Savino Del Bene Volley is preparing to take the field for one of the most prestigious events of the season: the Italian Super Cup .
On Saturday 24 October , at 6.00 pm , at the PalaFlorio in Bari , coach Gaspari's team will face Prosecco Doc A.Carraro Imoco Conegliano in a final that will put the first trophy of the season up for grabs and represent a new chapter in the history of the Scandicci club.
The Italian Super Cup returns to the South 23 years after the last edition was held in this part of the country: in 2003, the competition was played in Syracuse. Bari will thus host a highly prestigious match between two of the leading teams in Italian volleyball.
Savino Del Bene Volley enters the match fresh from a derby victory over Il Bisonte Firenze , defeated in three sets at the Pala BigMat. This victory allowed the Scandicci team to continue their winning streak in the city derby, winning their sixteenth consecutive title. On the other side of the net, Conegliano enters the match fresh from their last league match, defeating Cda Volley Talmassons 3-0 .
The Supercup final represents another historic milestone for Savino Del Bene Volley. With the match against Conegliano, the club will complete its journey in major national and international competitions, having reached the finals of at least one Serie A1, Coppa Italia A1, CEV Challenge Cup, CEV Cup, CEV Champions League, and FIVB Club World Championship.
In Bari, Savino Del Bene Volley will have the opportunity to further enrich its history, facing one of the most successful opponents on the international scene in a final that will have a prestigious trophy at stake.
FORMER AND PREVIOUS
In the ranks of Prosecco Doc A.Carraro Imoco Conegliano there are three players who in the past played for Savino Del Bene Volley:
Zhu Ting , a Chinese spiker born in 1994, played for the Tuscan team in the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 seasons, winning the 2023 CEV Cup.
Isabelle Haak , Swedish opposite hitter born in 1999, wore the Savino Del Bene Volley jersey in the two-year period 2017-2019.
Yao Di , a Chinese setter born in 1992, played in Scandicci in the second part of the 2022-2023 season.
Among the ranks of Savino Del Bene Volley there is only one player who has worn the jersey of Prosecco Doc A.Carraro Imoco Conegliano in the past:
Chidera Blessing Eze , a setter born in '03, made her first appearance in Serie A1 with Conegliano in the 2019-2020 season, taking to the field in the ninth round match of the top championship .
It should be remembered that the Savino Del Bene Volley coach, Marco Gaspari , was in Conegliano in the past: from 2010 to 2012 he coached Spes Conegliano, while from 2012 to 2014 he led Imoco .
Saturday's matchup will be the thirty-ninth between the two teams in Women's Volleyball League events . The record in previous meetings favors Conegliano, which has won thirty-two of the thirty-eight matches.
The last precedent between the two teams dates back to February 8, 2026, when coach Gaspari's team was defeated (0-3) at the Pala BigMat, on the occasion of the twenty-third day of the 2025-2026 Serie A1 regular season .
Among the thirty-eight previous matches, there's also one Italian Super Cup: it dates back to the 2020 edition, the post-COVID one, which had a different format than the traditional one and involved 12 teams, with the semifinals and finals played in Vicenza. Specifically, on September 5, 2020, Savino Del Bene Volley and Prosecco Doc A.Carraro Conegliano faced off in a semifinal played outdoors in Piazza dei Signori, which the Venetian Panthers won 3-0 .
Within the Italian borders, the last of Savino Del Bene Volley's six successes dates back to 17 April 2024, when in Game 1 of the 2024 Scudetto Finals, the Scandicci team won 2-3 at the PalaVerde in Villorba (TV) .
In absolute terms, the last victory obtained by Savino Del Bene Volley against Conegliano was the one achieved on 14 December 2025, in the Final of the FIVB Club World Championship, a 3-1 success that allowed Marco Gaspari's team to become world champion .
Different outcome for the Italian Cup final played on 25 January 2026, when the Venetians won their eighth Italian Cup , beating Savino Del Bene Volley in the final .
It should also be remembered that last season the two teams met in the final for third place in the CEV Champions League, with Gaspari's team being defeated 3-0 .
This is certainly not the first European match between the two teams: Scandicci and Conegliano faced each other in the 2025 CEV Champions League Final . On that occasion, the Venetians won 3-0 , thus winning the most prestigious European trophy.
