Belgian outside hitter Britt Herbots and Dutch middle blocker Indy Baijens headline Igor Gorgonzola Novara’s list of seven new additions as the club calls the 2025-2026 roster a wrap. The new arrivals at the 2025 CEV Cup winners and Italian LVF Serie A1 Tigota and Coppa Italia semifinalists also include Giulia Carraro, Giulia Melli, Carlotta Cambi, Veronica Costantini and Giulia Leonardi.
Lega Volley Femminile A1 2024/25
Herbots and Baijens highlight arrivals as Igor Gorgonzola completes new roster
A total of seven new players join Lorenzo Bernardi’s squad
Published 03:03, 02 Jun 2025
Britt Herbots in action (source: Rubin / LVF)
The two vacancies in the outside hitter department after the departures of Francesca Villani and Germany’s Hanna Orthmann were filled by 27-year-old Giulia Melli, arriving from SMI Roma Volley Rome and 25-year-old Belgian star Britt Herbots. The other German outside, Lina Alsmeier, and Japanese star Mayu Ishikawa remain with the club in that position.
Herbotts is returning to Novara after a season with Il Bisonte Florence and another two with Savino Del Bene Scandicci. Before that, she has competed for clubs from her native Belgium, for France’s ASPTT Mulhouse and for Italy’s Unet e-work Busto Arsizio. In her club career, she has been a CEV Champions League finalist (just last month, in 2025) and semifinalist (in 2021), a CEV Cup winner in 2019 (garnished with a Most Valuable Player award) and a multiple medalist and individual award winner at various national competitions in Belgium, France and Italy. Since 2016, Herbots has been a key member of the Belgian national team. Her incredible point-making prowess has made her the top scorer of two editions of the Volleyball Nations League and many other competitions.
“I am very happy to return to Novara. It is a place that has remained in my heart and that I still consider home, also because in these three years that I lived away I still happened to return there often,” Herbots told agilvolley.it. “I think the three years between Florence and Scandicci have made me mature not only as a person, but also as a player, and what I have learned I will certainly take with me to Novara. I think we really have a beautiful team and we will have a lot of fun. There is a good mix of younger athletes and other more experienced ones and this will create a good foundation for working well in the gym. We know how high the level of the championship is, but I think that my teammates and I all aspire to improve year after year, reach as high as possible and make life difficult for the strongest. I can't wait to relive the emotion of the Igor hall, a special environment that I have always liked, and to meet the many people I know and with whom I have remained in contact even as an opponent.”
Indy Baijens celebrates with her teammates at Paris 2024
24-year-old Indy Baijens was the last addition to coach Lorenzo Bernardi’s squad for the upcoming season. It will be her second season in the Italian league. She split her first season between Savino Del Bene Scandicci and Il Bisonte Florence. Before that, since leaving the Netherlands in 2019, she has played professionally for France’s ASPTT Mulhouse, Poland’s Grupa Azoty Chemik Police and Germany’s Palmberg Schwerin, and collected several trophies and medals from national competitions. A member of the Dutch national team since 2019, she competed at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and celebrated bronze at the 2023 CEV European Championship. Baijens and 22-year-old Veronica Costantini, arriving from Spain’s Avarca de Menorca Ciutadella, are the new additions to Igor Gorgonzola’s middle blocker section, along with returning Federica Squarcini and Sara Bonifacio, and will replace the departed Serbian international Maja Aleksic and Alessia Mazzaro.
“I have very positive feelings about the season that awaits us. I know that the team is very strong and will be able to count on many top-level players,” Baijens said. “I am obviously enthusiastic and excited about what awaits me and also aware of the potential of the team and the ambitions of the club, one of the best in Italy and internationally. Personally, I can't wait to experience the atmosphere of the Igor hall as a home venue, which has always struck me when I saw it as an opponent. We will work hard to achieve the best possible results and I can't wait to wear the blue jersey.”
Among the other new additions to Igor Gorgonzola, 30-year-old Giulia Carraro is a setter arriving from Akademia Sant'Anna Messina, 29-year-old Carlotta Cambi is also a playmaker coming from Wash4Green Pinerolo, while 37-year-old Giulia Leonardi is a libero transferring from Il Bisonte.
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