Lucille Gicquel (born 13 November 1997) is a French opposite who has represented France at senior international level since 2017. Born in Rennes, she came through the French federation pathway after initially appearing as a middle blocker in youth competition, then established herself on the right side as her senior career developed. After seasons in France, Italy, Türkiye and Japan, she returned to RC Cannes for 2026–27, rejoining the club where she began her professional career.
Her career includes one of the most successful seasons available to a European club player: with Imoco Volley Conegliano in 2020–21, Gicquel won the Italian Super Cup, Coppa Italia, Serie A1 and CEV Champions League. With France, she was MVP of the 2022 European Golden League, helped win the 2023 FIVB Challenger Cup and competed at Paris 2024 as the French women made their Olympic debut.
Player Information
| Information | Details |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Lucille Gicquel |
| Date of Birth | 13 November 1997 |
| Place of Birth | Rennes, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Position | Opposite |
| Height | 189 cm |
| Weight | 69 kg |
| Spike Reach | 305 cm |
| Block Reach | 290 cm |
| Dominant Hand | Right |
| Previous Clubs | RC Cannes, VB Nantes, Imoco Volley Conegliano, Cuneo Granda Volley, Nilüfer Belediyespor, Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri ’76, Toray Arrows Shiga |
| Current Club | RC Cannes |
| Club Number | 3 |
| National Team | France Women’s National Volleyball Team |
| National-Team Number | 11 |
| Senior International Since | 2017 |
| @lucillegicquel |
The current CEV France roster lists Gicquel at 189 cm and 69 kg, with a 305 cm spike reach and 290 cm block reach. RC Cannes lists her as its number 3 opposite and captain for the 2026–27 season.
Early Life & Volleyball Beginnings
Gicquel grew up in Rennes in a family with a strong sporting background. Her father, Jean-Charles Gicquel, was an elite high jumper and set the French indoor record of 2.35 metres in 1994. Her sister Solène Gicquel also became a French high-jump champion and later qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics. Volleyball came from another part of the family: her mother had played the sport at amateur level. A Team France athlete profile describes that combination of athletics and volleyball as an important part of Gicquel’s sporting environment.
She did not commit immediately to volleyball. Gicquel tried gymnastics, dance and handball before starting volleyball at around 12 years old with Rennes Étudiants Club. An FFvolley profile from 2018 records that after only a year at Rennes, she entered the Pôle France program at Châtenay-Malabry and later continued at the federal institute in Toulouse.
Her positional development is another distinctive part of that early period. France’s youth records listed Gicquel as a middle blocker — including the 2015 U20 group — before she developed into the opposite who would define her senior career.
The federal pathway eventually took her to RC Cannes. Team France dates her first professional contract to 2015, when she was 17, beginning the first of two separate chapters she would eventually have with the club.
Club Career
RC Cannes and the Move to Nantes
Gicquel spent her first three professional seasons with RC Cannes from 2015 to 2018. Playing time was not always extensive in a club accustomed to competing for domestic trophies, but the period placed her inside one of France’s leading volleyball environments and brought two Coupe de France titles, in 2016 and 2018.
By the end of that first Cannes spell, Gicquel was looking for a larger role. She moved to VB Nantes in 2018, where increased court time helped establish her as an opposite capable of carrying a significant attacking workload. Her 2018 federation profile framed Nantes as an opportunity to move from development and competition for minutes toward a more central role on court.
Gicquel remained with Nantes through 2019–20 before taking the step that changed the level of competition around her: a move to Italy.
Conegliano and a Trophy-Filled Italian Season
Imoco Volley Conegliano signed Gicquel for 2020–21. She entered a roster loaded with international talent, including Paola Egonu at opposite, so her role was different from the high-volume responsibility she had earned in France. Even without being the primary attacker, the season exposed her to one of the strongest club environments in world volleyball.
The trophies came quickly. Conegliano won the Italian Super Cup, Coppa Italia, Serie A1 championship and CEV Champions League during Gicquel’s season with the club. Team France identifies that Champions League victory as making her the first French woman to win the competition. Her official Italian league career record also lists all four titles among her honors.
The Champions League final remained one of the matches Gicquel herself remembered most clearly years later. In a 2025 interview with Chieri, she selected the 2021 European final among the unforgettable matches of her career.
