IGOR GORGONZOLA NOVARA- PROSECCO DOC IMOCO CONEGLIANO 1-3
(26-28 | 25-23 | 20-25 | 16-25)
IGOR GORGONZOLA NOVARA: Bosio, Bartolucci ne, De Nardi, Fersino, Alsmeier 13, Ishikawa 13, Mims, Bonifacio 8, Aleksic 3, Mazzaro, Tolok 34, Akimova, Squarcini 1, Villani ne. Coach Bernardi
Prosecco DOC Imoco Conegliano: Gabi 16, Zhu 17, Seki ne, Eckl ne, Lubian, De Gennaro, Haak 20, Wolosz 1, Adigwe ne, Lanier, Lukasik, Chirichella 6, Fahr 14, Bardaro ne. Coach Santarelli
Referees: Simbari and Verrascina
Attendance: 4000
Set duration: 30′, 30′, 27′, 26’Notes
: serving errors No 17, Co 8; aces 7-3; blocks 2-10
Mvp: Tolok
The matchball to go to the final in a fiery PalaIgor smiles on Prosecco DOC Imoco Conegliano which after the fourth bitter battle with Igor Novara has the upper hand and wins the pass for the 9th championship final in its history, 7th consecutive.
Coach Daniele Santarelli confirms the sextet of the other matches in the series: the diagonal is Wolosz-Haak, Gabi and Zhu are the wings, Fahr and Chirichella the middles, De Gennaro the libero. Coach Lorenzo Bernardi, on the other side, opts for Bosio-Tolok in the diagonal, Ishikawa and Alsmeier are the wings, Aleksic and Bonifacio the middle, Fersino the libero.
The Panthers start by bursting up thanks to Haak at the start (1-4), then Igor unleashes aggression and a great Tolok, placing a 7-2 partial to take the lead, so it will remain for most of the set. Captain Wolosz to keep the slipstream relies on a sparkling Sarah Fahr for the attack (7 points the blue center with 86%), but Novara seems to be heading towards the advantage thanks to incisive serves (4 aces, 3 by Tolok in the set). In times of need, the spirit of Prosecco DOC Imoco comes out. Zhu and Haak are invaluable with the serving round; the final is exciting, Novara counters blow by blow to the advantages, but Asia Wolosz leads the team towards the 4th set point by scoring Gabi, then the Lady Luck smiles at the Panthers and Fahr plays with the tape finding the ace that delivers the first set to coach Santarelli’s team (26-28).
Second set and still fair. Bella Haak throws Conegliano ahead (6-5), the two teams fight at the top of their pace in a play-off match worthy of the level of the Italian championship in front of the sold out PalaIgor; the first yellow-blue mini-break of the second period is a solo by Gabi (7-8, 6 points for the Brazilian in the partial with 75% in attack), then Novara takes the lead thanks to another great serving turn by Tolok and a partial of 9-3 Piedmontese that is worth 17-12. Coach Santarelli chooses Lukasik’s lucidity in defense to weave the web in the second line, then Zhu Ting in the front line takes the chair in the final of the set (20-18). With Wolosz’s block, the Panthers come close to equalizing, Lanier also enters to reinforce the front line, but Tolok writes 1-1 with 25-23.
A super Chirichella between the wall and the first half gives the triple advantage in the third set to the Panthers, a gap that widens thanks to Zhu (3-7 and time-out by Coach Bernardi). Novara has the merit of getting back on track (9-9), then the match is played on a razor’s edge: as in the first set, the Panthers find a vital 5-0 with Haak on the cover (16-22, De Gennaro queen of the second line and soul of the defense, Igor Gorgonzola contained to 32% offensive in the third period), then Zhu propitiates the set point of 20-25 which is worth 2-1 for Prosecco DOC Imoco. Chinese superstar with 7 points in the third set seasoned with a block.
Bella Haak leaves her mark at the beginning of the fourth set between place 2 and ace (2-4), then another winning serve by Gabi breaks the balance with a venomous serve that is worth the ace (8-10). The walls and the first halves of Sarah Fahr (14 points, 85% in attack!) break the balance, Haak (20 points at the end) does not make any more mistakes (12-17), Gabi and Zhu (33 points in two) hammer and once it takes its proverbial rhythm the “prosecco volley” of the Panthers has the upper hand despite the character of an indomitable Novara (Tolok MVP with 30) keeps De Gennaro and his teammates on the rope until almost the end of a game 4 that has lived up to the forecasts. 16-25 the final of the only “comfortable” set for Conegliano, which closes a match played with few errors both in attack and serve, one of the keys in a match played at a very high pace.
The Panthers in the four semi-final matches had to “get their hands dirty” to get the better of Lorenzo Bernardi’s team, demonstrating that even when it comes to bringing out the character, Prosecco DOC Imoco is special.
Thus comes the 9th championship final, 7th consecutive and the opponent will still be Numia Milano, from Wednesday 16 (game 1 at Palaverde) another chapter of an endless season begins.
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(Carriers photo)