In Focus: Igor Gorgonzola Novara
Last season Novara also played in Pool C and finished there on the second place what didn’t help to qualify to quarterfinals. To say that Novara has been greatly updated for the new season is to say nothing. 8 newcomers in Stefano Lavarini's team - this is more than half of it. And also they are the part of a very difficult group C in the Champions League. Let's take a closer look at the updated Italian team.
Fisrt of all, who stayed from the previous season: Chirichella, Bosetti, Bonifacio, Battistoni, Fersino and Karakurt. Those players confirmed their contract for the next season in Novara.
The first new face of Igor Volley this summer was the new Italian central Anna Danesi, she has a two-year contract expiring June 2024. She moved to Conegliano in 2016, where she won two Scudetti (2018 and 2019), two Super Cups (2016 and 2018) and an Italian Cup (2017) with the Gialloblù.
Another newcomer is outside spiker Cuban Kenya Carcaces, born in 1986, was the second new face of Igor Volley. She got a one-year contract with the club. The overall data of her four seasons in Serie A1 brings her in seventh place overall (second among role spikers) in the scorers chart, with 1159 points scored in 100 games, between Regular Season and Playoffs.
To support Eleonora Fersino, the libero Giulia Bresciani arrives in the team having her an annual contract expiring in June 2023. She was born in Pietrasanta in Tuscany in 1992, Bresciani can boast seven seasons as a protagonist in the A2 series and one in the top flight in Chieri.
Ebrar Karakurt's deputy will be extended with the talent of the junior national team and the Club Italia Julia Ituma: born in Milan in 2004, 192 cm, she is back from three seasons as a protagonist in the cadet series with the Club Italia. For her, a one-year contract with an option on a second.
In the band, alongside Caterina Bosetti, comes from Cuneo Gaia Giovannini. Born in Bologna in 2001, the spiker played in Piedmont in the red and white shirt for her first two seasons in the top flight, after her debut in A2 in Montale in 2019-2020. Also for her, a one-year agreement with the blue club.
And here is also the young Spanish middle-blocker Lucia Varela Gomez, born in 2003 and 197 cm tall. She came from the Iberian team of Gran Canaria, where Lucia played the last two seasons. The Spanish player is linked to the blue club until June 2023, with an option on the following season.
And then finally the club took two American stars. The setter, Olympic gold medalist Jordyn Poulter. For her, who experienced her golden year in 2021 with the American national team also winning the Volleyball Nations League as a protagonist with the prize for the best in her role. She got a two-year contract, expiring in June 2024.
And the eighth final addition effectively closes the club's roster: the American star the outside-spiker McKenzie Adams, bringing her 192 cm of class and power to Stefano Lavarini's team. Last two seasons she spent in Conegliano, with which in a few months she won the Supercoppa, the Italian Cup, the Scudetto and the Champions League. During the last season, however, she played in the ranks of the Turkish club Eczacibasi Istanbul.
Novara has already conquered once the trophy of CL (18/19 season). This season they got a very difficult group C, where they will meet SC POTSDAM (GER), VakifBank ISTANBUL (TUR), Crvena Zvezda BEOGRAD (SRB). Do not forget that the Turkish team is the reigning champion of the tournament and one of the most titled teams in Europe.