Volley Update

Once again I took a little break from blogging...but I'm back to give a little update.  After winning Coppa Italia, 3 days later we started playoffs.  In the quater-finals we were matched up with Pavia.  We were all very tired from Coppa Italia, but fought hard and were able to win the series in 2 straight matches.

Gara 1

Villa Cortese def. Pavia 25-19, 25-16, 19-25, 25-22

Gara 2

Villa Cortese def. Pavia 25-11, 29-27, 27-25

We were the only quarterfinal to be finished after two games.  We really needed that rest because we knew the semi-finals was going to be a tough one.  Bergamo ended up beating Perugia in 3 matches, so it was time to play Bergamo.  Bergamo is a always a very experienced team with a lot of Italian National Team members.  We beat them in 5 sets to win Coppa Italia, so we knew this was going to be a long series.  

Gara 1

Villa Cortese def. Bergamo  25-23, 25-17, 24-26, 26-24

Gara 2

Bergamo def. Villa Cortese  31-29, 25-17, 25-14

Gara 3

Villa Cortese def. Bergamo  25-17, 24-26, 24-26, 25-14, 17-15

Gara 4

Villa Cortese def. Bergamo  25-22, 26-28, 22-25, 25-19, 15-12

I get tired looking at those scores.  It was a battle...and we came out on top to make it to my first ever final appearance here in Italy.  Pesaro had closed their series against Jesi the night before.  So now it was time to forget about our big win in the semi-finals and concentrate on Pesaro.

Unfortunately last night we suffered a difficult loss in the first match of the series...

Gara 1 

Pesaro def. Villa Cortese 18-25, 33-31, 23-25, 25-21, 15-13

It is always an interesting experience going back to Pesaro after playing there for my first 3 years in Italy.  The fans have become quite aggressive these days...but I guess people can say that about me on the volleyball court.  They are just doing their job.  Tomorrow we will fight once again and try to tie up the series before heading back North.