In the 2020-2021 season, however, Scandicci and Conegliano crossed paths in the quarter-finals: Conegliano prevailed, winning the first leg 3-2 and the return match 3-0 .
In the 2018-2019 season the two teams faced each other twice in group D matches, with Conegliano winning the first leg 3-2 and Savino Del Bene Volley winning the return match with the same result .
COACH MARCO GASPARI'S WORDS
I have to focus on getting my team to play at their best. To beat Conegliano, we'll definitely have to take some risk on the serve, because Conegliano's physicality and athleticism are well known, as we've seen from their performance at the start of the season. We need to play with an open mind, with a lot of sacrifice on defense and patience if the ball doesn't go down immediately, knowing how to reconstruct the play. We can't be afraid of making mistakes against Conegliano, because otherwise they'll accelerate to a pace that, in recent years, hasn't been easy for anyone. My thinking is very simple: first, I try to get my team to play as well as possible, and to beat Conegliano, we'll definitely have to work better on our serve.
THE OPPONENTS
Prosecco Doc A.Carraro Imoco Conegliano finished the 2025-2026 regular season in first place in the Serie A1 standings , with 25 wins and 1 defeat. With a total of 72 points, the Veneto team secured a spot in the Scudetto Playoffs.
In the 2025-2026 post season matches, Conegliano eliminated Eurotek Laica UYBA in the quarterfinals , Igor Gorgonzola Novara in the semi-finals and then won its eighth consecutive Scudetto, the ninth in its history, beating Numia Vero Volley Milano in the final .
Last season Conegliano also won its eighth Coppa Italia A1 , while it was beaten 3-2 by Numia Vero Volley Milano in the 2025 Italian Super Cup match .
During the 2025-2026 sporting season, Conegliano played in two international events: the CEV Champions League , finishing third , and the FIVB Club World Championship , finishing second.
Considering all the competitions played in the 2025-2026 season, Conegliano finished with a win percentage of 88.9%.
This season, Conegliano has kept its technical leadership unchanged, with coach Daniele Santarelli having held the role of head coach since the 2017-2018 season.
The Veneto club has retained eight players from last year's roster. Gabi and Zhu Ting , international stars who are both in their third season with the yellow-blue team, stand out on the spikers' roster. Also noteworthy in the spikers department is the confirmation of Sillah , a Slovenian native of Gambia, in her second season with the Panthers.
Also confirmed are Haak , the Swedish opposite in Conegliano from the 2022-2023 season, and Wolosz , the Polish setter in Veneto from 2017-2018 and the point of reference in the team's direction.
Fahr remains in the central defense, a pillar of the Italian national team and in Conegliano since the 2020-2021 season.
Finally, among the confirmations, it is worth mentioning that of De Gennaro , a historic libero with the Gialloblù since the 2013-2014 season, and Adigwe , an opposite born in 2006 who grew up at the Veneto club and is in his fourth season with the first team.
Among the new arrivals, the central defense is enriched with the return of Folie , That after her experiences with Milan and Houston, she returns to wear the yellow and blue jersey, already worn from 2016 to 2022. Completing the department are the arrivals of Cekulaev , a middle blocker for the German national team in his first season with the Panthers, and Manfredini , returning from two seasons in Bergamo, where last regular season she finished fourth in the ranking of players with the most aces.
Among the spikers is Piovesan , who arrived in Conegliano after two seasons in San Giovanni in Marignano, while in the control room there is Yao Di , a Chinese setter who returns to Italy after wearing the Savino Del Bene Volley jersey in the 2022-2023 season.
Finally, completing the roster is Arici , a libero born in 2007.
Conegliano currently sits in first place in the 2026-2027 championship . The team from the province of Treviso has won all four of its matches so far, with a set-to-set record of twelve to zero.
In the last match played, coach Santarelli's team won 3-0 against Cda Volley Talmassons , valid for the third round of the Serie A1.
This Saturday, Prosecco Doc A.Carraro Imoco Conegliano is expected to take to the court with the starting six consisting of Wolosz as setter, Haak as opposite hitter, Gabi and Zhu as spikers, Fahr and Manfredini as centers, and De Gennaro as libero.
ON TV
The match between Prosecco Doc A.Carraro Imoco Conegliano and Savino Del Bene Volley will be visible live on Rai 2 , as well as on DAZN and YouTube .