Conegliano, Novara, Scandicci and Chieri fight for the trophy in Turin
Published 02:36, 23 Jan 2026
Conegliano and Novara will open the semifinals on Saturday afternoon (Photo: LVF)
The second national title in the Italian domestic 2025-2026 women's volleyball season will be awarded this weekend, when the city of Turin hosts the Final Phase of the 48th edition of the Coppa Italia A1 Frecciarossa.
After Numia Vero Volley Milano triumphed in the Supercoppa Italiana Fineco in October, Prosecco Doc Imoco Conegliano, Igor Gorgonzola Novara, Savino Del Bene Scandicci and Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri '76 are the candidates to triumph in the country's national Cup.
Having the Inalpi Arena as the venue, the Coppa Italia Final Four will begin on Saturday, with the semifinals, which will have Conegliano playing Novara at 15:30 local time (16:30 UTC) and Scandicci facing Chieri at 18:00 (19:00 UTC). The winners will meet in Sunday's gold medal match at 15:00 (16:00 UTC).
The winners of the last six editions of the Italian Cup, Conegliano will play for their seventh-straight and eighth overall title in the tournament - they also triumphed in 2016/2017. Currently sitting at the top of the standings of the Lega Femminile Serie A1 Tigotà, the Panthers eliminated Bergamo in the quarterfinals back in December.
Under pressure after failing to win both the Supercoppa and the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship, the team coached by Daniele Santarelli counts on the talent and the experience of players like Brazilian outside hitter Gabriela 'Gabi' Guimarães, Swedish opposite Isabelle Haak, libero Monica De Gennaro and Polish setter Joanna Wołosz to lift their first trophy in the 2025-2026 season.
"There's great balance in Italian volleyball this season, and I believe the semifinals will be very challenging," Wołosz commented. "After not winning two tournaments, we want to show that Conegliano is still here. We want to have fun this weekend and are sure that the atmosphere will be great."
Their opponents Novara were the last team outside of Conegliano to win the Italian Cup - they topped the podium in 2017/2018 and 2018/2019 and, having also won in 2003/2004 and 2014/2015, and will be looking for a fifth title. Ranked fifth in the Italian League right now, they made it to the Final Four after eliminating Milano in the quarterfinals.
Coached by the legendary Lorenzo Bernardi, Novara have plenty of firepower in their offense, with Olympic champion setter Carlotta Cambi feeding the likes of Russian opposite Tatiana Tolok, Japanese outside hitter Mayu Ishikawa and Belgian outside hitter Britt Herbots at the net.
"We're pretty much playing at home in Turin, but I think that every team will feel like that at the Inalpi Arena," middle blocker Sara Bonifacio remarked. "We're looking forward to playing and competing for an important trophy."
Conegliano and Novara have met 57 times in Italian domestic tournaments, and the Panthers have been vastly superior, coming out on top on 45 occasions. They were on the winning side in nine of the ten most recent duels, including the last four.
The reigning world champions, Scandicci will play in the Coppa Italia Final Four for a third-straight season - they also made it to the semifinals in 2016-2017 and 2018-2019 and will try to make it to the gold medal match for the first time. Scandicci occupy the second place in the Italian League and knocked Megabox Ondulati Del Savio Vallefoglia out in the quarterfinals.
Undefeated in its last 11 matches across Italian tournaments, the team coached by Marco Gaspari has Olympic and world champion opposite Ekaterina Antropova in great form and a strong surrounding core formed by Serbian world champion setter Maja Ognjenović, American Olympic medalist outside hitter Avery Skinner and Dominican star libero Brenda Castillo.
"Being in the Final Four was one of our goals," Ognjenović said. "We've been playing well, as the victory at the Club World Championship showed, but Chieri are a strong team with solid pieces."
Chieri are the sensations of the Coppa Italia this season, having advanced to the semifinals for the fourth time after overcoming Eurotek Laica UYBA Busto Arsizio in the quarterfinals. Ranked fourth in the Lega Femminile, the team has competed in the Final Four in 2020-2021, 2021-2022 and 2023-2024, but never made it past the semifinals.
Counting on world champion Stella Nervini, fellow outside hitter and Italian national team regular Alice Degradi, Olympic champion libero Ilaria Spirito and high-scoring Hungarian opposite Anett Németh and head coach Nicola Negro on the bench, they hope to change this now.
"We know of Scandicci's quality and are sure it will be a battle," Spirito reflected. "We are coming from a somewhat difficult period, in which we still managed to get results. We want to take advantage of this opportunity and win a trophy."
The retrospective between the teams favors Scandicci, who triumphed 13 times in 15 duels and haven't lost to their next opponents since 2021.
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