Italy's head coach Ferdinando De Giorgi has named the group of 14 players for the first week of the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) 2026.
After three control matches played in Cavalese, Verona, and Bergamo, the Italian national team will gather again on June 4 at the Olympic Preparation Center in Rome. Two days later, 'the Azzurri' will depart for Ottawa (Canada), where they will begin their participation in this year's edition of the tournament.
For the first international tournament of the season, De Giorgi selected the following 14 volleyball players:
Setters:
Paolo Porro
Mattia Boninfante
Middle Blockers:
Pardo Mati
Giovanni Sanguinetti
Giovanni Gargiulo
Leandro Mosca
Outside Hitters:
Francesco Sani
Mattia Bottolo
Luca Porro
Mattia Orioli
Opposite Hitters:
Kamil Rychlicki
Alessandro Bovolenta
Liberos:
Gabriele Laurenzano
Domenico Pace
De Giorgi's choice confirms the coach's desire to use the beginning of the national season to introduce younger players and expand the squad options. Among the most interesting names are setter Mattia Boninfante, former teammate of Alex Nikolov at Lube, and opposite Alessandro Bovolenta, who are gradually establishing themselves as an important part of the future of the Italian national team.
The Azzurri's staff also includes scout Ivan Contrario, who was also part of Bulgaria's staff during the time of Martin Stoev, Silvano Prandi, and Plamen Konstantinov.
The reigning world champions and silver medalists from the last edition of the Volleyball Nations League will begin their participation in the tournament between June 10 and 14 in Ottawa. The Italians will successively face France, Germany, Turkey, and the USA.
Bulgarian fans will also follow Italy's performance with interest, as Gianlorenzo Blengini's team will face the world champions during the second week of the tournament. The matches of this stage will take place in Ljubljana (Slovenia), where Bulgaria will meet Italy, the hosts, Canada, and Ukraine.
photo: Nikolay Varadinov
