Haak downplays Conegliano's favourite status in the #CLVolleyW Final Four

A two-time CEV Champions League Women winner with VakifBank Istanbul and A.Carraro Imoco Conegliano, Isabelle Haak is still gunning for more silverware. Since she signed with the Italian side in 2022, she played two finals, one lost against her former side, in 2022, and the one won last season.

But that does not mean that Haak wants to stop winning. At 25 years old, she is entering her prime, being the top scorer of the European premium competition twice, in 2021 and 2022, and the MVP last season.

And with Conegliano having a stellar season, winning the Italian Supercup, the Italian Cup, the Italian domestic league and the FIVB Women’s Club World Championship, a fifth trophy is much on the cards.

However, Haak downplays the favourite status of Conegliano, despite the Italian side losing a single match this season, in the semi-finals of the domestic league, 0:3, against the CEV Volleyball Cup Women winners, Igor Gorgonzola Novara.

“I don't know, it is difficult to say if we are favourites. I mean, we are here in Istanbul, so I think VakifBank are the favourites. But we have been practising a lot for this. All season we have been waiting for this moment, and now that we are here, we will try everything to win the trophy,” says Haak.

After an MVP-calibre season in 2023/24, Haak has picked up where she left off, albeit being rested in some matches in the CEV Champions League Women.

So far, she has played only 19 sets, in seven matches, but she scored 108 points, averaging 5.68 points per set. Between all the players this season, only Scandicci’s Ekaterina Antropova and VakifBank’s Marina Markova have a better points per set average in the European premium competition.

“Since we found out that we are coming here, since we qualified, we were working hard every day, so I think it is going to be a good tournament, and the team is ready,” adds Haak.

Their first challenge is a rematch of last season’s Super Finals, when Conegliano won the title against domestic rivals Numia Vero Volley Milano, 3:2. The two sides also met recently, on 16, 19 and 22 April in the Italian league play-offs final, with Conegliano dropping a single set in three matches to be crowned champions.

That would make them surefire favourites against a side which they dominated over the past years, but in the Final Four, you might never know what happens. Therefore, Haak wants her and her teammates to be ready for anything.

“I think even if you win, I think you still want to keep getting better. There is always something that you can do better. Every year is like a new team, new players so I think there's always something to improve. The goal will be the same, but, like, things change around us and in all the landscape,” adds Haak.

For sure, Conegliano have pulled some transfer coups last summer, when they added Zhu Ting and Gabi Guimaraes to an already star-studded line-up. In this Champions League season, they have only lost a single set, in the fourth round against Developres Rzeszów, but since then, Conegliano have won five matches in a row in straight sets.

Therefore, back-to-back trophies, a feature managed in the last 23 years only three times, twice by VakifBank and once by RC Cannes, is a strong possibility.

“That would be amazing, of course. Champions League is the biggest trophy of the season, so to win it twice in row would be incredible, and to do it with this team would be amazing,” concludes Haak.