Two Seasons with Cuneo
Rather than stay in a secondary role at Conegliano, Gicquel moved to Cuneo in 2021. She spent two seasons there, returning to the type of regular opposite role that demanded more attacking volume.
Those years gave her a sustained run in Serie A1 rather than a single season inside a dominant squad. The value of the move was less about accumulating trophies and more about establishing herself as a starting-level opposite in one of the world’s deepest domestic leagues.
Her two Cuneo seasons also overlapped with a decisive period for France. As her club responsibility increased, she became one of the principal scorers in a national team that was beginning to win international competitions.
Nilüfer and a Season in Türkiye
For 2023–24, Gicquel left Italy and joined Nilüfer Belediyespor in Türkiye. The move brought another demanding league and another different tactical environment.
She remained a high-volume attacking option and also made an impact from the service line. The season expanded a career that was becoming increasingly international: after France, Italy and Türkiye, her next two club moves would take her back to Serie A1 and then to Japan.
Return to Italy with Chieri
Gicquel returned to Italy for 2024–25 with Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri ’76. The club’s 2024 signing announcement presented her as the final piece of its roster and highlighted her experience with Cannes, Nantes, Conegliano, Cuneo and Nilüfer.
Chieri gave her another significant European campaign. The team advanced to the 2025 CEV Challenge Cup final after surviving a dramatic semifinal against Galatasaray. In the opening leg of the final against Roma, Gicquel scored 20 points, one behind teammate Avery Skinner, but Roma won the match in five sets.
Roma completed the job in the return leg, leaving Chieri as Challenge Cup runner-up. The result gave Gicquel another European final four years after her Champions League title with Conegliano.
Japan with Toray Arrows Shiga
Gicquel made another major career move for 2025–26, signing with Toray Arrows Shiga in Japan’s SV.League.
The season demanded an unusually large offensive workload. Official SV.League statistics record 1,170 attack attempts across 36 matches and 122 sets. Gicquel converted 427 attacks, added 57 blocks and 11 aces, and finished with 495 total points. Her back-row attacking load was significant as well, with 293 back-attack attempts and 114 points.
Japan also forced technical adjustments. In a March 2026 interview, Gicquel described a league built around speed, defense, combinations and long rallies. As opponents studied her tendencies, she said she had to find different attacking solutions, including making more deliberate use of the block. That experience added another layer to a career already shaped by several contrasting volleyball systems.
Return to RC Cannes
After one season in Japan, Gicquel returned to France in 2026. FFvolley’s transfer roundup confirmed that she had rejoined RC Cannes, the same club where she began her professional career in 2015.
The reunion also came with greater responsibility than during her first stint. Cannes lists Gicquel as captain for 2026–27 and gives her the number 3 shirt — the same number associated with part of her earlier Cannes career.
Club Career Timeline
| Seasons | Team | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 2015–2018 | RC Cannes | France |
| 2018–2020 | VB Nantes | France |
| 2020–2021 | Imoco Volley Conegliano | Italy |
| 2021–2023 | Cuneo Granda Volley | Italy |
| 2023–2024 | Nilüfer Belediyespor | Türkiye |
| 2024–2025 | Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri ’76 | Italy |
| 2025–2026 | Toray Arrows Shiga | Japan |
| 2026–present | RC Cannes | France |
The European stages of that chronology are supported by Lega Volley and CEV records, while the Japanese league and French federation confirm the Toray season and subsequent Cannes return.
National Team Career
Gicquel made her first senior France selection in 2017 after progressing through French youth teams. Federation records from that year already list her as an opposite, showing that the transition away from the middle-blocker role of her youth career had been established by the time she entered the senior setup.
She became increasingly important as France developed the generation that would ultimately reach the Paris Olympics. By 2019 she was wearing number 11 at EuroVolley, and she remained part of the national-team core through the following Olympic cycle.
The first major breakthrough arrived in 2022. France entered the European Golden League and went through the competition unbeaten before beating Czechia 3–0 in the final. Gicquel produced 20 points in that match — 14 attacks, two blocks and four aces — and scored the final point of the tournament.
CEV’s Golden European League final report named Gicquel tournament MVP. She also finished first in the competition’s scoring ranking with 97 points across six matches. It was the first Golden League title for the French women’s team and an important milestone in its progression toward higher-level international competition.
