Victory after five sets of fire for Igor Volley in the derby with Chieri. The Azzurre start well but are forced to chase after a first set closed badly, overturning the inertia of the match also thanks to the excellent entry into the court of Britt Herbots (awarded with merit MVP of the match), only to extend the challenge until the tie-break, won in a comeback. Rosamaria Montibeller suffered an injury in the final of the fourth set: the condition of her ankle and left knee will be evaluated in the coming days.

Igor on the court with Karakurt opposite Hancock, Chirichella and Washington central, Bosetti and Daalderop spikers and Fersino free; Chieri with Bosio in the direction and Grobelna diagonally, Alhassan and Weitzel in the center, Frantti and Villani in the band and De Bortoli free.

Novara starts strong (4-0, then 6-1 with Chirichella blocking) but the initial gust soon dies down and Chieri overturns the partial with a partial of 1-7 that brings the Turinese from 10-6 to 11-13 with the errors of Karakurt and Bosetti. Two guest blocks keep the Azzurre at a distance (12-15, then 14-18) and the Azzurre wake up too late, reopening the partial from 17-21 to 20-23 with the guests who then raise their voices to the wall and close 20-25.

Karakurt (4-2) is answered by Grobelna (5-5) with the Belgian who then finds the ace of the overtaking (6-7) followed by Karakurt’s error for 8-10; the Turkish redeems herself by realizing a great defense by Hancock (10-10) and then signing the diagonal of the overtaking (13-12) which triggers a nice point to point in which the Azzurre keep their heads ahead until the first half of Chirichella, on 16-15. Bosetti (16-17) and Daalderop (17-18) make mistakes, Herbots enters and overturns everything while the errors of Grobelna and Cazaute are worth 23-21 with Bregoli who stops the game. Bosetti wins the set ball (24-22), Weitzel and Grobelna cancel (24-24) and Frantti overtakes (24-25), with Novara canceling two set balls and then winning three more, with Herbots dragging his team to 29-28 before Grobelna’s out attack (30-28) which is worth 1-1.

Novara starts again with Herbots and Bonifacio in the sextet and the Belgian drags hers to 10-5 (winning diagonal) with Chirichella who alternates first half (11-5) and fast (13-6), keeping her opponents at a distance. Villani tries (14-10) but Hancock signs the ace of 16-10 and Chirichella in the first half keeps his distance at 19-14. Montibeller enters and signs the 21-15, then the 22-17 with a delicate touch, Karakurt returns to the court and wins the set ball (24-18) but then wastes everything by shooting out the 24-20 and suffering the block of 24-21. Herbots closes with a lob, for 25-21.

Chieri with Mazzaro and Cazaute starting, Villani finds the ace of 3-5 but Karakurt responds (6-6) and it is Herbots’ turn to sign the overtake with the diagonal of 11-10. Villani again (ace, 11-12) while Novara responds at 14-12 with Bregoli who sends Frantti back to the court and Chieri who returns from 17-15 to 17-17 with Alhassan protagonist on the block. Herbots keeps his team ahead (19-18, winning diagonal), Montibeller is injured falling from the wall (19-20) and Chieri finds the break of 20-23 that directs the set: it ends 22-25, without further surprises.

Chieri starts again from Frantti and after the initial break of the Azzurre (5-3, second attack by Hancock), the guests take advantage of Karakurt’s errors to go back ahead 6-8 at the halfway point. Chirichella’s ace is worth the tie at 8, Herbots in the pipe overtakes (10-9) and two aces by Hancock in the most delicate moment give the Azzurre the decisive break (12-9). Chieri returns with Frantti (12-11), Daalderop enters and signs the 13-11, Mazzaro does not give up (13-12) but the usual Herbots wins the match ball, materialized at the first attempt by an attack out by Villani (15-12).

Stefano Lavarini (coach Igor Gorgonzola Novara): “Congratulations to Chieri because they played a great game, congratulations to us because despite this we managed to win an important victory. We knew it would be tough, they held a very high level of defense and this put us in difficulty but in the end we made the right choices in some crucial moments and this allowed us to win “.

Britt Herbots (spiker Igor Gorgonzola Novara): “I am very happy to have contributed to the team’s comeback victory. We knew that Chieri would play a great game but we wanted to win because for us these are fundamental points to defend the position in the standings. Now other tough games await us, we will work to be ready”.

Igor Gorgonzola Novara – Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri 3-2 (20-25, 30-28, 25-21, 22-25, 15-12)
Igor Gorgonzola Novara: Imperiali (L) ne, Herbots 19, Montibeller 2, Battistoni, Fersino (L), Bosetti 17, Chirichella 10, Hancock 6, Bonifacio 4, Washington 4, Costantini ne, D’Odorico, Daalderop 5, Karakurt 17. Coach Lavarini
Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri: Alhassan 14, Cazaute 4, Perinelli, Bosio, Frantti 11, Bonelli, Grobelna 23, Villani 18, De Bortoli (L), Mazzaro 8, Karaoglu, Armini (L) ne, Weitzel 1, Guarena ne. Coach Bregoli
MVP Britt Herbots