# Volley Bergamo

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

## 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).

### 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). 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. 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).

### 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). 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.

## Team

The following is the roster for the 2024–2025 season.
| Number | Player | Position | Height (m) | Birth date |
| 1 | Vittoria Piani | Opposite | 1.87 | (1998-02-12) 12 February 1998 (age 26) |
| 3 | Virginia Adriano | Opposite | 1.96 | (2004-07-22) 22 July 2004 (age 20) |
| 5 | Roberta Carraro | Setter | 1.81 | (1998-11-17) 17 November 1998 (age 25) |
| 7 | Alessia Bolzonetti | Outside Hitter | 1.87 | (2002-02-15) 15 February 2002 (age 22) |
| 8 | Monique Strubbe | Middle Blocker | 1.89 | (2001-07-05) 5 July 2001 (age 23) |
| 9 | Alessandra Mistretta | Libero | 1.65 | (2002-02-05) 5 February 2002 (age 22) |
| 10 | Martina Armini | Libero | 1.75 | (2002-09-19) 19 September 2002 (age 22) |
| 11 | Alice Farina | Middle Blocker | 1.89 | (2000-06-26) 26 June 2000 (age 24) |
| 13 | Ashley Evans | Setter | 1.90 | (1994-12-23) 23 December 1994 (age 29) |
| 15 | Linda Manfredini | Middle Blocker | 1.86 | (2006-05-14) 14 May 2006 (age 18) |
| 16 | Michaela Mlejnková | Outside Hitter | 1.85 | (1996-07-26) 26 July 1996 (age 28) |
| 22 | Elissa Alcantara | Outside Hitter | 1.80 | (2001-01-11) 11 January 2001 (age 23) |
| 23 | Viola Spampatti | Libero | 1.73 | (2006-11-28) 28 November 2006 (age 17) |
| 24 | Maria Alessandra Crevenna | Middle Blocker | 1.86 | (2006-11-14) 14 November 2006 (age 17) |
| 26 | Ailama Cesé | Outside Hitter | 1.90 | (2000-10-29) 29 October 2000 (age 23) |

## 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-current)
* Simona Rinieri (1999–2001)
* Eleonora Lo Bianco (2005–2011/2015-current)
* 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)