We know our group at the Cornacchia World Cup!!! 🇷🇴🇮🇹🇮🇳🇵🇹

Performance knows no borders, and the work done in the training gym now takes us onto the world stage. Asociația Club Sportiv Volleyball Forever is proud to announce its participation in the prestigious Cornacchia World Cup, where our girls will represent not only the club but also the spirit of private volleyball in Romania.

The draw has been made, and our team has been placed in Group A, a very competitive group, diverse both culturally and technically.

We have the honour and the challenge of playing the tournament’s opening match against the host team, Virtus Fontanafredda. Playing the first match of a world cup against Italy — a dominant force in European volleyball — is exactly the kind of experience that speeds up our players’ sporting maturity.

Saturday, 4 April 2026 will be a marathon of high-level volleyball, where physical and mental resilience will be the key to success:

Beyond the score, taking part in the Cornacchia World Cup is part of our long-term vision:

• International exposure: the players come into contact with different styles of play (the Italian, Portuguese and Indian schools).

• A winning mentality: we learn to manage the emotions of a major tournament and the pressure of an international crowd.

• Sports networking: we strengthen the club’s position as a serious partner on the European private circuit.

Taking part in a World Cup in only our sixth year of activity confirms that the road we chose — rigorous management and consistent work — is the right one. We are going to Italy to fight for every point!

We wish our girls the best of luck! Stay close to our social media channels for real-time updates from the venue. 🚀

The opening match puts us face to face with the pure tradition of Italian volleyball. Virtus Fontanafredda, a club with more than half a century of history, is the first maturity test for our project. It’s a duel between decades of experience and the ambition of the new wave of private sport in Romania.

• A club with tradition: founded in 1971, it is a historic club in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region. They have more than 50 years of experience in developing young talent and are a reference point in the province of Pordenone.
• The Italian volleyball school: their U16 players are the product of a very rigorous system. In Italy women’s volleyball is the number 1 sport by number of players, so the level of selection is very high.
• Home advantage: as the host team, they will have the biggest support in the stands. They are used to the gym, the lighting and the pressure of the local crowd.
• Local record: Virtus Fontanafredda regularly plays in Italy’s elite regional championships (Eccellenza), often finishing on the podium in territorial competitions.

The 09:00 match will probably be the most tactically intense:

1. Impeccable basic technique: Italian players master the fundamentals very well (passing and serving are their strengths).
2. Speed of execution: their game is fast, based on excellent coordination between setter and hitters.
3. Determination: for them, the match against a team from Romania is a matter of local pride. They will step on court highly motivated to “defend their home”.

The 12:00 match brings us an unusual opponent: Scindia Kanya Vidyalaya, an elite selection from India with a sporting tradition of almost 70 years. That’s the beauty of this tournament — in a single day our girls go from the Italian volleyball school to the discipline and determination of a top team from Asia.

• Elite profile: one of the most prestigious girls’ boarding schools in India, founded in 1956 by Rajmata Vijaya Raje Scindia (of the royal family of Gwalior).
• Volleyball tradition: volleyball is one of their main sports. SKV regularly hosts the All India IPSC Volleyball Girls’ Tournament, where their team is often a finalist or champion (for example, they were finalists in the 2023 edition).
• A sporting lifestyle: their players follow a very disciplined routine, with 45 minutes of physical conditioning in the morning and specialised training in the evening, under dedicated coaches.
• Reputation: they are known for their iron discipline and team spirit, values instilled by an elite boarding-school education.

Indian school-level teams are usually:

1. Very tactically disciplined: they follow game plans strictly.
2. Resilient: they are used to long tournaments and intense training conditions.
3. A technical surprise: their style may differ slightly from the European one (reaction speed vs. raw power), which will be an excellent test of adaptability for Volleyball Forever.

Match 3

We finish the group stage against Clube Atlântico da Madalena, a big name in Portuguese volleyball. With more than half a century of history, the team from Vila Nova de Gaia brings Lusitanian ‘grinta’ and vast experience of international tournaments. For Volleyball Forever, this will be the moment when the strategy and physical preparation of the whole year must deliver maximum results.

The last piece of the Group A puzzle is Clube Atlântico da Madalena, a leading representative of Portuguese volleyball. If the Italian team stands for local tradition and the Indian team for academic discipline, the Portuguese bring to the group a style based on passion, physical strength and a volleyball school on the rise in Europe.

• Location and history: they come from Vila Nova de Gaia (near Porto). The club was founded in 1970, so they have more than 50 years of experience, just like the Italian opponents.
• A force in women’s volleyball: Madalena is one of the most respected clubs in Portugal at children’s and youth level. They currently have more than 200 registered girls in 16 age categories.
• Experience at Cornacchia: this isn’t their first participation. In past editions (such as 2023) they finished in respectable places (21st at U19, for example), showing they can compete on equal terms with top academies from around the world.
• A development team: the club is known in Portugal as a “talent factory”, with many of its players later joining big teams such as Sporting CP or SL Benfica.

The 16:30 match will be the day’s final test of endurance:

1. Physical and defensive game: the Portuguese are known for their “fighting spirit”. They don’t let any ball drop without effort and have a very mobile defence.
2. Aggressive serving: the Lusitanian style puts great value on the jump serve or an aggressive float, trying to knock the opponent out of their build-up.
3. Endurance: as the last group match for us, it will matter enormously who managed their energy better over the day.

These will be our opponents. We start from the idea that we are not inferior to anyone and we go there thinking we will qualify. It’s all in our hands.