Alan Nine
Italy have arrived in Naples with their final 14-player squad for the Men’s CEV Enel EuroVolley 2026. Ferdinando De Giorgi’s team will open their campaign against Sweden in Piazza del Plebiscito on Thursday evening.
Elsewhere, Massimo Barbolini has returned to Igor Gorgonzola Novara, both Italian beach volleyball champions successfully defended their national titles and Turkey have moved to within six ranking points of Brazil.
Men’s EuroVolley
De Giorgi has selected setters Simone Giannelli and Riccardo Sbertoli; outside hitters Mattia Bottolo, Daniele Lavia, Alessandro Michieletto, Francesco Sani and Luca Porro; middle blockers Gianluca Galassi, Giovanni Sanguinetti and Pardo Mati; opposites Kamil Rychlicki and Yuri Romanò; and liberos Fabio Balaso and Gabriele Laurenzano.
The squad travelled from Florence to Naples on Tuesday and held their first training session in Piazza del Plebiscito.
Italy will face Sweden at the outdoor venue at 21:05 on September 10 before moving to the PalaPanini in Modena for the remainder of their Pool A campaign.
The defending world champions will play Greece on September 12, Slovakia on September 13, the Czech Republic on September 15 and Slovenia on September 17.
The first two knockout rounds will be held in Turin and Sofia, while Milan will stage the semi-finals and medal matches.
Germany have also confirmed their squad. Head coach Massimo Botti has recalled setter Johannes Tille and outside hitter Moritz Karlitzek, both of whom missed the Volleyball Nations League.
However, 41-year-old opposite Georg Grozer has been left out after failing to regain full fitness in time for the tournament. Germany will begin their Pool D campaign against Turkey in Cluj-Napoca on Thursday.
Italian Women’s Clubs
Massimo Barbolini (pic) will begin his second spell as head coach of Igor Gorgonzola Novara on Wednesday afternoon.
He returns to the Pala Igor after serving as Julio Velasco’s assistant during Italy’s run to the EuroVolley silver medal.
Barbolini previously coached Novara from 2017 to 2020, winning the Champions League, two Italian Cups and the Italian Super Cup. After a period working abroad, he now returns to a club with which he enjoyed some of the greatest successes of his career.
Savino Del Bene Scandicci opened their preseason schedule with a 3-1 win over Il Bisonte Firenze in a training match at the PalaBigMat. The opening three sets were played under a modified scoring system, while both teams were without several players because of international commitments. Il Bisonte won the first set 25-24 before Scandicci took the next three 25-20, 25-23 and 30-28.
Head coach Marco Gaspari gave playing time to his entire available squad, including players from the club’s Serie B1 team and several others who have joined the first-team training group during preseason.
Beach Volleyball
Valentina Gottardi and Reka Orsi Toth (pic) successfully defended their Italian women’s title in Caorle with a 2-0 victory over Giada Benazzi and Erika Ditta, winning 21-17 and 21-11.
The champions completed the tournament unbeaten, dropping only one set in six matches, while Orsi Toth was named the competition’s most valuable player.
In the men’s final, Manuel Alfieri and Alex Ranghieri also claimed their second consecutive title.
They defeated Marco Ulisse and Giacomo Spadoni 2-0, winning 21-17 and 21-14, and completed the tournament without losing a match. Ranghieri secured his fifth Italian title and was named MVP.
International
Italy remain comfortably top of the women’s world ranking with 455.25 points following EuroVolley.
Brazil are second on 403.61, but newly crowned European champions Turkey have climbed to 398.15 after gaining nine ranking points during the tournament.
The United States and Poland complete the top five. Canada have moved up to eighth following their NORCECA triumph and qualification for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, while Asian champions Thailand now occupy 13th place.
