Who are the eight coaches fighting for a spot in the #CLVolleyW All-Star team

The CEV Champions League Women has reached its business end, with the Final Four ready to deliver more drama in Istanbul in only two weeks' time. It was a roller-coaster of a season so far, yet there are only three matches left to decide the champions, and now it is high time we take a look on how the four sides got here and how their best players performed this season. 

As we gear up for the deciding matches, the attention will certainly be on these matches, but until their throw-offs, fans are invited to choose their favourites, which will then be selected to the 2024/25 CEV Champions League Volleyball All-Star Teams.

The voting has been going on for more than a week, but if you still haven't picked your favourites, now is the time to sit back, see what the eight candidates for each position did so far and choose accordingly. But who were the top coaches this season? Let's see together.

It was clear that all four coaches who led their teams to the Final Four were going to be nominated for the All-Star team and this is the case here, as the three Italian sides, plus the Turkish side going to Istanbul are represented in the nominee list.

Davide Santarelli has created a powerhouse in A.Carraro Imoco Conegliano, where he has been coaching since 2017. With two CEV Champions League Women titles under his belt, Santarelli is now gunning for the third one and his team has lost a single match in all competitions this season and Conegliano are unbeaten in the European premium competition, dropping only set on the way to the final.

Marco Gaspari has been named in October 2024 at Savino Del Bene Scandicci and has overlooked an excellent season for the Italian side, which is in the semi-finals of the CEV Champions League Women for the first time in history. Scandicci are also riding an eight-match winning streak, just like Conegliano, and are the only side to not have lost a single set so far.

Stefano Lavarini is the third Italian coach to make the shortlist for the best coach of the season, after delivering another trip to the semi-finals for Numia Vero Volley Milano, in back-to-back seasons. Lavarin, who spent her previous season at Fenerbahçe Medicana Istanbuk, took over the Italian side from the start of the season.

The fourth of the five Italian coaches to make the list is VakifBank Istanbul’s Giovanni Guidetti. The 53-year-old coach has been coaching the Turkish side since 2011 and has won all the six Champions League titles in the history of VakifBank. Considered an underdog this season, VakifBank have punched above their weight and made the Final Four, with a fantastic win over Fenerbahçe.

Still, Marco Fenoglio, Fenerbahçe’s coach, has also been shortlisted for the All-Star team, with the Turkish side winning seven of the eight matches, conceding a single loss, in the second leg of the quarter-final against VakifBank, and, subsequently, the golden set, which proved decisive for the Turkish side’s ambitions.

Another coach of a Turkish side, Eczacibasi Dynavit Istanbul, Ferhat Akbaş, is shortlisted for this award. Akbaş took over the Turkish side in 2021 and transformed it into a powerhouse, but fell short of the threshold, being eliminated in the quarter-finals with two losses against Numia Vero Volley Milano.

The list is completed by two Polish coaches, Maciej Biernat and Michal Masek, who are leading PGE Grot Budowlani Łódź and Developres Rzeszów respectively. Both led their sides to the quarter-finals, but both sides lost the two matches in straight sets against Scandicci and Conegliano respectively.

The 2025 CEV Champions League Volley All-Star Team voting is now open!

How it works

•    There are 8 nominated players for each position, as well as head coaches: you are asked to cast three votes for each category
•    For Middle Blockers and Outside hitters, the 2 players with the highest amount of votes will be selected as part of the ALL-Star Team.
•    The Fan Vote will count for 50% of the final voting result, with the other 50% being represented by the votes given by Champions League clubs team captains and team Head Coaches

The 2025 CEV Champions League Volley All-Star Team voting is now open!

How it works

•    There are 8 nominated players for each position, as well as head coaches: you are asked to cast three votes for each category
•    For Middle Blockers and Outside hitters, the 2 players with the highest amount of votes will be selected as part of the ALL-Star Team.
•    The Fan Vote will count for 50% of the final voting result, with the other 50% being represented by the votes given by Champions League clubs team captains and team Head Coaches