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    Prosecco DOC IMOCO VOLLEY: Gabi is the Pearl that completes the "ALL STAR" Gialloblu Roster!

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    Article Wed, Jul 3 2024

    THE FORMIDABLE BRAZILIAN SPIKER CHOOSES CONEGLIANO AFTER VAKIFBANKTO CONTINUE HER CAREER AS NUMBER ONE

    Prosecco DOC Imoco Conegliano announces the arrival of Gabi, the charismatic Brazilian Gabriela Braga Guimarães, currently considered the best spiker in the world, the latest gem in a prized necklace available to coach Santarelli for the 2024/25 season. This "number one" team faces a season full of commitments and goals, including the Italian Super Cup, Championship, Italian Cup, Champions League, and the grand return to the Club World Championship to be held in December in China.

    The Brazilian Gabi is another great symbolic figure of world volleyball, possibly the strongest and most complete player in the world today, who believed in the gialloblu project. After her legendary stint in Turkey with Vakif, and following the Paris Games where she will be one of the great attractions with her Brazil team, she will add a massive dose of class and charisma to the new Panthers group, which will tackle the new season with great ambitions. This is thanks to the club's efforts to assemble a team capable of competing at the top on all fronts. She is the first Brazilian in the history of Prosecco DOC Imoco Volley. She will play with number 1.

    Photo credit: Volleyball World

    Gabi - Gabriela Braga Guimarães - Belo Horizonte (Bra), May 19, 1994, 181 cm, spiker, #1

    Club Career Gabi's professional career began in 2009 when she debuted in the Brazilian championship with Mackenzie, the club where she took her first steps at the youth level and with which she played for three seasons, winning a Mineiro Championship. In the 2012-13 season, she was signed by Rio de Janeiro, where in six seasons, she won five Carioca Championships, five Brazilian league titles, three Brazilian Cups, three Brazilian Super Cups, and four editions of the South American Club Championship (the Champions League of South America), also earning an impressive series of individual MVP awards. In the 2018/19 season, she joined Minas, where she won the Brazilian Cup, another South American Club Championship, and the Brazilian league title before choosing to start her overseas experience in Europe with the top team VakıfBank Istanbul, becoming one of the world's reference players.

    With the Turkish team, where she was also captain in recent seasons, she won two Turkish Championships, three Turkish Cups, two Super Cups, the 2021 Club World Championship, and two Champions League editions, being awarded MVP in 2022. Prosecco DOC Imoco Volley fans know her very well, given the fierce rivalry between the two teams that culminated in many spectacular and engaging finals and decisive matches, thrilling volleyball fans worldwide.

    National Team With the U18 national team, she participated in the 2010 South American Championship, where she won the gold medal and was awarded MVP and best attacker, then at the 2011 World Championship, where she was named best scorer; with the U20 team, she won the continental title in 2012 and bronze at the World Championship the following year, awarded best spiker. With the U23 team, she won silver at the 2012 Pan American Cup, where she was named best attacker. In 2012, she made her debut with the senior national team at the Pan American Cup, where she won silver.

    For the green and gold national team, three consecutive gold medals (2013, 2014, and 2016) and a bronze (2015) came at the World Grand Prix, while at the continental level, she won two golds at the South American Championship in 2013 and 2015 (where she was named best player and best spiker).

    She won bronze at the 2014 World Championship in Italy. Increasingly a "pillar" of the Brazilian national team, Gabi starred in three silver medals at the VNL in 2019, 2021, and 2022, being named best spiker all three times, and another silver at the Tokyo Olympics, while she did even better at the 2021 South American Championship, being awarded MVP of the tournament won by Brazil. In 2022, she won silver at the World Championship, where she was also named best spiker. In 2023, she won the gold medal at the South American Championship, where she received the individual awards of best spiker and MVP, and also won silver at the World Cup.

    An incredible career, an infinite palmarès for a player who embodies the essence of modern volleyball, with no weak points in her game, the prototype of the ideal spiker who can be decisive and a protagonist both in attack fundamentals with an unparalleled variety of shots and in the back row thanks to absolute level defense and reception skills.

    STATEMENTS

    1. How do you feel, after many years of challenges as an opponent, to play with Prosecco DOC Imoco next year? "Facing Conegliano has always been very difficult. It has always been a very well-structured club, built to win, with very passionate fans and very successful players. So I feel very good, it's the ideal environment for me because I know I will find all this, it's stimulating. The atmosphere and the environment will be different from recent years, it will be a huge challenge for me. New experiences always push us out of our comfort zone, but I feel ready for the level of this great challenge. My desire is to offer the maximum possible contribution from my side to help the team achieve all its goals."

    2. Why did you choose Conegliano to continue your career in Europe? "I am driven by challenges, and I felt it was time to face another one. Conegliano is one of the best teams in the world, with a very important national championship that brings together many of the best players. Being in Europe is very important to me, competing in the Champions League and the Italian championship means being at a high level and always pushing further. Now there will be new challenges, a new way of working and growing individually and as a group."

    3. Do you like Wolosz's and coach Santarelli's game? "Asia Wolosz is currently one of the best setters in the world, she has a very fast style of play that I like a lot, and she is also a leader for the team. When I consider playing for a team, I always consider who the coach and the setter are, because these positions are fundamental. The presence of coach Santarelli and a setter I highly regard like Wolosz helped me a lot in making my decision. They are successful people who have achieved many results in recent years. Certainly, for me, it will be an incredible opportunity to learn many things and grow even more. I hope to interact a lot with coach Santarelli and that this exchange will help us grow individually and as a team. There will be work to create the new group, but the premises, given the names on the roster and the organization of the technical staff and club, are excellent."

    4. Your and the team's goals for 2024/2025? "I want to adapt to the team and the working methodology as quickly as possible, gain synergy, and feel part of this family that is Prosecco DOC Imoco. I want to give my best, grow as a player and as a person. I know it will be a new country with a different culture, so integrating into this will facilitate the process. Our goal is to reach all the finals and win the titles. In any team I play, both nationally and at the club level, my goal is to win. I know Conegliano won everything last season, so the bar is set very high to maintain this quality."

    5. This year you played at Palaverde; do you like the atmosphere of the arena and the yellow-blue fans? "The Palaverde fans surprised me. I was very surprised to see the arena full, the noise, the enthusiasm, and the passion of the fans. It was incredible! I can't wait to wear the jersey and experience this. I am sure they will help us a lot in a season that will be full of commitments and important goals."

    6. Are you happy to reunite with your friend Bella Haak after the experience together at Vakif? "I am extremely happy. We always talked about the possibility of playing together again. It's another dream come true for me. She is one of my best friends, we always talk, so being by her side again is a dream. We achieved many results in Turkey, so it's an even greater motivation to replicate this success now in Italy."

    HERE IS THE FINAL ROSTER OF PROSECCO DOC IMOCO VOLLEY CONEGLIANO 2024/25

    Setters: Joanna Wolosz (Pol - captain) and Nanami Seki (Jpn)

    Spikers: Gabi (Bra), Khalia Lanier (USA), Martyna Łukasik (Pol), Zhu Ting (Chn)

    Middle Blockers: Sarah Fahr (Ita), Marina Lubian (Ita), Cristina Chirichella (Ita), Katja Eckl (Ita)

    Liberos: Monica De Gennaro (Ita), Anna Bardaro (Ita)

    Opposites: Isabelle Haak (Swe), Merit Adiwge (Ita)

    Coach: Daniele Santarelli
    Assistant Coaches: Tommaso Barbato, Andrea Zotta
    Assistant Coach: Maurizio Mora
    Physical Trainer: Marco Da Lozzo

    4o

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