Busto Arsizio isn't in a good spot at the moment. They had a good reaction in the third, but the game in the middle is evanishing, Gennari can't be a starter anymore and Diouf is quite a bad trade compared to Frosini. Another positive entry from Battista, but Barbolini has to find ways to vary the playbook a little bit. Plus, barely two sets played out of four is not enough to avoid bigger problems in the future.

Great reaction from Perugia after a tough loss against Firenze and more generally a bad run dating back from late October. The hosts showed some great team effort, but I believe the keys to their victory were Perinelli, who pulled a rabbit out of the hat and played like in her Chieri days, and Sirressi, who gave that little bit of experience and confidence in the back row that Recchia, while solid, wasn't able to provide. Williams was a bit on and off but did her bit, especially in the second set, while Gardini is confirming the good impressions (even though it's criminal she doesn't have a sub to let her rest a bit when needed). Coming to Novara, I do agree with the ones of you having some serious question marks on Bernardi's gameplan, which is baffling because Mims wasn't doing bad at all and the whole team looked much more balanced. I'm quite sure the insistence of both Cambi and Carraro on the laterals was an assignment from the coach rather than the girls losing their mind. Still, the biggest news is Igiede won't be missed as much as we would've thought, because this Baijens is for real.

Cuneo battled for a couple of sets, but not for the first time in the season as soon as they ran out of gas it was game over. I understand the bench isn't like the Conegliano's one, but seeing players like Diop literally out of breath after three sets should've suggested Salvagni to make some changes. It's not by chance that as soon as the laterals were done, Cuneo disappeared and Signorile didn't know who to set. Just one change from Milano, but I must say Piva was way more effective than the Pietrini seen last week and the MVP award was deserved. Great game from Danesi too, both on blocking and on offence, solid contribution from Lanier too. I hope Akimova will be ready to dress up soon, because Egonu is starting to show a bit of fatigue and Lavarini doesn't seem to trust Plak even as a simple double sub. I'm still seeing some inaccuracies from Bosio, but I guess she simply can't get past of them.

Firenze couldn't afford anything less than a three points win and they delivered, but I must say San Giovanni in Marignano made the match much closer than expected. Still, they threw away the second set with three consecutive errors and basically lost all the important rallies. Firenze had to overcome some problems with blocking in the early phase of the match, Villani taking more swings than anyone else and Chiavegatti weirdly starting with Zuccarelli. As soon as Knollema got more involved in both phases, the hosts managed to get enough edge to close it out. I liked the impact Kaçmaz had off the bench, while Bukilić should start no matter how raw or inexperienced she is. San Giovanni in Marignano delivered a somewhat okay performance, even passing decently enough (especially in the first two sets) to let Straube vary the game the right amount to limit the usual struggle in consistency from the laterals. Having back a healthy Kochurina surely helped, while as much as I admire the grit and the will from the OH, the lone Piovesan might have a future in Serie A1 and surely in a team with reliable players as opposites.

The today's match between Imoco and Vallefoglia proves once again that Imoco has built an empire throw fear. They've mentally dominated every team in the league and are just enjoying the benefits. Οn the other hand, Vallefoglia's match today was by far the most annoying match of the season. There is no excuse when you lose an 8 point lead. It's embarassing and even Consolini would have made it if they have a lead of 16-8 against Imoco. At least, Omoruyi played good for once more. Scoring 21 points against Imoco it's and excellent performaces, so well done!!!

As for Milano, I can say the same thing about Piva. At last!!! This was the last season's Piva. I hope that she will continue like this. The bad news is that for once more the lost a big lead in the first set. It was an 8 point lead if I remember right. This thing happens all the time but for a strange reason they manage to get away against middle teams. Against both Imoco and Scandici they pay this price both times when they lost a huge lead in the first sets, so they have to find a solution to these strange black outs. A common in the most black outs is that Egonu is in the back row ... They definetely have to use her from the pipe attack and generally to use combos because she oftens tips a lot in as she feels uncomfortable attacking from the position 1 ( as they are depented on her ) .

Scandicci with a nice performaes for once more and it seems that Maja involves Bosetti in the attack. The team has no some weak point but in my opinion they will have problems if they continue with the double sub. Ruddins is a true proffecional and she handles it perfectly but I do not thing that Gaspari understands when it is not times to use her and this will cost to Scandicci one day. I am 100% sure.

About the match between Firenze and San Giovanni: it was quite sad to see the venue nearly empty. Does somebody know if there's any problem for Il Bisonte?

Quote from Diesse14

About the match between Firenze and San Giovanni: it was quite sad to see the venue nearly empty. Does somebody know if there's any problem for Il Bisonte?

I don't know what kind of problems you're referring to...

If they're financial, the problems should be solved for the next three years: thanks to the agreement with BigMat for the management of the arena, Bisonte should have the budget to compete in the A1 league, obviously with the sole ambition of avoiding relegation and, if the season goes well, trying to secure one of the last two spots in the postseason...

In any case, despite the financial problems of the last two years, the club is debt-free and has always paid all player salaries on time: other, much more prestigious clubs have very worrying situations...

The crowd issue is unfortunately a corporate issue: the Bisonte management (if they exist) doesn't seem to care about the crowds at the arena... Despite being the only A1 team with its own arena, it's the one with the smallest crowds, making no effort to encourage people to come to games, and is the only one without an organized group of supporters: its historic group of supporters dissolved this year due to a lack of dialogue with the club...

Quote from Toguttt

I guess having a much more competitive club (Scandicci) full of stars in the same city contributes a lot to the nearly empty venue. Most volleyball fans in Florence area prefer to go to the venue when Savino is playing, not Il Bisonte.

In Florence, the situation is slightly more complicated...

Historically, when it comes to sports in the city, there's only one thing: football and FIORENTINA, which is a religion in the city, even now that the team is doing terribly...

All other sports, even when they've reached levels of excellence, have always been marginal and poorly followed...

Even SdB actually struggles to bring people to the arena and only makes up numbers thanks to huge freebies and discounts (tickets for €5, even €1, for children and their families).

However, it must be said that Scandicci has a very well-structured staff to promote its games, while Bisonte, due to an incomprehensible club policy, doesn't even try...

Anyway, Gardini is the next big thing

Quote from Mycaptain

Anyway, Gardini is the next big thing

She definitely improved and is taking more responsibility compared to the last few seasons but let's not get carried away lol

Time for my weekly post about how outstanding Ognjenovic is. She’s started this game beautifully

The back to back aces by Gray lol, but I must admit she has elevated her game from last year and now contributes a lot more than "just" blocking well. They'll probably still end 5th but Chieri's glow-up is real and they look so balanced and fun this season