Prosecco DOC Imoco Conegliano announces the arrival of Gabi, the charismatic Brazilian Gabriela Braga Guimaraes, currently considered the best dunker on the globe, the latest pearl in a prized necklace that will be at coach Santarelli’s disposal for the 2024/25 season. A team of “number ones” that will face a season full of commitments and goals between the Italian Supercup, the Championship, the Italian Cup, the Champions League and the great return to the Club World Cup to be played in December in China.
The Brazilian Gabi is another great symbolic figure of world volleyball, perhaps currently the strongest and most complete player in the World, who believed in the Gialloblù project and after her legendary interlude in Turkey with Vakif, finished the Paris Games where she will be one of the great attractions with her Brazil, will add a massive dose of class and charisma to the new group of Panthers that will face the new season with great ambitions, thanks to the effort of the club that has set up again this year a team capable of fighting at the top on all fronts.
Gabi – Gabriela Braga Guimarães – Belo Horizonte (Bra), 19 maggio 1994, 181 cm, dunker,. #1
Club
Gabi’s professional career began in 2009 when he made his debut in the Brazilian league with Mackenzie, a club where he had taken his first steps at the youth level and with which he played three seasons, winning a Mineiro Championship. In the 2012-13 season, she was signed by Rio de Janeiro where in six seasons she won the Carioca Championship five times, five Scudettos in the Brazilian Championship, three Brazilian Cups, three Brazilian Super Cups, and no less than four editions of the South American Club Championship (the Champions of South America), while also racking up an impressive series of individual MVP awards.
In the 2018/19 season, she moved on to Minas, with whom she won the Brazilian Cup, again the South American Club Championship and the Scudetto, before choosing to start her experience overseas, in Europe, hired by the top team VakıfBank Istanbul becoming one of the reference players at the World level. With the Turkish team she won two Turkish Championships, three Turkish Cups, two Super Cups, the 2021 World Club Championship and two editions of the Champions League, also being awarded in 2022 as the MVP of Europe .
Prosecco DOC Imoco Volley fans are very familiar with it given the heated rivalry between the two teams culminating in many finals and decisive matches that were always spectacular and enthralling, and that thrilled fans of world volleyball.
National
With the Under 18 national team, she participated in the 2010 South American Championship, where she won the gold medal and was awarded MVP and best attacker, then 2011 World Championship, where she was awarded best scorer; with the Under 20 team she won the continental title in 2012 and bronze at the rainbow review the following year, awarded best dunker. With the Under 23 team, she won the silver medal at the 2012 Pan American Cup, where she was named best striker.
In 2012 he made his senior national team debut at the Pan American Cup, where he won silver. Three gold medals (2013, 2014 and 2016) and one bronze medal (2015) at the World Grand Prix came in series for the greenoro national team, while in the continental arena she won two golds at the 2013 and 2015 South American Championships (the year she was awarded best player and best dunker). He is bronze at the 2014 World Championship in Italy.
Increasingly a “pillar” of the Brazilian national team, Gabi is featured in three silver medals at the 2019,2021 and 2022 VNL being awarded best spiker all three times, and again silver at the Tokyo Olympic Games, while going even better at the 2021 South American Championship, being awarded MVP of the tournament won by her Brazil.
In 2022, she is silver at the world championship, where she is also awarded as the best dunker. In 2023, she won the gold medal at the South American Championship, where she received, as is now customary, the individual awards for best spiker and MVP, and also won silver at the World Cup.
An incredible career, an infinite palmarès for a player who embodies the essence of modern volleyball, with no weaknesses in her game, a prototype of the ideal dunker who knows how to be decisive and protagonist both in the attacking fundamentals with an unparalleled variety of shots, and in the second line thanks to absolute level defense and reception skills.
STATEMENTS
1. How does it feel, after so many years of challenging you as an opponent, to play with Prosecco DOC Imoco next year?
Facing Conegliano has always been very difficult. It has always been a very well-structured society, built to win, with very passionate fans and very successful players. So I feel very good, it’s the ideal environment for me because I know I will find this, it’s inspiring. The atmosphere and environment will be different from last years, it will be a huge challenge for me. New experiences always push us out of our comfort zone, but I feel ready for the level of this great challenge. My desire is to make as much contribution as possible on my part to help the team achieve all its goals.”
2. Why did you choose Conegliano to continue your career in Europe?
“I am driven by challenges and felt it was time to take on another one. Conegliano is one of the best teams in the world, with a very important national championship that brings together many of the best players. Being in Europe is very important to me, competing in the Champions League and the Italian league means being at a high level and always pushing myself. Now there will be new challenges, a new way of working and growing individually and as a group.”
3. Do you like Wolosz and Coach Santarelli’s game?
Asia Wolosz is currently one of the best setters in the world, has a very fast style of play, which I really like, and is also a leader for the team. When I have ideas about playing on a team, I always consider who the coach and the setter are, because these positions are crucial. Just the presence of coach Santarelli and a setter I respect a lot like Wolosz helped me a lot in my choice. They are successful people who have achieved a lot in recent years. Certainly it will be an incredible opportunity for me to learn many things and grow even more. I hope to interact a lot with Coach Santarelli and that this exchange will help us grow individually and as a team. There will be work to be done to create the new group, but the premises, given the names on the roster and the organization of the technical staff and club, are excellent.
4. Your goals and the team’s goals for 2024/2025?
I want to adapt to the team and working methodology as quickly as possible, gain synergy and feel part of this family that is Prosecco DOC Imoco. I want to give my best, to grow as a player and as a person. I know it will be a new country, with a different culture, so integrating myself into that will make the process easier. Our goal is to reach all the finals and win the titles. In whatever team I play, whether in the national team or at the club level, my goal is to win. I know Conegliano won everything last season, so the bar is very high to maintain this quality.
5. You played at Palaverde this year; do you like the atmosphere of the arena and the yellow-blue fans?
The fans at Palaverde amazed me. I was very surprised to see the packed arena, the noise, the enthusiasm and the passion of the fans. It was incredible! I am looking forward to wearing the jersey and experiencing this. I am sure they will help us a lot in a season that will be full of commitments and important goals.
6. Are you happy to meet your friend Bella Haak again after your experience together at Vakif?
I am extremely happy. We always talked about the possibility of playing together again. It is another dream come true for me. She is one of my best friends, we talk all the time, so to be by her side again is a dream. We have achieved a lot in Turkey, so it is an even greater motivation to replicate this success now in Italy.
HERE IS THE FINAL ROSTER OF PROSECCO DOC IMOCO VOLLEYBALL CONEGLIANO 2024/25
Setters: Joanna Wolosz (Pol – cap) and Nanami Seki (Jpn)
Slappers: Gabi (Bra), Khalia Lanier (USA), Martyna Lukasik (Pol), Zhu Ting (Chn)
Midwives: Sarah Fahr (Ita), Marina Lubian (Ita), Cristina Chirichella (Ita), Katja Eckl (Ita) ,
Liberi: Monica De Gennaro (Ita), Anna Bardaro (Ita)
Opposites: Isabelle Haak (Sve), Merit Adiwge (Ita)
Coach: Daniele Santarelli
Deputy: Tommaso Barbato
3rd al.: Andrea Zotta
Assistant coach: Maurizio Mora
Physical trainer: Marco Da Lozzo