Four players from Gas Sales Bluenergy Volley Piacenza have been called up by coach Ferdinando De Giorgi for the second stage of the VNL 2026: setter Paolo Porro, opposite hitter Alessandro Bovolenta, libero Domenico Pace, and middle blocker Gianluca Galassi. Middle blocker Francesco Comparoni will continue training in Cavalese until Sunday, June 28th.
Everything is now ready for the start of a new week of Men’s Volleyball Nations League matches. After finishing week 1 in Canada with three wins (over Germany, Turkey, and the United States) and only one tie-break loss against France, the Azzurri, led by coach Ferdinando De Giorgi, are ready to tackle week 2, which will be played in Ljubljana, Slovenia, from June 24th to 28th.
The Azzurri will face, in order, Bulgaria (June 24, 1:00 PM), Ukraine (June 25, 4:30 PM), Brazil (June 26, 8:00 PM), and Slovenia (June 28, 8:30 PM). All of the Azzurri’s matches will be broadcast live in Italy on DAZN and the Volleyball World platform VBTV.
For this second international event, coach De Giorgi has selected the 14 players: setters Paolo Porro and Riccardo Sbertoli; middle blockers
Gianluca Galassi, Lorenzo Cortesia, Giovanni Sanguinetti, Leandro Mosca; spikers Francesco Sani, Mattia Bottolo, Daniele Lavia, and Luca Porro; opposite hitters Kamil Rychlicki and Alessandro Bovolenta; and liberos Gabriele Laurenzano and Domenico Pace.
The staff is composed of: Ferdinando De Giorgi (First Coach), Roberto Ciamarra (Second Coach), Marco Meoni (Assistant Coach), Oscar Berti (Athletic Trainer), Francesco Lanzani (Doctor), Fabio Rossin (Physiotherapist), Ivan Contrario (Scout), and Giacomo Giretto (Team Manager).
The Azzurri’s schedule (Italian time)
Week 2 (June 24–28) Ljubljana, Slovenia
June 24, 1:00 PM: Italy–Bulgaria
June 25, 4:30 PM: Italy–Ukraine
June 26, 8:00 PM: Italy–Brazil
June 28, 8:30 PM: Italy–Slovenia
Week 3 (July 15–20) Kansai, Japan
July 15, 12:20 PM: Italy–Japan
July 16, 8:30 AM: Italy–Belgium
July 18, 12:20 PM: Italy–Argentina
July 19, 8:30 AM: Italy–Cuba
Finals (July 29–August 2) Ningbo, China
