Volley Bergamo

Volley Bergamo is an Italian women's volleyball club based in Bergamo and currently playing in the Serie A1.

Volley Bergamo

Full name	Volley Bergamo 1991
Founded	1991
Ground	PalaFacchetti, Treviglio, Italy (Capacity: 2,880)
Chairman	Chiara Paola Rusconi
Head coach	Carlo Parisi
League	FIPAV Women's Serie A1
Website	Club home page
Uniforms
Home Away

Previous names

Due to sponsorship, the club have competed under the following names:

• Volley Bergamo (1991–1992)
• Foppapedretti Bergamo (1992–2000)
• Radio 105 Foppapedretti Bergamo (2000–2006)
• Play Radio Foppapedretti Bergamo (2006–2007)
• Foppapedretti Bergamo (2007–2010)
• Norda Foppapedretti Bergamo (2010–2012)
• Foppapedretti Bergamo (2012–2018)
• Zanetti Bergamo (2018–2021)
• Volley Bergamo 1991 (2021– )

History

Beginnings (1991–1994)

Volley Bergamo was founded in 1991 by Mauro Ferraris and first played in the 1991–92 Serie B1 (third tier). In the following season (1992–93) it started a partnership with Foppapedretti and gained promotion to the Serie A2 (second tier). The club gain a second successive promotion in 1993–94 by winning the Serie A2 and being promoted to the Serie A1 (first tier).^[1]

Major success (1995–2007)

In 1994–95, its debut season at Serie A1, the club finished in fifth position, earning for the first time qualification for a European competition (CEV Cup).^[2] In the following season it won both the Serie A1 and the Coppa Italia for the first time. In the 1996–97 the club won the Serie A1, Coppa Italia, Italian Super Cup and the CEV Champions League.^[3] For the next decade the club became one of the strongest women's volleyball clubs in Europe, winning another five Serie A1 (1997–98, 1998–99, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2005–06), two Coppa Italia (1997–98, 2005–06), four Italian Super Cups (1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2004–05), four CEV Champions League (1998–99, 1999–00, 2004–05, 2006–07) and one CEV Cup (2003–04).^[4]

Recent years (2008–present)

Despite not being as dominant as before, the club after 2008 won the Serie A again (2010–11), the Coppa Italia (2007–08 and 2015–16), the Italian Super Cup (2011–12) and the CEV Champions League (2008–09 and 2009–10).^[4] It is the most successful Italian team in the CEV Champions League history with 7 titles and the second most successful team in Serie A history with 8 titles.

In June 2021 Volley Bergamo Foppapedretti sold its rights to play in Serie A1 to a new company, Volley Bergamo 1991 S.r.l.^[5][6]

Team

Further information: Volley Bergamo Past Squads

2025–2026 Team[7]
Number	Player	Position	Height (m)	Birth date
1	Roberta Carraro	Setter	1.81	(1998-11-17) 17 November 1998 (age 26)
2	Chidera Blessing Eze	Setter	1.81	(2003-09-02) 2 September 2003 (age 21)
3	Alessia Bolzonetti	Outside Hitter	1.87	(2002-02-15) 15 February 2002 (age 23)
5	Kendall Kipp	Opposite	1.96	(2000-12-12) 12 December 2000 (age 24)
6	Federica Ferrario	Libero	1.62	(2001-05-31) 31 May 2001 (age 24)
7	Jenny Mosser	Outside Hitter	1.80	(1998-10-10) 10 October 1998 (age 26)
8	Monique Strubbe	Middle Blocker	1.89	(2001-07-05) 5 July 2001 (age 24)
9	Aurora Micheletti	Middle Blocker	1.90	(2005-04-27) 27 April 2005 (age 20)
10	Martina Armini	Libero	1.75	(2002-09-19) 19 September 2002 (age 22)
13	Emilia Weske	Opposite	1.88	(2001-03-26) 26 March 2001 (age 24)
15	Linda Manfredini	Middle Blocker	1.86	(2006-05-14) 14 May 2006 (age 19)
16	Michaela Mlejnková	Outside Hitter	1.85	(1996-07-26) 26 July 1996 (age 29)
17	Denise Meli	Middle Blocker	1.83	(2001-04-09) 9 April 2001 (age 24)
26	Ailama Cesé	Outside Hitter	1.90	(2000-10-29) 29 October 2000 (age 24)

Notable players

• Maurizia Cacciatori (1995–1998, 1999–2003)
• Antonella Del Core (2008–2010)
• Paola Croce (2004–2008)
• Jenny Barazza (2003–2009)
• Paola Paggi (2002–2007, 2014–2018)
• Simona Rinieri (1999–2001)
• Eleonora Lo Bianco (2005–2011, 2015–2017)
• Serena Ortolani (2008–2011)
• Valentina Arrighetti (2007–2012)
• Francesca Piccinini (1999–2012)
• Iuliana Nucu (2010–2012)
• Antonina Zetova (2000–2001)
• Jelena Nikolić (2002–2003)
• Prikeba Phipps (1995–1997, 2001–2002)
• Tara Cross-Battle (2001–2002)
• Heather Bown (2002–2003)
• Iryna Zhukova (2003–2005)
• Christiane Fürst (2009–2010)
• Angelina Grün (2003–2008)
• Irina Kirillova (1998–1999)
• Maja Poljak (2003–2008)
• Lioubov Sokolova (2002–2005)
• Mireya Luis (1998–2000)
• Ana Fernández (1998–1999)
• Marlenys Costa (1998–1999)
• Gabriela Pérez del Solar (1999–2001)

Retired numbers

• 11 Giseli Gavio; the number was retired in 1999
• 12 Francesca Piccinini; the number was retired in 2013

Head coaches

• Francesco Sbalchiero (1993–1995)
• Atanas Malinov (1995–1997)
• Marco Bonitta (1997–2000)
• Giuseppe Cuccarini (2000–2002)
• Mario Di Pietro (2002–2003)
• Giovanni Caprara (2003–2005)
• Marco Fenoglio (2005–2007)
• Lorenzo Micelli (2007–2010)
• Davide Mazzanti (2010–2012)
• Stefano Lavarini (2012–2017)
• Stefano Micoli (2017–2018)
• Matteo Bertini (2018–2019)
• Marcello Abbondanza (2019)
• Marco Fenoglio (2019–2020)
• Daniele Turino (2020–2021)
• Pasqualino Giangrossi (2021–2022)
• Stefano Micoli (2022–2023)
• Matteo Solforati (2023)
• Alberto Bigarelli (2023–2024)
• Carlo Parisi (2024–)

Honours

National competitions

• National League: 8

1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2005–06, 2010–11

• Coppa Italia: 6

1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 2005–06, 2007–08, 2015–16

• Italian Super Cup: 6

1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2004–05, 2011–12

International competitions

• CEV Champions League: 7

1996–97, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2004–05, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2009–10

• CEV Challenge Cup: 1

2003–04

• Women's Top Volley International: 2

1996

1998 (January)