The Panthers will now play Italians rivals Savino Del Bene Scandicci in the tournament's final match, which will take place on Sunday, at 16:30 local time (19:30 UTC). Earlier, at 13:00 (16:00 UTC), Osasco and Dentil Praia Clube will meet in another duel involving teams from the same country, this one rewarding the winners with the tournament's bronze medals.
It will be just the third time in history in which two teams from the same country duel for the world title - it happened before in the tournament's first edition, in 1991, when Sadia Esporte Club São Paulo topped Colgate São Caetano in the all-Brazilian final, and then again in 2023, when Eczacibasi Dynavit Istanbul prevailed over VakifBank Istanbul in the Turkish Derby.
Catching VakifBank as the tournament's most successful team, by the way, will be one of Conegliano's motivations in Sunday's final in São Paulo. The Italians have three titles (2019, 2022 and 2024) to their name and will try to get another one to catch the Turkish, who won in 2013, 2017, 2018 and 2021.
A fan favorite in her home country, star outside hitter Gabriela 'Gabi' Guimarães was critical in Conegliano's comeback against Osasco on Saturday, ending the match with 18 points (16 kills, one block, one ace) after registering only three in the first set and leading the team to victory. The other members of Conegliano's offensive 'Big Three', Swedish opposite Isabelle Haak scored 14 (12 kills, two blocks) and Chinese outside hitter Zhu Ting added 13, all in kills.
"Osasco deserve a lot of credit and their fans, too," Gabi said. "It's not easy to play them here, and they came into the match with the right mindset, pushing us with their serving, and we really struggled. We just wanted to continue playing aggressively and pushing, because we knew that at some point we'd find our game. Winning the second set was key, it was when we got our confidence back. I'm very proud of the team, and we need to get into the final knowing that we have the quality and the experience to come back in any situation and never give up."
