Chicago – Just days after wrapping up the first round of the Volleyball Nations League, Italy’s men’s national team is already preparing for Week 2, taking place in Chicago from June 25 to 30.
The Azzurri, led by head coach Ferdinando De Giorgi, come off three wins and one loss, placing them fourth overall with 8 points. In Pool 5, they will face reigning European champions Poland (June 25 at 7:30 PM CET), China (June 27 at 11:00 PM), Brazil (June 28 at 11:00 PM), and hosts USA in the early hours of June 30 (2:30 AM CET).
The final stage of the tournament will be held in Ningbo, China, from July 30 to August 3, with only the top eight teams qualifying. As host nation, China is already guaranteed a spot, meaning that if they do not finish among the top eight, only the next best seven teams will qualify.
The 14 players selected for this phase include Simone Giannelli, Riccardo Sbertoli, Lorenzo Cortesia, Gianluca Galassi, Giovanni Sanguinetti, Giovanni Gargiulo, Alessandro Michieletto, Mattia Bottolo, Daniele Lavia, Luca Porro, Yuri Romanò, Kamil Rychlicki, Gabriele Laurenzano, and Fabio Balaso.