Gabi leads Conegliano to Courmayeur Cup title

Prosecco Doc Imoco Conegliano and Numia Vero Volley Milano gave Italian fans a taste of what’s to come in the 2024-2025 Lega Volley Femminile Serie A1 Tigotà on Sunday, engaging in a five-set battle to determine the winners of the Courmayeur Cup preseason tournament.

After more than two hours, Conegliano triumphed 3-2 (18-25, 25-23, 23-25, 25-17, 15-13) in front of almost 3,000 fans at the Courmayeur Sport Center to take the title of the two-day event that also featured Igor Gorgonzola Novara and Savino Del Bene Scandicci. Conegliano and Milano will meet again with a trophy in play next Saturday, when they clash for the Supercoppa Italiana.

• Watch the 2024-2025 Lega Volley Femminile Serie A1 Tigotà live on VBTV

Arguably the most exciting signing of the 2024-2025 Lega Femminile, Brazilian star outside hitter Gabriela ‘Gabi’ Guimarães showed how pivotal she can be for Conegliano’s success this season, stepping up to lead the team, which only had star opposite Isabelle Haak in the first few points, with a match-high 26 points (24kills, one block, one ace).

“We’re still finding our identity as a team and getting to know each other, but it’s great to see things working well,” the Brazilian said in an Instagram post. “We still have a lot of work to do and are focused on the same goal.”

The Panthers also counted on solid performances from their middle blockers to beat Milano as Cristina Chirichella, another of the team’s signings, delivered 14 points with Olympic champion Sarah Fahr contributing another 13.

Star opposite Paola Egonu led Milano with 22 points, followed by Dutch outside hitter Nika Daalderop, with 13, and French national team captain Héléna Cazaute, with 12.

“It was a good tournament for us to find the right rhythm for the upcoming matches and I hope that the local fans had fun in these two days,” said Milano’s setter and captain Alessia Orro. “We’re already focused on next week and our team is ready, as we showed this week. We know where we need to improve and will work on these areas in the next few days.”

Novara finish third

Novara recovered from a four-set semifinal loss to Conegliano on Friday and swept (25-23, 25-19, 25-17) Scandicci on Saturday to end the preseason tournament in third place.

Three of the team’s new signings, Japanese Mayu Ishikawa (16 points), Russian Tatiana Tolok (13) and German Lina Alsmeier (12), all got to double digits in scoring. Olympic champion opposite Ekaterina Antropova was the only Scandicci player to do the same, with 12 points.

“I am really happy with what we have put in place in these two days,” setter Francesca Bosio reacted. “We knew it would be an important test to understand where we are and I think the feedback has been really positive for what we have shown. I am happy with the group that is being created, there is unity of purpose and a great desire to work, which makes the atmosphere in the gym very good and this always makes a positive difference. The road ahead of us is certainly long but I am convinced that we have taken the right path.”

Next Saturday, Conegliano and Milano will meet in the Supercoppa Italiana at 18:00 local time (16:00 GMT), in Rome. Scandicci’s next match will be their Lega Femminile debut, against Cuneo Granda Volley, on October 5 – one day later, Novara will play their opening match against Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri ’76.