The 2026 of Prosecco DOC A. Carraro Imoco Conegliano begins with a sold out at the Palaverde: the big match of the 5th day of the return of the Serie A1 Tigotà Regular Season is the one against Igor Gorgonzola Novara, a “classic” of the Italian championship.
All the big names are back from a fiery round on December 30 for the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia Frecciarossa, the Panthers beat Bergamo on Tuesday at home 3-1 and Novara did the same at home against Milan. The two teams will meet again in the semifinals of the Final Four of the competition at the Inalpi Arena in Turin on January 24th.
-Sunday’s match (kick-off at 6 pm) on the other hand, is worth a very high altitude confrontation in the championship, characterized by the “sold out” at the Palaverde: captain Wolosz and her teammates occupy the first position with 46 points after 17 games, while the Piedmontese “Mosquitoes” of coach Lorenzo Bernardi are third with 39 points, but have one game more than the others. Full team for coach Daniele Santarelli.
PREVIOUS AND FORMER: It will be the 62nd match between the two teams, on 47 occasions Conegliano has had the upper hand, including the first leg at the Pala Igor (3-0). Former players of the match on the yellow-blue side were the middle blocker Cristina Chirichella, 10 seasons at Igor, and the Dutch spiker Nika Daalderop, while Maurizio Mora, assistant to coach Santarelli, was part of the Novara staff. Federica Squarcini played with the Panthers, at Palaverde from 2022 to 2024
REFEREES: Verrascina and Cesare
The match will be broadcast live on free-to-air TV on Rai Sport (channel 58 of the digital terrestrial) and in streaming on Volleyballworld.tv (by subscription). Live updates and post-match interviews on Imoco Volley’s
social profiles TICKET OFFICE: Sunday’s match is sold out, therefore the Palaverde cash desks will remain closed
OLD WILD WEST, THE COWBOY SHOOTS THE T-SHIRTS DURING THE TIME-OUTS- The Palaverde audience this year has a new attraction, in the intervals of tomorrow’s time-outs the cowboy of Old Wild West will “shoot” the OWW personalized t-shirts for the Panthers fans in the stands. This season, with the discount found on the digital ticket and subscription, the Palaverde public will be able to enjoy a 15% discount throughout the season in the Old Wild West restaurants.
IN THE INTERVALS THE PERFORMANCE OF CHARLIE SAX To celebrate the big match and the arrival of the new year, the Friulian saxophonist Charlie Sax will perform in the intervals of the sets and will create an evocative atmosphere at the Palaverde. Expert in event and party animations, Charlie Sax will give a taste of his musical art by entertaining the yellow-blue fans between one set and another.
DICHIARAZIONI COACH DANIELE SANTARELLI
We face the classic challenge with Novara that we will also find in Turin in the Coppa Italia, but Sunday’s match will be a completely compared to the semi-final in a few weeks. They are a very strong opponent with great strikers and many alternatives, having recovered all the pieces makes them an even more fearsome team. Their match on Tuesday against Milan gave the dimension of their strength, so we will find them with high morale and a lot of motivation. We will have to be good at overcoming the difficult moments that we will certainly face in this match, always be lucid and not lose the thread of the game, it is important to know how to suffer and have the awareness and the means to impose our game even against opponents who give their best. It would be important to win and score points against a direct competitor, we want to start this 2026 well in front of our fans and we are preparing as best we can. We know that the Palaverde will be sold out, there is no better way to start the new year, the public will make us feel their support and this will also be one of the keys to the match, we have to get our arena up to temperature by playing with ardor and commitment, we know that the atmosphere that our supporters are able to create is unique and for this we must always thank them. The girls are all fine and ready for the game, they returned to training in the gym with maximum motivation in 2026 after a 2025 that brought us great satisfaction, we staff were pleased to find them charged and motivated after two days of rest, we look forward to Sunday’s match with confidence”.