Overview

• Italy fell 0-3 to Poland in the Nations League final on August 3 in Ningbo, earning its senior men’s team a landmark silver medal under coach Ferdinando De Giorgi.
• The senior squad reached its first VNL final by finishing pool play 10–2 and then defeating Cuba in the quarterfinals and Slovenia in the semifinals.
• Poland’s Wilfredo Leon and Bartosz Semeniuk led the winners with 16 and 14 points respectively, overpowering Italy in straight sets of 25-22, 25-19 and 25-14.
• Italy’s U16 men beat Poland 3-1 (25-19, 16-25, 25-19, 25-20) in Yerevan on August 2 to book a spot in tomorrow’s European Under-16 Championship final against the victor of Spain vs. France.
• The senior silver finish builds momentum ahead of September’s FIVB World Championship in the Philippines, while the U16 run highlights Italy’s growing youth pipeline.