#CLVolleyW Pool Previews – Fenerbahçe, NOVARA to add another chapter to Turkish-Italian rivalry

The Turkish-Italian rivalry that has been a common and recurrent thread in the #CLVolleyW for a number of years will continue in Pool B of this year’s edition, where 2012 winners Fenerbahçe Medicana ISTANBUL will be playing wildcard holders Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA – another former champion from the 2019 edition. Poland’s PGE Budowlani ŁÓDŹ and Portugal’s rookies Sport LISBOA e Benfica complete the line-up in this highly competitive pool. 

Fenerbahçe Medicana ISTANBUL (TUR) 

Fenerbahçe are chasing continental glory for the 16th time in their history, hoping to repeat their golden moment of 2012 when they beat RC CANNES of France in the final, two years after losing a dramatic grand finale to Italy’s Volley BERGAMO. Just like their city rivals VakifBank and Eczacibasi, Fenerbahçe have been a major force to reckon with for many years progressing to the knockout phase of the #CLVolleyW as many as 13 times in their 15 participations this far. 

However, recently a Golden Set loss has prevented them from progressing to the Super Finals in 2022, 2023, and 2024 – and last year they lost another Golden Set as well, this time in the quarterfinals to arch-rivals VakifBank. However, they return to the #CLVolleyW with renewed ambition and a star-studded roster, including Alessia Orro, an Olympic, VNL, European, and World champion with the Italian national team. Orro, the MVP of this year’s World Championship, will be hoping to secure her first #CLVolleyW title this year after coming in second and third place in 2024 and 2025 with Vero Volley MILANO. 

Orro joins forces with another standout player who was standing on the other side of the net in the World Championship final – Melissa Vargas. The top scorer in the 2018/2019 edition of the CEV Champions League, Vargas forms a formidable duo together with Orro under the guidance of Marcello Abbondanza – who has returned to coach Fenerbahçe after a previous spell at the helm of the Turkish team from 2013 to 2017. 

Fenerbahçe will be hoping to stretch a winning streak in the pool stage of the competition that encompasses as many as 15 matches. 

Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA (ITA) 

Together with ANKARA Zeren Spor Kulübü, Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA are one of two women’s teams to receive a wildcard to enter this season’s Champions League after the system was re-introduced by the CEV leadership to raise the sporting level and commercial appeal of this elite competition. The club from the Piedmont region won the Champions League in 2018/2019 (3-1 against Imoco Volley CONEGLIANO) when they triumphed at the first Super Finals held in Berlin, Germany. They now return to the Champions League for the first time since 2022/2023, when they lost in the semis to Eczacibasi Dynavit ISTANBUL. This participation accounts for their eighth Champions League campaign.

Even though they were absent from the #CLVolleyW for a while, still in the past two seasons Igor Gorgonzola achieved significant success, winning the Challenge Cup in 2024 and the CEV Cup in 2025, both times under coach Lorenzo Bernardi. No team has lifted the Challenge Cup, CEV Cup and Champions League in that order in successive seasons – so NOVARA are in for what would be a truly unprecedented feat in European Volleyball history. 

Their roster includes Mayu Ishikawa, captain of the Japanese national team and sister of Yuki, as well as Carlotta Cambi, who only a couple of months ago won the FIVB World Championship title with Italy. Cambi is also a former Champions League winner with Pomì CASALMAGGIORE in 2016. 

Their Russian spiker Tatiana Tolok was the top scorer of the 2024/2025 CEV Cup season on 179 points. Speaking of other decorated players, Giulia Melli won the Challenge Cup with ROMA Volley last year while Britt Herbots has returned to Novara after playing there from 2020 to 2022. Last year, Herbots helped Savino Del Bene SCANDICCI make it all the way to the #CLVolleyW grand finale where they lost to CONEGLIANO. Moreover, Federica Squarcini won an international trophy with her clubs in four of the last five seasons: 2021 CEV Cup (Saugella MONZA), FIVB Club World Championship in December 2022, 2024 Champions League (both with A. Carraro Imoco CONEGLIANO) and the 2025 CEV Cup (with Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA).

Their coach Lorenzo Bernardi is a member of Italy’s golden generation that made Volleyball history in the late 80s and throughout the 90s and was recognised by the FIVB as the Volleyball Player of the XX Century together with USA’s Karch Kiraly. 

PGE Budowlani ŁÓDŹ (POL) 

This is the seventh season in which PGE Budowlani ŁÓDŹ will be playing in the group phase of the Champions League. Last year, the team progressed to the knockout stages for the first time, reaching the quarterfinals where they lost to Savino Del Bene SCANDICCI in straight sets both at home and away. Interestingly enough, PGE Budowlani ŁÓDŹ had the two top scoring players of the entire 2024/2025 Champions League season: Paulina Damaske (179) and Terry Enweonwu (163). Enweonwu has since moved to Proton SARATOV in the Russian national league. 

The third-place finishers from the last edition of the Polish national league, PGE Budowlani ŁÓDŹ will have a very demanding task if they want to equal or even improve their win-loss record (3-3) from last year’s edition with powerhouses such as Fenerbahçe and NOVARA in their group. The task looks even more daunting since they have suffered two of their three heaviest defeats in the Champions League against Fenerbahce Opet ISTANBUL (45 points in a 0-3 away in 2019/2020) and versus Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA (46 points in a 0-3 loss at home in 2018/2019). 

To be as competitive as possible, they will rely on the top setter from last year’s national league – Alicja Grabka – and the Best Receiver of that same competition – Justyna Lysiak. Moreover, Brazilian opposite Bruna Honório has joined the club this season from reigning Polish champions KS Developres RZESZÓW.

Sport LISBOA e Benfica (POR) 

Sport LISBOA e Benfica have qualified for the group stage of the competition for the first time in their history. They are the third Portuguese team to achieve this feat after Clube Academico TROFA in 2005/2006 and FC PORTO last year. Both teams did not progress from the group phase in those campaigns.

Sport LISBOA e Benfica advanced to Round 4 after defeating CD Heidelberg LAS PALMAS (3-1, 0-3; 15-10) after a Golden Set victory in this season’s second qualifying round and they beat Slovenia’s OTP Banka Branik MARIBOR (3-1, 3-0) in Round 3. USA’s Kyra Holt has been the club’s top scoring player this season so far (56 points).

Even though this is their first appearance at the highest level in Europe, last season Sport LISBOA e Benfica showed signs of much progress when they reached the quarterfinals of the Challenge Cup, losing to eventual silver medal winners Reale Mutua Fenera CHIERI’76 of Italy. That result somehow paved the way for their first national league title in 50 years – since 1974/1975. Apart from progressing to Round 4 of the CEV Champions League, they have already secured one accolade this season so far by claiming the Portuguese Super Cup (courtesy of a 3-0 victory over Sporting CP LISBOA).

Their roster includes Cansu Cetin – who won the Champions League with VakifBank ISTANBUL in 2017 and for whom the matches with Fenerbahçe will be truly special, since the spiker wore the jersey of the Yellow Angels from 2020 to 2024.

Their current mentor Henrique Furtado Pereira reached the Final of the men’s Champions League with JASTRZEBSKI Wegiel in 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 (runners up in both campaigns) as an assistant coach. As part of Brazil’s Sada Cruzeiro staff, he won the FIVB Men’s Club World Championship both in 2013 and 2015.