Novara will arrive at Palaverde on 20 October and Busto Arsizio on 7 November. Santarelli: “Challenging away matches in the first leg”
conegliano
A soft start for Imoco, which will have undergone two matches with the newly promoted to pick up the pace of the championship. Then a tour de force with Novara, Monza and Busto Arsizio in seventeen days. The Volleyball League yesterday raffled off the 2021/2022 championship calendar which will once again see Imoco start as the absolute favorite, although the opponents did not stand by and we all tried to strengthen. Starting with the number one challenger, Novara who, on the contrary, will see the crystalline talent, but not always constant given the young age, of the Turkish Ebrar Karakurt.
The panthers will debut at home on October 10 with Vallefoglia, then on the 17th the trip to Rome. The dates to be marked in the calendar for the first round are 20 October when Novara will arrive at Palaverde and 7 November when it will host Busto Arsizio; while the other big matches with Monza (31 October) and Scandicci on 28 November are away. The regular season will close on April 3 when the panthers go to Bergamo. After that they will be playoffs. The deadline for the delivery of the Scudetto in a possible match 5 has already been set: it will be 14 or 15 May. But Conegliano’s season, as usual, will begin with the first straight match to win a trophy, the Supercoppa final with Novara on 2 October. The calendar satisfies coach Daniele Santarelli, who sees a less stressful second round in the balance between home and away matches. And it is no small thing, given that we will get to the heart of the Champions League.
«Let’s start with the two newly promoted one week after the Super Cup. But we will have to get to the heart immediately because on 20 October we will play again against Novara. It is positive that in the first leg we will have many challenging away matches, while in March we will play three times at home », is the analysis of the coach. «The home match on December 26 remained in the calendar, which we care so much about. We hope to have the full Palaverde », he concludes. Bergamo will arrive in Santo Stefano a Villorba to finish the first round. However, there will be no time to rest for the Gialloblù, in fact the Coppa Italia will be played at the turn of 2022. On 29 and 30 December the first eight of the first round will play the quarter-finals, and the winners will reach the Final Four, scheduled for Wednesday 5 and Thursday 6 January. However, the drawn calendar is also linked to the uncertainties of the Champions League and the Club World Cup. The Imoco will play the tournament in Istanbul from 14 to 19 December; therefore there are two league matches at risk of displacement: that of the 12th in Florence, and that of the 19th with Chieri. In November, however, there is all the space for the midweek of the Champions League, with the regular season at one match per week.
The Imoco will start the season on Monday afternoon, with the rally in San Vendemiano. A very small start, given the call-ups for the Europeans. In San Vendemiano there will be captain Joanna Wolosz and Robin De Kruijf who have renounced their respective national teams, Lara Caravello, Giulia Gennari, Loveth Omoruyi, fresh from the under 20 world title and awarded as the best hitter of the tournament, and Giorgia Frosini, promoted by the youth teams , and she too with the world title on her shoulders. Rapha Folie has renounced the European Championships, but will join the team after a holiday period, while Miryam Sylla, Paola Egonu, Sara Fahr and Monica De Gennaro will be on the hunt for redemption from 18 August after the Olympic disappointment at the European Championships. With them there will also be Daniele Santarelli, Croatia coach, who did not do without the central Bozana Butigan called for the continental event. At the meeting he will be replaced by assistant coach Valerio Lionetti. Fans will have to wait a little longer to see the new spikers Megan Courtney and Kathryn Plummer, who will join after the rally. –