France followed that success by winning the 2023 FIVB Challenger Cup in Laval. Gicquel was again one of the team’s primary offensive options. She led France with 18 points against Vietnam in the quarterfinal and 15 against Ukraine in the semifinal before adding 23 points in the final against Sweden.
The Volleyball World final report credits Gicquel with 23 points, including two blocks and two aces, in France’s 3–1 victory. The title qualified France for the 2024 Volleyball Nations League.
That progression culminated in Paris 2024. As the host nation, France entered the women’s Olympic volleyball tournament for the first time. Gicquel played all three group matches and Volleyball World recorded 26 points: 20 in attack, five from blocks and one ace.
She continued with France during the 2025 VNL campaign, but her international schedule changed the following year. During her season in Japan, Gicquel spoke openly about accumulated physical fatigue after repeatedly moving directly from club seasons into national-team summers.
In a March 2026 interview with FFvolley, she said she had agreed with coach César Hernández to take a break from the national team for the summer in order to recover physically. Later reporting around EuroVolley confirmed that she had declined selection. The decision represented a break rather than a retirement announcement and followed almost a decade of senior international involvement.
Playing Style & Strengths
Gicquel’s senior identity is built around the scoring responsibilities of an opposite. At 189 cm with a listed 305 cm spike reach, she is used as a primary right-side attacker and has repeatedly carried substantial out-of-system and back-row attacking volume.
Her 2025–26 season in Japan provides one of the clearest statistical examples. Toray gave her 1,170 attack attempts in 36 matches, with 293 coming as back-row attacks. She scored 427 attacking points, which accounted for most of her 495 total points. Those numbers show not only scoring output but the amount of offensive responsibility placed on her across a long season.
That Japanese experience also revealed how Gicquel adapts when power alone is insufficient. In her FFvolley interview from Japan, she explained that opponents’ detailed scouting forced her to search for new attacking solutions and to make greater use of the block. She described Japanese volleyball as faster and more defense-oriented than the leagues she had previously experienced, with longer rallies and a strong tactical emphasis.
Serving is another recurring part of her scoring profile. The 2022 Golden European League final is a useful example: four of her 20 points came directly from aces. Her 2023 Challenger Cup final line also included two aces alongside two blocks and 19 attacking points. These performances show an opposite capable of adding pressure beyond front-row attacking.
Blocking gives her another direct scoring route. At Paris 2024, five of her 26 points came from blocks, while the Japanese league recorded 57 blocks in 122 sets during 2025–26.
The combination makes Gicquel most valuable when she can carry repeated attacking volume without becoming one-dimensional. Her years across French, Italian, Turkish and Japanese volleyball have exposed her to different tempos and defensive structures, and her own account of the Japanese season shows an experienced attacker increasingly focused on changing solutions when opponents take away her preferred patterns.
Major Achievements
Selected National Team Honors
| Year | Competition | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | CEV European Golden League | Champion |
| 2023 | FIVB Volleyball Challenger Cup | Champion |
The Golden League was France’s first title in that competition, while the Challenger Cup victory promoted the team into the 2024 VNL immediately before the Paris Olympics.
Selected Club Honors
| Year / Season | Competition | Team | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Coupe de France | RC Cannes | Winner |
| 2018 | Coupe de France | RC Cannes | Winner |
| 2020–21 | Italian Super Cup | Imoco Volley Conegliano | Winner |
| 2020–21 | Coppa Italia | Imoco Volley Conegliano | Winner |
| 2020–21 | Italian Serie A1 | Imoco Volley Conegliano | Champion |
| 2020–21 | CEV Champions League | Imoco Volley Conegliano | Champion |
| 2024–25 | CEV Challenge Cup | Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri ’76 | Runner-up |
Her Italian league profile records the four major trophies won with Conegliano as well as the two French Cups from her first Cannes spell. CEV’s 2025 final standings place Chieri second behind Roma in the Challenge Cup.
Selected Individual Awards
| Year | Competition | Award |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | CEV European Golden League | Most Valuable Player |
Gicquel combined the MVP award with a competition-leading 97 points. Her final against Czechia accounted for 20 of them and included four aces.
