Volley, Prosecco Doc Imoco finds Fahr, wins in Perugia and gets closer to the top

Conegliano of authority in Umbria: in sextet also the central return after the serious injury to the Crusader, Monza and Novara are struggling

PERUGIA. You could not ask for anything better than the Umbrian trip. Conegliano collects three useful points to continue the hunt for first place, saves minutes and energy in view of the return of the Champions League semi-final, expresses a continuous and at times very brilliant game and, above all, finds outright and with a growing performance Sarah Fahr . The central blonde from Piombino even enters the sextet, paired with Vuchkova, the player taken to replace her in August.

Santarelli re-proposes the American couple Courtney-Plummer in the band, with Wolosz and Egonu in the main diagonal, De Gennaro free. It’s up to Fahr to start the game with a good turn, which immediately procures two breaks signed by Egonu and Courtney. Perugia responds by distributing the attacks well between central and lateral and taking advantage of some uncertainty in covering the panthers. The Umbrians risk a little more, especially on the serve, but remain stuck in the score up to 11. Then Plummer turns on, passing five times between parallel and diagonal, using all his centimeters and his muscles to unhinge the Perugian wall. The mistakes of Glakowska and Bongaerts are also brought in, Fahr’s first points arrive with a “seven” and a block, Egonu also sees himself again and in a moment Conegliano slips a partial in his favor of 13-1.

The hosts are annihilated, while the panthers continue to push, applying the match plan to perfection, with an attitude that will be very useful on Thursday evening in the Champions League match against Monza. The scheme does not change in the second set, despite the pinwheels of changes in the ranks of Perugia. Egonu gets up great from a couple of mistakes in the opening, proposing himself repeatedly also in defense and in cover and letting go of his arm as soon as he returns to the front line. The points that lead to 6-12 are from him and Plummer. Perugia continues to push and make mistakes in the serve, but finds some good combinations with Diop who gets some ball changers that keep the gap unchanged. A delicious lob from Courtney, a block and an attack from Plummer, a narrow diagonal from Egonu are worth the maximum advantage at 12-19. The third mistake by Vuchkova, opens a small empty passage for Conegliano (15-19) and Santarelli, without getting upset, gives space to Gennari and Frosini, letting Wolosz and Egonu catch his breath. Despite a higher number of errors, eight against six, the Panthers quickly come to close the set.

The resistance of Perugia relies on the hands of Melli, who took over from Havelkova, and again to Diop. Prosecco Doc Imoco continues to find well-made points from Plummer and Fahr, whose walls and early days can be reviewed with great pleasure. Reached with relative ease the 7-12, the panthers begin to manage and give something more to their opponents. They do it with some mistakes and leaving more wall space for War and Diop attacks. Perugia, however, can never find even a break point and there is new space for Gennari and Frosini.

To seal the match comes an imperious first half by Fahr, who also touches the last ball, after opening the match with the first serving time. The confirmations that were needed arrived and on Thursday against Monza, yesterday in difficulty on the Vallefoglia field, the panthers will have to repeat themselves and definitively take the winning pace for a grand finale of the season.