Fatoumatta Sillah is Imoco's New Outside Hitter

Fifth new addition for Prosecco DOC Imoco Conegliano ahead of the 2025/26 season: Fatoumatta Sillah joins the yellow-blue team. After an extraordinary life and career journey, she will wear jersey number 23 in the upcoming 2025/26 season. At 186 cm tall, she brings explosiveness and energy, has strong attacking and serving skills, and is a technically growing player arriving on the Italian stage for a significant step in her career.

Fifth new addition for Prosecco DOC Imoco Conegliano ahead of the 2025/26 season: Fatoumatta Sillah joins the yellow-blue team. After an extraordinary life and career journey, she will wear jersey number 23 in the upcoming 2025/26 season. At 186 cm tall, she brings explosiveness and energy, has strong attacking and serving skills, and is a technically growing player arriving on the Italian stage for a significant step in her career.

Born on November 15, 2002, in Gambia, a small country in West Africa, Fatoumatta grew up with her two sisters, mother, and father. “Nenneh” (her nickname), like many children in her country, first played football but soon discovered volleyball—still a relatively uncommon sport there—and began playing at age 16 on her school team. Thanks to an international cooperation project, the young prodigy, with remarkable physical abilities, was discovered by an Italian coach working in Slovenia at Gen-I Volley Nova Gorica. At 17, she came to Europe as a raw talent.

Her journey has been truly unique. In Slovenia, she also acquired her volleyball nationality. Her rapid development led her to shine in the Slovenian league, including with Calcit Volley, the top team in Slovenia, where she played for two years before making the leap to Vasas Obuda, a powerhouse in the Hungarian league. Fatoumatta won the national championship last season and also reached the CEV Cup semifinals.

In the second-tier European competition, Sillah scored 182 points in 10 matches, adding 10 blocks and 4 aces. With Slovenia’s national team, she nearly reached the Golden League Final Four, finishing fifth, and stood out by scoring 35 points in 2 games with 69% positive reception. “Nenneh” will be the first Slovenian player in the history of Prosecco DOC Imoco Conegliano, but Italy seems to be her destiny, as she plays for the national team under coach Alessandro Orefice.

"It’s the perfect environment to grow both as an athlete and as a person. I look forward to meeting all the girls—they are extraordinary players with so much experience, and I hope to learn a lot from each of them. It’s an honor to train and play alongside them.

Last season was really special: winning the Hungarian championship was an incredible achievement for us, and reaching the CEV Cup semifinals was another great success for the club. Competing at such a high level against some of the best teams in Europe pushed me to give my best and grow a lot both technically and mentally. I gained a lot of experience and self-confidence.

Representing Slovenia means everything to me. I’m very motivated to bring energy and make a contribution to help the national team reach new goals.

Now I feel ready and excited for this next step with Prosecco DOC. Playing at the highest level, especially with a team recognized among the best in the world, is a big responsibility but also an incredible opportunity for personal, technical, and professional growth.

As a player, I always put heart and energy on the court; I love to play, to train, and to give my best in every match and practice. As a person, off the court, I’m quite calm, friendly, cheerful… and a bit shy! Volleyball is a hugely important part of my life, but I also try to have fun and enjoy my free time.

I already know a few words of Italian and have started studying it online to bring some vocabulary with me for my first experience in Conegliano. I can’t wait to meet all the fans at Palaverde—I’ve heard the atmosphere is amazing and full of passion. It will be wonderful to play for them.”