Personal Life & Interests
Elite sport runs through the Gicquel family. Her father Jean-Charles competed internationally in high jump and remains associated with the French indoor record of 2.35 metres. Her sister Solène became a French high-jump champion and Olympian, while her mother had played amateur volleyball. Gicquel ultimately followed the volleyball route rather than her father’s athletics discipline.
Her development also included education alongside volleyball. FFvolley’s 2018 profile noted that she had completed a BTS qualification in real estate that year while establishing herself with the senior national-team group.
Away from competition, Gicquel has described relatively simple interests. In a 2025 interview with Chieri, she said she enjoys going out, taking long walks, watching films and television series, and playing video games. She also spoke positively about using overseas moves to discover new places, something that became particularly significant during her later season in Japan.
Where Is Lucille Gicquel Playing Now?
As of October 2026, Gicquel plays for RC Cannes in France’s top women’s division. The club’s official 2026–27 roster lists her as its number 3 opposite and captain.
The move completed a full-circle career step. She had first joined Cannes as a teenager and left in 2018 seeking a larger role; by the time she returned eight years later, she had played in Italy, Türkiye and Japan, won the Champions League, become a French international mainstay and competed at the Olympics.
Her return has already placed her at the center of Cannes’s attack. In the club’s second league match of the 2026–27 season, Gicquel scored 25 points as Cannes beat Évreux in four sets.
Her national-team situation is different from her club status. Gicquel deliberately stepped away from France’s 2026 summer program after her demanding season in Japan, citing accumulated fatigue and the need to address physical issues. That decision did not amount to an announced international retirement; her established France career remains part of her player identity, with number 11 attached to her senior international record.
Frequently Asked Questions
How tall is Lucille Gicquel?
Lucille Gicquel is listed at 189 cm by CEV and Volleyball World.
What position does Lucille Gicquel play?
Gicquel plays as an opposite. Earlier youth records listed her as a middle blocker, but she transitioned to opposite before establishing herself at senior international level.
Which club does Lucille Gicquel play for?
As of October 2026, she plays for RC Cannes in France and serves as the team’s captain.
What number does Lucille Gicquel wear?
She wears number 3 for RC Cannes. Her established number with the France women’s national team is 11.
Did Lucille Gicquel play at the Olympics?
Yes. Gicquel represented France at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the first Olympic appearance by the French women’s indoor volleyball team. She scored 26 points across France’s three matches.
Has Lucille Gicquel won the Champions League?
Yes. She won the 2020–21 CEV Champions League with Imoco Volley Conegliano. Team France identifies her as the first French woman to win that European club title.
What did Lucille Gicquel win with France?
Her principal senior national-team titles are the 2022 CEV European Golden League and the 2023 FIVB Challenger Cup. She was named MVP of the 2022 Golden League.
Why did Lucille Gicquel not play for France in summer 2026?
Gicquel chose to take a break from the 2026 international summer after a demanding season in Japan. She told FFvolley that accumulated fatigue and physical issues had made a recovery period necessary after several consecutive years of moving directly from club volleyball into national-team competition.
References
- RC Cannes — Racing Club de Cannes 2026–27 official roster
- FFvolley — 2026 transfer roundup confirming Lucille Gicquel’s return to RC Cannes
- CEV — France roster and Lucille Gicquel physical profile
- Team France — Lucille Gicquel athlete profile
- FFvolley — 2018 France women’s national-team profile and Lucille Gicquel biography
- FFvolley — France U20 roster listing Lucille Gicquel as a middle blocker
- Lega Pallavolo Serie A Femminile — Lucille Gicquel career and honors
- Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri ’76 / Lega Volley — Lucille Gicquel signing announcement
- CEV — France win the 2022 European Golden League and Gicquel earns MVP
- CEV — 2022 European Golden League player scoring statistics
- Volleyball World — France win the 2023 Volleyball Challenger Cup
- Volleyball World — Lucille Gicquel Paris 2024 Olympic player profile and statistics
- SV.League — Lucille Gicquel 2025–26 Toray Arrows Shiga player record
- FFvolley — March 2026 interview with Lucille Gicquel in Japan
- CEV — Roma defeat Chieri in the 2025 Challenge Cup final
- Chieri ’76 — February 2025 interview with Lucille Gicquel
- Volleybox — Lucille Gicquel player data and dominant-hand listing
