Superstar Paola Egonu to spend another season with the Italian ‘Panthers’
News
Paola Egonu will spend the 2021/2022 season with A. Carraro Imoco CONEGLIANO! The 193 cm tall opposite hitter has been with the ‘Panthers’ since the fall of 2019, playing 71 matches with Imoco and registering an immaculate 71-0 win-loss record in the process! Most recently, Egonu helped Imoco claim their first CEV Champions League Volley title, scooping the award for the Most Valuable Player of the Super Finals held in Verona.
“This is the right choice. I feel very good with my teammates and the club is very professional. They look after every player and provide us with everything we need – sharing with us moments of joy as well as the difficult ones. This past season was a difficult time to cope with because of the pandemic, but I felt that I was being supported and looked after at all times.”
At 22 years of age, Egonu has become a household name not only in Italy and among Volleyball fans. Even though she had received very lucrative offers from some foreign top clubs, Egonu has decided to stick with Imoco at least for another year.
Despite spending two years ‘only’ with Imoco, Egonu is already the fourth best scorer in the history of the Italian club with a personal tally of 1,437 points – with Kimberly Hill leading the way on 1,836. This past season, she set the record for the most points scored in a single match, finishing with a massive haul of 47 points the first matchup of the Italian championship series against her former team, Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA.
A reigning Italian, European and World champion with her club, Egonu is also a silver medallist from the 2018 World Championship and 2019 EuroVolley bronze medal winner with Team Italy.
“When I moved to Conegliano, I knew we had what it takes to be successful, but even though we have won so much, we are still hungry for more. The past year was a truly amazing one, since we did not suffer a single loss, but we now look forward to the next season and to the achievement of new goals. We are professionals and this is our job – and our group is very much hungry for more victories.”
Paola is currently attending a camp of Team Italy in Caorle – where she is working ahead of the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympics. “It is a great feeling, and sometimes something you cannot fully realise, to be the Italian, European and World champion at the same time. The victories we have achieved are testament to our hard work. We are very proud because we have worked incredibly hard for this. Despite this, I still think that there is room for improvement. We do not rest on our laurels and will continue to work hard to achieve the best possible results. I am sure that when we return to work together, we will be doing our best to do even better than we did throughout such an incredible 2020/2021 season,” Egonu continues.
Egonu will especially be looking forward to the return of the passionate Imoco fans to the stands of Palaverde. “To play before empty stands has become some sort of a strange habit. Therefore, I very much hope that we will be able to play before our fans right from the start of the new season. I have been missing our supporters very much and I cannot wait to play before a large number of yellow-and-blue fans!”