Vallefoglia wins pass to Challenge Cup

The Megabox Ondulati del Savio Vallefoglia conquered the pass for the Challenge Cup by beating Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri on its court in the Play-off Final at the end of an exciting match, managing to recover after a difficult start and, above all, remounting in a fiery tie-break a 7-3 disadvantage. Commotion on the court at the end, for a team that grew throughout the season and closed by reaching a goal unthinkable at the beginning of the championship. The match was an up-and-down affair, with Chieri winning the first and fourth sets on its own and the Tigers playing great in the middle sets. In the tie-break, the lightning-fast start of the Piedmontese, on the verge of the fourth set, seemed to close any chance for the green-and-white team. Instead, two turnovers by Weitzel and Bici reopened the game, and the finale was all Megabox. Super game by Bici (30 points with 48% efficiency), excellent Weitzel (15 points and 3 aces) and Candi (12 points with 57% efficiency and 3 walls) and super team effort. For Chieri, 21 points by Skinner (50% efficiency) and 17 by Gicquel (35%).

In the first set, it was neck-and-neck (two +3 breaks rebounded by the Pesaresi) until the decisive break by the hosts (17-12 on Van Aalen’s winning serve). The Megabox slowly slipped back, until the all too severe 25-15 final with Alberti’s wall on Carletti’s serve.

In the second set Lpartiva better Megabox led the partial until the initial 2-0. Only tied at 7, then Real Mutua got closer at 12-13 but could never catch up, until the break signed by Candi and Carletti (23-18). The tigers’ captain closed on 25-21.

In the third set Megabox even more authoritative, immediately ahead 13-5, with Bregoli revolutionizing his sextet by giving space to Guiducci and Omoruyi in place of Van Aalen and Bujis. The Tigers maintained the lead until the end, although Skinner brought her teammates back to -3 (16-19). She closed out the wild Bici with two points in a row on 25-20

In the fourth set Reale Mutua reacted and regained continuity in attack: always ahead of the Piedmontese, soon on +5 and then away with bigger advantages. An error by Gicquel brought Megabox back to 14-19, but the final had no history, despite the solutions tried by Pistola: Skinner closed 25-16.

In the tie-break Chieri flew 7-3, with a 5-1 partial after the initial 0-2 in favor of the Tigers. Pistola’s timeout sparked the comeback, thanks to three service wins by Weitzel and Bici and a pair of errors by Omoruyi and Skinner. Lee found two crucial attacks in the finale, closing out 15-12 on a Van Aalen hitting error.

So at the end of the game, captain Sonia Candi: “It was a crazy game, and all in all a portrait of our season. We suffered, we managed to fight back when they came back into the game and we never gave up, pulling ourselves out of difficult situations. When did I think we could do it? Since before the game I had a lot of confidence in us and was convinced that we would make it. I could write a book about this season; I am left, beyond this success, with the people I met. I don’t know if I’ve ever gotten along so well in my career.”