Italy's head coach Ferdinando De Giorgi announced the squad for the second week of the Volleyball Nations League, which will take place in Ljubljana (Slovenia) from June 24 to 28. Among the selected players, the captain and main setter of the 'Azzurri', Simone Giannelli, was not included and will not participate in the upcoming four matches.
After the first week in Ottawa, where the Italians recorded three victories against Germany, Turkey, and the USA, and dramatically lost to France 2:3, the world champions will consecutively face Bulgaria, Ukraine, Brazil, and hosts Slovenia.

Italy's schedule in Ljubljana:

• June 24, 2:00 PM Bulgaria

• June 25, 5:30 PM Ukraine

• June 26, 9:00 PM Brazil

• June 28, 9:30 PM Slovenia

Compared to the tournament in Canada, De Giorgi has made several changes to the squad. Four players return to the team setter Riccardo Sbertoli, middle blockers Gianluca Galassi and Lorenzo Cortesia, and outside hitter Daniele Lavia. For Lavia, this will be his first participation with the national team since the injury that sidelined him from the last World Championship.

Italy's squad for the tournament in Ljubljana

Setters:

• Paolo Porro

• Riccardo Sbertoli

Middle Blockers:

• Gianluca Galassi

• Lorenzo Cortesia

• Giovanni Sanguinetti

• Leandro Mosca

Outside Hitters:

• Francesco Sani

• Mattia Bottolo

• Daniele Lavia

• Luca Porro

Opposite Hitters:

• Kamil Rychlicki

• Alessandro Bovolenta

Liberos:

• Gabriele Laurenzano

• Domenico Pace

Gianelli's absence is the most significant change in the Italian squad, with the role of starting setter likely to be entrusted to Paolo Porro, and Riccardo Sbertoli providing an alternative for this position.
The match between Bulgaria and Italy is the first for both teams in Ljubljana and will be played on June 24 at 2:00 PM Bulgarian time.

photo: Nikolay Varadinov