Igor Gorgonzola Novara had a promising start to their 2025-2026 season this weekend, overcoming their three main Lega Volley Femminile Serie A1 rivals to secure the title of the preseason tournament Courmayeur Cup, on Saturday.

Held in the Italian city of Courmayeur, the second edition of the event also featured Prosecco Doc Imoco Conegliano, Numia Vero Volley Milano and Savino Del Bne Scandicci, which, along with Novara, were the four best sides in the Italian League in the 2024-2025 season.

• Watch the Courmayeur Cup replays on Volleyball World’s YouTube channel

After taking down defending champions Conegliano in four sets in the semifinals on Friday, Novara produced another comeback, this one even more impressive, on Saturday's final, coming back from a two-set deficit to overcome Scandicci 3-2 (21-25, 24-26, 26-24, 25-23, 15-13) and secure the title.

Japan's national team captain Mayu Ishikawa was the main catalyst of Novara's impressive comeback, delivering a team-high 20 points, all obtained in kills. American opposite Taylor Mims had a great shift off the bench, contributing 15 points (14 kills, one block), while her compatriot and middle blocker Amber Igiede and German outside hitter Lina Alsmeier added 11 each.

"This tournament was our first opportunity to have our complete roster against opponents of a very high level," head coach Lorenzo Bernardi said. "The response was very good. Obviously, these matches don't count for the Italian League, but winning is always very positive for the team and shows that we are working well and going in the right direction. The team knew how to fight and showed good improvement from the first day to the second. But it's still a preseason tournament and we need to keep our feet on the ground because we haven't won anything really important yet."

Olympic and world champion opposite Ekaterina Antropova topped all scorers, registering 26 points (22 kills, two blocks, two aces). A new signing, American outside hitter Avery Skinner tallied 17, with 16 kills and one block.

Conegliano take bronze

Last year's champions Conegliano had to settle for bronze this time, as, after falling to Novara in the semifinals on Friday, they came back strong to beat Milano 3-1 (25-19, 25-17, 21-25, 25-14) on Saturday. Opposite Isabelle Haak, with 21 points (18 kills, three blocks), and outside hitter Gabriela 'Gabi' Guimarães, with 16 (14 kills, two blocks), led the team to victory.

"It's great to be back here in Courmayeur for a second-straight year," Gabi said. "This is a very important tournament for us to understand where we are and where we need to improve as we get to play against the top teams in the country. We didn't play well in the semifinals, but did a better job today, even if we still made too many mistakes in the third set. But that's what preseason is for, and we also used the tournament to test some combinations and some players. It's going to be a difficult season, and the expectations are very high. I think all three teams playing here are stronger than they were last year, and we'll need to work harder if we want to win the Italian League another time."

Star opposite Paola Egonu was Milano's top scorer in the match, registering 14 points (13 kills, one ace), while American outside hitter Khalia Lanier added 11, all in kills.

The 2025-2026 season of the Italian League will start on October 6, when all seven matches of the first leg of the first round of the regular season will be held.

Quick links:
LVF Serie A1
VBTV
Volleyball World Facebook
Volleyball World X
Volleyball World Instagram
Volleyball World YouTube
Subscribe to Volleyball World's Newsletter