The 2026 season of Prosecco DOC A. Carraro Imoco Conegliano begins with a sold out at the Palaverde: the big match of the 5th return day of the Regular Season of Serie A1 Tigotà is against Igor Gorgonzola Novara, a “classic” of the Italian championship.
All the big teams are returning from a hot match on December 30th for the quarter-finals of the Frecciarossa Italian Cup, the Panthers beat Bergamo 3-1 at home on Tuesday and Novara did the same within friendly walls against Milan. The two teams will meet in the semifinals of the Final Four of the competition at the Inalpi Arena in Turin on January 24th.
-Sunday’s match (kick-off at 6pm), on the other hand, is worth a very high-altitude comparison in the championship, characterized by the “sold out” at the Palaverde: captain Wolosz and his teammates occupy first position with 46 points after 17 matches, while coach Lorenzo Bernardi’s Piedmontese “Mosquitoes” are third with 39 points, but have one game more than the others. Full team for coach Daniele Santarelli.
PREVIOUS AND EX: It will be match number 62 between the two teams, Conegliano prevailed on 47 occasions, including the first leg at Pala Igor (3-0). Former players of the yellow-blue side were the central defender Cristina Chirichella, who spent 10 seasons at Igor, and the Dutch spiker Nika Daalderop, while Maurizio Mora, assistant to coach Santarelli, was part of the Novara staff. He played with the Panthers Federica Squarcini, at Palaverde from 2022 to 2024
REFEREES: Verrascina and Cesare
The match will be broadcast live on free-to-air TV on Rai Sport (digital terrestrial channel 58) and in streaming on Volleyballworld.tv (by subscription). Live updates and post-match interviews on the Imoco Volley social profiles
TICKET OFFICE: Sunday’s race is sold out, therefore the Palaverde ticket offices will remain closed
OLD WILD WEST, THE COWBOY SHOOTS THE T-SHIRTS DURING THE TIME-OUTS – This year the Palaverde public has a new attraction, during tomorrow’s time-outs the Old Wild West cowboy will “shoot” the personalized OWW t-shirts into the stands for the Panthers fans. This season, with the discount found on the digital ticket and season ticket, the Palaverde public will be able to enjoy a 15% discount for the entire season in the Old Wild West restaurants.
CHARLIE SAX PERFORMS IN THE INTERVALS To celebrate the big match and the arrival of the new year, the Friulian saxophonist Charlie Sax will perform during the intervals of the sets and will create an evocative atmosphere at the Palaverde. Expert in event and party entertainment, Charlie Sax will give a demonstration of his musical art by entertaining the yellow-blue fans between sets.
STATEMENTS COACH DANIELE SANTARELLI
We face the classic challenge with Novara which we will also find in Turin in the Italian Cup, but Sunday’s match will be a completely different match compared to the semi-final in a few weeks. They are a very strong opponent with great attackers and many alternatives, having recovered all the pieces makes them an even more fearsome team. Their match on Tuesday against Milan showed the extent of their strength, so we will find them with high morale and lots of motivation. We will have to be good at overcoming the moments of difficulty that we will certainly face in this match, always be clear-headed and not lose the thread of the game, it is important to know how to suffer and have the awareness and means to impose our game even against opponents who give their all. It would be important to win and score points against a direct competitor, we want to start this 2026 well in front of our fans and we are preparing as best we can. We know that the Palaverde will be sold out, there is no better way to start the new year, the public will make us feel their support and this will also be one of the keys to the match, we must heat up our stadium by playing with ardor and commitment, we know that the atmosphere that our supporters are capable of creating is unique and for this we must always thank them. The girls are all well and are ready for the match, they have returned to training in the gym with maximum motivation in 2026 after a 2025 that brought us great satisfaction, we on the staff were pleased to find them energized and motivated after two days of rest, we are looking forward to Sunday’s match with confidence”.
