Paola Egonu looking to claim another CEV Champions League Volley Title
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Paola Egonu and the CEV Champions League have become synonymous since the competition’s restructuring. When she steps onto the court in Antalya in this year’s CEV Champions League Volley SuperFinal, the Italian Opposite, considered one of the best players on the planet, will have featured in all five SuperFinals since the new format was introduced in 2018.
Egonu has been a destructive force in the competition for the last five seasons, and this year has been no exception.
Through her 11 matches in this season’s CEV Champions League, Egonu has scored 215 points. So far this year, she has recorded 178 winning spikes for Allianz Vero Volley Milano, as well as serving up 20 aces and recording 17 kill blocks; in the two legs of the semi-final against Fenerbahce Oput Istanbul, Paola had 57 points.
Paola Egonu after her team’s victory in Turkiye“I'm really proud, I have no words, we were really good. In the last set, to stay with such clarity and do what we had to do, to have courage, especially in a building full of fans who support their team like this, I'm really proud and happy.”
For regular fans of the Champions League, these stats will be nothing new. Egonu has been a unstoppable in the competition recently, winning three titles and being named the CEV Champions League’s Most Valuable Player in three of the last four seasons. In terms of scoring, the Italian has more than 2000 winning spikes, over 200 aces and more than 200 kill blocks, all in just 150 matches in the tournament.
As you would expect from one of the world’s top players, the Italian does not shy away from the big matches. She has finished as the best scorer in each of the four CEV Champions League Volley SuperFinals she has played in so far, scoring at least 39 points in three of the four.
Outside of her domestic successes, the imposing 195cm Opposite helped Italy to its first FIVB Nations League title in 2022, adding that trophy to the 2021 European Championship the Italians also claimed. Egonu was named MVP in both tournaments.
If she can lead Allianz Vero Volley Milano to the CEV Champions League title in Antalya in May, it will go down as a historic moment for a team who had previously never advanced past the quarter-finals, and there are some positive signs for Vero Volley fans. The last first-time finalists in the women’s Champions League were Igor Gorgonzola Novara in the 2018/19 season, and they emerged 3-1 victors over A. Carraro Imoco Conegliano (then known as Imoco Volley Conegliano), with Egonu finishing the final as the top scorer with 27 points.
This year’s SuperFinal could well be an emotional one for Egonu, who spent three years with Imoco Volley Conegliano between 2019 and 2022, guiding them to the CEV Champions League title in the 2020/21 season, their first title at the third time of asking in the competition.
As for Vero Volley Milano, their defeat at the hands of Savino Del Bene Scandicci on Thursday night in the Serie A1 means they are out of the running for the league title, leaving just the CEV Champions League Volley SuperFinal as their last shot at silverware this season.