A Nightmare Thursday for Italvolley
The men’s national volleyball team has been eliminated from the Volleyball Nations League: In the quarterfinal match held at the Beilun Gymnasium in Ningbo, China, the Azzurri, led by Fefè De Giorgi, lost 3-0 to the United States, thus failing to finish among the top four in the annual competition. The set scores were 25-22, 25-21, 25-21 in a match that was never really in doubt, with the Azzurri rarely holding the lead—except for the middle portion of the third set, which the Americans still closed out with a 15-6 run.
In terms of individual performances, the Azzurri’s top scorer was Yuri Romanò with 16 points, followed by Mattia Bottolo with 14. No one else, however, reached double digits, while on the other side, Jake Hanes shone with 21 points (the day’s top scorer), Matthew Anderson with 15, and Ethan Champlin with 10.
Last year, in the same Chinese arena, Italy had advanced all the way to the tournament’s final, defeating Cuba 3-1 in the quarterfinals and Slovenia by the same score in the semifinals. In the final, however, it was Poland that won the event—which has permanently replaced the World League since 2018—though the Italian team still had the satisfaction of securing its first men’s VNL podium finish.
The focus of Italian volleyball now shifts to the European Championships: the men’s national team will begin its campaign on September 10 against Sweden in Piazza del Plebiscito in Naples, then continue the group stage at the PalaPanini in Modena against Greece (September 12), Slovakia (13), the Czech Republic (15), and Slovenia (17).
The tournament is held in multiple cities: the other groups will be based in Sofia (Bulgaria), Tampere (Finland), and Cluj-Napoca (Romania), while the knockout stage will begin in Turin and Sofia (both the round of 16 and the quarterfinals will be split equally between the Piedmontese capital and the Bulgarian capital), and will conclude with the semifinals and finals in Milan at the PalaItalia in Santa Giulia.
