Women’s pro volleyball: Plummer, Conegliano win Italian SuperCup; Cuttino tears it up in Japan

This is our weekly update on USA women playing professional volleyball around the world. Most of the players are former NCAA standouts:

Italy 

ITALIAN SUPERCOPPA: Imoco Conegliano won its first trophy of the season by beating Novara in the Italian SuperCoppa 25-23, 17-25, 25-17, 25-17) Kathryn Plummer was Conegliano’s second leading scorer as she had 17 kills and hit .387. Kelsey Cook had three kills and Jordan Poutler added a kill and block for Novara.

ITALIAN LEAGUE: Cuneo won its fifth match in a row as they swept Pinerolo. Anna Stevenson-Hall had nine kills (.533) and an ace for Cuneo (5-4). Teammate Dani Drews added four kills, a block, and an ace.

Casalmaggiore pulled off the reverse sweep against Vallefoglia 20-25, 22-25, 26-24, 25-18, 15-12. Ali Frantti was the top scorer in the match as she had 27 kills (.438), three blocks, and two aces. Lauren Carlini added two aces and a block for Casalmaggiore (4-5). Micha Hancock had five kills and two aces for Vallefoglia.

Milano bounced back and beat Chieri 25-21, 25-19, 23-25, 25-21 as Jordan Thompson was the top scorer 13 kills, five blocks and two aces. Dana Rettke did not playfor Monza (8-1), while Brionne Butler did not appear for Chieri (6-3).

Firenze halted its losing streak and beat Perugia 25-17, 18-25, 25-18, 25-20. Rhamat Alhassan had four kills and a block for Firenze (4-6). Stephanie Samedy had six kills for Perugia (2-7), while Tori Dilfer added a kill and an ace.

Macerata pulled off the upset against Bergamo 25-18, 25-18, 19-25, 16-25, 15-13. Symone Abbott had 13 kills and two blocks for Macerata (2-7). Khalia Lanier led all players with 24 kills (.553), two aces, and a block. Mac May added a kill for Bergamo (4-5).

Busto Arsizio had their biggest win of the season as they beat Scandicci in five sets (25-18, 20-25, 23-25, 25-11, 15-12). Carli Lloyd had four kills and an ace for Busto Arsizio (3-6). Haleigh Washington had eight kills (.500), five blocks, and two aces for Scandicci (6-3).

Japan

JT Marvelous rose to the top of the standings by sweeping the weekend series with Kurobe. Karsta Lowe did not play in the first match, in which JT Marvelous had no problems with Kurobe 25-16, 25-16, 25-15. Lowe made an appearance in the second match and had came off the bench in set two and added four kills in the 25-18, 25-22, 25-21victory.

Hitachi Rivale lost both of its matches against PFU. PFU swept…