Italian giants Prosecco Doc Imoco Conegliano have been nearly unbeatable in the country for the most part of the last decade and their retrospect at the Supercoppa Fineco, which will have its 2024 edition held on Saturday, at 18:00 local time (16:00 GMT), at the Palazzo Dello Sport, in Rome, shows that.

Since their first appearance in the traditional season-opening event, in 2016-2017, the Panthers have triumphed in seven of their eight attempts to take gold, quickly establishing themselves as the most successful club in the tournament’s history.

• Watch the 2024 Supercoppa Fineco live on VBTV

In just a few days, Conegliano will have the opportunity to celebrate the Supercoppa title for the eighth time in nine years, facing Numia Vero Volley Milano, the same opponent they beat at last year’s final and also in the gold medal match of the Courmayeur Cup, last weekend.

Conegliano’s dominance in Italian volleyball also shows in their history against Milano as the defending champions emerged victorious in 29 of the 34 duels held so far, including the last eight.

The team has continued to evolve the years and gets to its ninth Supercoppa having star libero Monica De Gennaro, arguably the main face of the project, as the only player who was part of the squad in their first victory, in 2016-2017, to continue with the team – star setter Joanna Wołosz joined in 2019-2020 and has five titles.

This season, in particular, Conegliano have faced some significant change in their squad, with outside hitters Kelsey Cook, Kathryn Plummer and Alessia Gennari and middle blockers Robin De Kruijf and Federica Squarcini all leaving at the end of the last season.

As usual, The Panthers were strong in the market and were very successful at finding replacements for their departing players, adding star outside hitters Gabriela ‘Gabi’ Guimarães, Zhu Ting and Martyna Łukasic and experienced middle blocker Cristina Chirichella to their roster.

With these pieces joining De Genaro, Wołosz, star opposite Isabelle Haak and Olympic champion middle blockers Sarah Fahr and Marina Lubian, longtime head coach Daniele Santarelli has more than enough tools to lead Conegliano to another successful season.

The team passed the first tests, beating Serbia’s Železničar Lajokovac and Germany’s Dresdner SC 1898 to triumph at the Trofeo Citta’ di Conegliano two weeks ago and overcoming Italian rivals Igor Gorgonzola Novara and Milano last weekend to prevail at the Courmayeur Cup.

“We’re definitely not in our top form yet, so nothing will come easy,” Santarelli said after the Courmayeur Cup victory. “We rotated some players and have a lot to work on during the week. The Supercoppa will be a different challenge, but we saw good things so far and will approach it with confidence.”

With a new team, but the same spirit, Conegliano expect the Supercoppa marks, again, the start of a successful season for them.

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