International women: Plummer, Imoco Conegliano take Italian League; Bartsch-Hackley wins in Turkey
This is the last of our weekly reports this season on USA Volleyball women playing professionally around the world. Most of the leagues have finished and 25 players — many featured in these reports each week — are now on the USA Volleyball 2022 Volleyball Nations League roster.
Italy
Kathryn Plummer and Imoco Conegliano won another Italian League title.
Imoco Conegliano went five but beat Monza 25-20, 23-25, 25-21, 21-25, 15-8 to win the series 3-1 and capture its fourth league crown.
Plummer was second top scorer for Conegliano as she had 11 kills (hitting .139), four blocks, and an ace. Megan Courtney-Lush came off the bench to have six service receptions, which she passed 67% positively.
Jordan Larson was Monza’s top scorer with 14 kills (.333) and two blocks. She was also the match’s top passer, receiving 17 serves which she passed 82% positively. Dana Rettke added two kills (.100).
This was Monza’s best performance ever.
There’s still the Champions League for Plummer and Rettke, who will join Team USA , while Larson returns to Austin to serve as volunteer coach at Texas. Her husband, David Hunt, left his job as head men’s coach at Pepperdine to become a Texas assistant.
Turkey
In the highly anticipated, winner-take-all fifth match, VakifBank came out on top yet again and swept Fenerbahce 25-23, 25-20, 25-20.
Michelle Bartsch-Hackley was limited to three kills (-.077) and one block but had an excellent passing match as she passed 57% positive on 21 receptions. Chiaka Ogbogu did not play due to foreigner limits. This was the fourth consecutive league title for VakifBank. VakifBank won every trophy it played for this season, which includes the Turkish League, Turkish Cup, Turkish Super Cup, and the Club World Championship.
Champions League
In the final club match of the season, Vakifbank and Conegliano will face off in the Champions League final on May 22. This will be a rematch of the 2021 Champions League final where Conegliano defeated Vakifbank 3-2. It will also be a rematch of this past year’s Club World Championship where VakifBank defeated Conegliano 3-2.
Plummer and Courtney-Lush will face off against Barstch-Hackley and Ogbogu, which will maintain the streak of at least one American winning the Champions League every year since 2014.
It will also be the final test of Barstch-Hackley’s streak before her break from volleyball. She has not lost a competition of any sort since that Champions League final, winning the 2021 Volleyball Nations League, 2021 Olympic Games plus the four previously mentioned club titles since then.
This match can be streamed on EuroVolley TV.
Champions Around the World
Vasas Budapest won the title in Hungary by beating Bekescsabai in the final series 3-2. Newcomer Taylor Bannister won her first professional league title with Vasas. She finished the season as the third best scorer in the league, with 4.93 points/set.
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