An extraordinary performance from Isabelle Haak was the difference in the third match of the 2023-2024 Lega Pallavolo Femminile Serie A Tigotà Finals as the Swedish star helped Prosecco Doc Imoco Conegliano beat Savino Del Bene Scandicci for the second time in five days on Wednesday.

With Haak delivering an astonishing 41 points, Imoco secured a critical victory in front of their home fans to build a 2-1 lead and take control in the best-of-five series against Scandicci, who had upset them at the same Palaverde, in Villorba, one week ago in the opening match of the Scudetto Finals.

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Pushed by Haak’s unbelievable offensive performance, Imoco took advantage of the support of their home fans to beat Scandicci 3-1 (30-28, 23-25, 29-27, 25-22) in the first match of the Finals that didn’t go to the tie-breaker.

The 41 points scored by the Swedish were the most she produced in a single match in the entire season and were boosted by her outstanding offensive performance. The opposite converted 35 of her 54 swings into points, while making just two errors, reaching an absurd 61% efficiency rate on offense – she also tallied four blocks and two aces and was awarded as the match's MVP.

American outside hitter Kathryn Plummer was another big part of Imoco’s offense, leaving the court with 23 points (21 kills, two aces). Middle blockers Marina Lubian (11 points) and Sarah Fahr (ten) combined to add 21 points.

“We played a very good game today,” Lubian reflected. “We managed to limit our errors and kept our level high even when Scandicci pushed us. They are very aggressive with their offense, especially Antropova, but today we did a good job with our blocking and defense. Scandicci are a very strong team and on Saturday we’ll for sure have another battle.”

Scandicci had Ekaterina Antropova and Britt Herbots leading the team’s scoring efforts on Wednesday. The Italian opposite registered 26 points (19 kills, four aces, three blocks), seven more than the Belgian outside hitter, who had 18 kills and one block. With 12 points (11 kills, one block), Chinese outside hitter Zhu Ting also reached double digits in scoring.

“It was a very even match,” head coach Massimo Barbolini analyzed. “Both teams were incredibly efficient with their offenses and I think they did a little something more to take the win. It’s been the tough series we expected and we’re doing everything we can to create difficulties for them. I thought we recovered well in the third set and had opportunities to win it, but unfortunately we didn’t make the right decisions.”

Next match on Saturday

Wednesday’s victory has placed Imoco just one win away from securing their sixth-straight and seventh overall Italian title. The Panthers will have their first opportunity to end the series on Saturday, at 20:30 local time (18:30 GMT), at the Palazzo Wanny, in Firenze.

Lega Femminile - Match Schedule and Results

If Scandicci win and force a fifth and decisive match, that will be played on Tuesday, April 30, at 17:30 local time (15:30 GMT), back in Villorba.

Quick links:
Lega Pallavolo Femminile Serie A1 Tigotà
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