The second stage of the Volleyball Nations League 2024 also concluded over the weekend with three members of the Cucine Lube Civitanova representing their respective national teams. The libero Fabio Balaso is on the list with Italy, the opposite Adis Lagumdzija is with Turkey and the spiker Eric Loeppky is with Canada.
In evidence with the Azzurri shirt in Ottawa, in Pool 4, the “defense minister” Balaso, who made his debut with a great performance in the match against France in which the victory only faded in the photo finish. The national team largely recovered, also thanks to Balaso’s continuity, eliminating the United States with the maximum margin, beating Cuba in four sets and closing the close matches on the calendar with a 3-0 win over the Netherlands.
Still in Pool 4, the hosts Canada benefited from the debut of an irrepressible Loeppky in the offensive. The spiker played the role of the protagonist in the 3-1 inflicted on Cuba thanks to 22 personal points (20 in attack and 2 in blocks). Author of 13 points in the match against Argentina, Eric saw his team fall in four sets. Canada redeemed itself in the heartfelt match won 3-1 against the USA (10 points from Loeppky), while it only won the first set in the match against Serbia (11 points from Loeppky).
The opposite player Lagumdzija, used sparingly by the coach of Turkey in Pool 3, was unable to score his usual haul of points in a difficult stage of his national team in Fukuoka in Japan. Used in the first two sets in the three-set stoppage against Slovenia, Adis scored 8 points. Same result in the match against Poland and just one set for Lagumdzija (4 points), who then assisted from the bench to the 3-1 victory over Iran and the tie break defeat against Germany, in a match characterized by a second record set, won 44-42 by Turkey in 47 minutes.
