Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA - Neptunes NANTES

• 2800 spectators joined the home game in Pala Igor Gorgonzola, including around 100 supporters from Nantes.
• Several VIP attended the game, including the former player Rachele Sangiuliano (World Champion in 2022 with Italian National Team) and Vero Volley’s coach Marco Gaspari.
• Novara is the only team who stays unbeaten in the 2024 CEV Challenge Cup: Nantes lost their first game in the competition after a winning-strike of 10 games.
• Novara has won so far 11 games out of 11 played in Challenge Cup + 3 out of 3 in the Wevza Cup prequalification round.

Igor Gorgonzola NOVARA

• It is the seasonal best result for Igor Volley in the European Cups.
• Marina Markova had a dream-debut with her new team: she was awarded MVP of the game and she was crucial for her team’s result. It was also her first game ever in the CEV European Cups.
• Lorenzo Bernardi (coach): "We are perfectly aware that the crucial game will be the away one, in Nantes: when it is a two-legs game, it is always like that. Of course we are happy and proud, as we could start these finals with a 3 points win and Nantes proved to be a very good opponent, which adds value to our performance and result. Now we have a very important league game on Saturday, after it we will put all of our energies on the Nantes game: we had a great campaign so far, but now it’s time to finish the job."
• Marina Markova (player): "I am very excited and proud for such a debut, I am thankful to all my team mates who did a great job tonight. It was important to start this finals with a win, I was a little bit nervous before the game but in the end I could stay calm and focused and tried to give my best to my team. Now we expect a very tough game in Nantes but we will work hard to be prepared for it."

Neptunes NANTES

• On Nantes side Taylor Mims was the best scorer and attacker of the team: she scored 15 points, contributing to her team great performance.
• Amelie Rotar (player): "We are not used to this level of opponents, especially regarding the serving skills of Novara’s players, like Markova, which we couldn’t manage at best. Anyway I think we did a good game and we look forward to the game in Nantes: we will do our best to bring it to golden set and then win it."