The victory in Brazil is easily the biggest one for Scandicci in club history. Created in 2012-2013, when they appeared in their first tournaments in the Italian lower divisions, Scandicci had only lifted trophies in their victories in the 2021-2022 Challenge Cup and the 2022-2023 CEV Cup before. The team had made it to two other finals, in the 2023-2024 Italian League and the 2024-2025 CEV Champions League, but fell to Conegliano on both occasions.
They won the title in São Paulo with a nearly perfect campaign, which saw them defeat as many as three continental champions to end the event with five victories and only one set lost, in the final against their Italian rivals.
To Conegliano, the defeat in Brazil prevents them from earning their fourth world title (they won in 2019, 2022 and 2024) and tying Turkish giants VakifBank Istanbul as the most successful team at the Club World Championship. It's also the second tournament played by the club in 2025-2026 that doesn't end on a title - they also lost the Supercoppa Italiana to Numia Vero Volley Milano.
Olympic and world champion opposite Ekaterina Antropova was unstoppable in the final, leading Savino Del Bene with 25 points (19 kills, three blocks, three aces), and ending the event as its top scorer, with 99. American outside hitter Avery Skinner also played a big role in the team's victory, registering 18 kills, while middle blocker Linda Nwakalor stepped up to add another 14, with eight kills, five blocks and one ace.
"It was the first goal of our season, and we did it," Antropova celebrated. "We beat a really good team, and I think we showed from the beginning that we believed that we could do it. Winning this trophy with Scandicci was one of my personal goals, because I got to win a lot with the national team, and it was really important to give something back to this club."
