Milan on the pitch with Egonu opposite Orro, Heyrman and Folie in the center, Sylla and Bajema in the forwards and Castillo libero; Novara with Bosio as director and Akimova as diagonal player, Danesi and Bonifacio as central players, Szakmary and Buijs as top players and Fersino as libero.
Milan starts strong with Heyrman (3:1) and Egonu (8:6) who have a break advantage, while Bosio closes the gap on the block (10:10) and shortly afterwards Buijs, who completes an endless rally, scores the counterattack for 11-13 forcing Gaspari to take a timeout. Novara reaches the maximum lead at 17-20 (Bajema’s error), but Sylla hits back with a maniout 21-22 and then scores at 23, hitting the diagonal; Akimova wins the set point, Egonu counters and in the subsequent head-to-head lead it is Szakmary’s ace that makes the difference, making it 27:29.
Milan were immediately ahead with Bajema (4:2), Akimova shortened (8:7), but a block against Szakmary gave Milan +3 (11:8), with Novara coming back twice: first at 11:11 and then at 13 :13 Akimova scored parallel. Bonifacio overtakes (13-14, ace), Sylla at the net puts his team back in the lead (18-16) and after the Italian reaction worth 20-19, the only bad pass of the Novara game leads to Milan The set ends at 25:19 and increases to 1:1.
Milan confirmed Cazaute, who replaced Bajema, in the sextet, but Novara immediately increased the tempo, first blocking with Bonifacio (2-6), then taking advantage of Szakmary’s excellent turn on serve to make it 2-9 with the Hungarian attacker’s ace. while Gaspari stops the game. Heyrman reacts (5-10), Szakmary blocks the ball (6-13) and Novara runs away quickly, until 9-20, signed by Akimova, while Milan clings to Egonu: his move on the bat brings the Lombards back into the race ( 16 – 23, ace) and after Akimova’s lob (16-24), it is Cazaute’s turn to get his team back on track with the ace of 19-24. It is Szakmary who closes the score with the diagonal of 19-25, which is worth 1-2.
Milan changes again: Candi and Rettke are also in the sextet. The Lombards immediately make it 4:1 with a block, Akimova (5:3, ace) and Buijs (9:8) bring Novara back into the game, while Danesi Orro blocks to make it 10:10 and Novara brings the 14th shortly afterwards – 16 with Akimova scoring diagonally. Rettke equalizes the deficit (17:17) and then makes it 19:17, Bernardi interrupts the game, but the break is crucial: Novara remains behind, but does not come back and at 25:22 it goes into the tiebreak.
Buijs blocks Egonu at the beginning of the tiebreak (2:4), Szakmary alternates between diagonal (4:6) and parallel (4:7) and then also manages the 5:8, which sends the teams to the field change. Novara keeps the lead until the score is 7:10 (dropout by Akimova), then Milan comes back with 11:12 and Bernardi gathers his team. Szakmary blocks Rettke and earns the match point (11-14), in the second attempt it is a service error from Cazaute that ends the match with the score at 12-15 for the Italians.
THE PROTAGONISTS-
Helena Cazaute (Allianz Vero Volley Milano)- “It’s a shame about the result tonight.” Novara played well, they were particularly good at blocking. Now the Final Four of the Italian Cup awaits us, into which we will put all our hearts and energy.”
Vita Akimova (Igor Gorgonzola Novara)- “For us it is a very important victory in our championship series, but I have to say that the performance was also very positive: we had fun on the pitch and I think that showed.” I believe that our greater patience in made the difference in some crucial situations. We have had difficult weeks, we played our best game when it really mattered and we are very happy.”
THE RESULTSHEET-
ALLIANZ VERO VOLLEY MILAN – IGOR GORGONZOLA NOVARA 2-3 (27-29 25-19 19-25 25-22 12-15)
ALLIANZ VERO VOLLEY MILAN: Sylla 20, Folie 5, Egonu 28, Bajema 5, Heyrman 4, Orro, Castillo (left), Rettke 11, Cazaute 9, Candi 3, Malual. Not allowed: Pusic (L), Prandi, Daalderop. All. Gaspari.
IGOR GORGONZOLA NOVARA: Buijs 15, Danesi 8, Akimova 23, Szakmary 14, Bonifacio 14, Bosio 3, Fersino (left), De Nardi. Not allowed to enter: Kapralova, Bartolucci, Chirichella, Guidi, Bosetti (L). All. Bernardi.
REFEREE: Puecher, Cavalieri
Set duration: 33′, 28′, 27′, 30′, 19′; Total: 137′.
MVP: Vita Akimova (Igor Gorgonzola Novara)
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