Bergamo Wins Epic Battle!

Congratulations to Piccinini, Ortolani, Lo Bianco and Team Volley Bergamo for winning the 2010/2011 edition of the Italian League!

We’d like to thank both teams for a very exciting and very entertaning match watched by thousands of volleyball fans from all over the world.

Our chosen MVP of the match is Serena Ortolani.

Stay tuned for more!

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In case you didn’t know, Italy’s Women’s League is  not yet over.

Actually, it ends today.

After 6 years months, Foppapedretti Bergamo and Villa Cortese are fighting to win one of the most prestigious women’s crown in professional volleyball. The Best of 5 Final Round is tied at 2-2 and both teams have displayed great volleyball since the Final Round commenced on May 29th.

We repear, the Italian League Champion will be crowned today.

Honestly, we have a feeling Villa Cortese will win the Italian League. Hodge and Aguero are playing amazing since the start of the Finals. Lindsey Berg heavily relies on these 2. Let’s not forget, Cortese also has 2 talented yet underrated middles, Sara Anzanello and Raffaella Calloni. Puerto Rican star Aurea Cruz plays as the other outside hitter and the world’s best libero Paola Cardullo completes Cortese’s star studded lineup.

Villa Cortese defeated Piccinini and Bergamo to win the 2011 Coppa Italia for the second consecutive year. The victory gives Cortese a spot in the 2011/2012 edition of the Champions League. American Megan Hodge was crowned as the MVP of the tournament.

It’s not going to be an easy final battle for Cortese even if they have the momentum after winning Match #4 in straight sets. Picci and Team Bergamo will put up a great fight in front of enthusiastic volleyball fans. When we say fans, we are not talking about hundreds or a thousand, we mean thousands as in a crowd of almost 3,000.

After a forgettable performance at the 2010/2011 Champions League which they failed to defend their crown, Bergamo went through a series of challenges & changes this season.

In December 2010, Lo Bianco had to withdraw from playing due to medical reasons. Piccinini was not in great form after a very long season with the Italian National Team. Antonella Del Core did not renew her contract and left the team to play in Turkey. Their libero Enrica Merlo was sidelined for a minor ankle injury which needed surgery. While these players were missing in action, Serena Ortolani became Bergamo’s  most effective offense together with the emotional Valentina Arrighetti & Iuliana Nucu from Romania.

These girls worked hard and played hard together despite the roller coaster ride and in the end they managed to win several key matches during the Regular Round and Playoffs.

The other factor which makes the Final Battle more exciting to watch is the highly anticipated showdown between the great Taimarys Aguero (Cortese) and Francesca Piccinini aka The Queen of Italian Volleyball.

They were former teammates on the Italian National Team and Queen Picci got blamed by some fans that Aguero left because of her. As of press time, this news remains as a rumor. Both players never talked about this nor confirmed or denied such allegation.

(image: treccani.it)

Let’s face it – we enjoy this rumor. LOL!

Anyways, we are so lucky to find these videos of the Final Round for you to enjoy.

Match 1:

Match 2:

Match 3:

Match 4: