"The Cinderella" and the big powerhouse to fight for the #CLVolleyW title in another Italian derby

For the fifth time in the last 24 years and for the second year in a row, two Italian sides will face off in the final of the CEV Champions League Women. This time, A.Carraro Imoco Conegliano and Savino Del Bene Scandicci will be the two sides fighting for the title, with the last three all-Italian finals featuring Conegliano.

While the two sides come from the same country and the same league, it is also the first season since 2012/13, when the two finalists are unbeaten, and are riding nine-match winning streaks into the final.

For Scandicci, this CEV Champions League Women season has been absolutely fantastic, as the Italian side has not dropped a single set on their way to the Final Four in Istanbul, as well as winning the semi-final against VakifBank Istanbul in straight sets, 3:0.

“We did something extraordinary. We got here as a 'Cinderella', from a team that probably no one expected in the final, much less with the result obtained today. I want to give a big round of applause to the girls: they interpreted exactly what the work of these three and a half weeks has been. It wasn't easy, but they worked with incredible determination and with the desire to achieve an even more incredible goal,” said Scandicci’s coach, Marco Gaspari, after their win against VakifBank.

But how did the two teams got here?

After winning the title last season without dropping a single match and securing 11 wins in a row, A. Carraro Imoco Conegliano, which have a 20-match streak still running, won their pool, with six wins in six matches, with straight sets wins against Maritza Plovdiv and Mladost Zagreb and conceding a set in a match against Developres Rzeszów.

The Polish side was once again an opponent for Conegliano in the quarter-finals, but the Italian champions could not be stopped, earning a 3:0 (25:22; 25:17; 29:27) away win and repeating the performance at home one week later, with a 25:18; 25:19; 25:22 win.

The semi-final saw Conegliano drop another set against Numia Vero Volley Milano, but they still earned a 3:1 win (25:21; 20:25; 25:17; 25:23) to clinch their sixth finals berth in history.

On the other hand, Scandicci were absolutely flawless and conceded the lowest number of points this season, with wins in straight sets against CSO Voluntari, Allianz MTV Stuttgart and BKS Bostik ZGO Bielsko-Biała in the 4th round.

Then, in the quarter-finals, they also eliminated PGE Grot Budowlani Łódź without dropping a set, with a 3:0 win in the first leg (25:22; 25:22; 25:21) and a 3:0 win in the second leg (25:17; 25:17; 25:18).

Probably their best ever performance in the CEV Champions League Women came in the semi-final against VakifBank, where they thoroughly outplayed their opponents, winning in dominating fashion, 25:12; 25:19 and 25:21.