Rising volleyball players 2026/27: the young Italians to watch in SuperLega

The names to keep an eye on in SuperLega 2026/27 are Luca Porro, Alessandro Bovolenta, Manuel Zlatanov, Giovanni Sanguinetti, Mattia Orioli and Tommaso Guzzo. This is not a list of hopefuls: these are players who have already won age-group awards or who De Giorgi put on the list of 30 for the 2026 Volleyball Nations League.

Below you will find who they are, what they did to earn the attention and — since this is a blog about the vertical jump — what they have in common physically.

Luca Porro, outside hitter

He won the Premio Gianfranco Badiali as best Under 23 in SuperLega 2025/26, taking over from Mattia Boninfante. He plays in Modena and in 2026 he made the list of 30 called up for the Nations League.

What sets him apart is the balance between passing and attacking: he is a complete outside hitter, not a pure attacker on loan to the back row. That is the profile Italy needs if it wants to rotate six real players.

Alessandro Bovolenta, opposite

Coming off a good season in Piacenza and also on the list of 30 for VNL 2026. In the summer of 2026 his name was at the centre of the debate over national team call-ups, a sign of how much he already weighs in the pecking order.

He is the modern opposite: power in attack, but with the build to handle a long season without dropping off.

Manuel Zlatanov

Best young player in Serie A2 2025/26 with Consar Ravenna, from the 2026/27 season he moves to Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza. It is the classic step up: from being a leading man in A2 to having to earn his minutes in a top team.

Worth watching for exactly that reason: the season that tells you whether an A2 talent can handle the pace of SuperLega is the first one.

Giovanni Sanguinetti, middle blocker

Middle blocker at Modena, named among the profiles being watched for the national team for his physicality and technical margins. For a middle blocker, technical margin almost always means one thing: block timing. And that is the part you build with years of work, not with talent.

Mattia Orioli, outside hitter

At Padova he showed consistency and personality, two words that in coach-speak mean he does not disappear when things get hard. Together with Davide Gardini he makes up a pair of outside hitters on the way up.

Tommaso Guzzo, opposite

At Cisterna he proved reliable and able to score. In a role where you are judged on the big points, reliability is the quality that separates a good opposite from a starter.

The other names on the list

• Francesco Sani (outside hitter) — alongside Porro, in the group of outside hitters growing steadily
• Mattia Boninfante (setter, Piacenza) — best Under 23 before Porro
• Mati Pardo (middle blocker, Modena) — same profile as Sanguinetti, physicality and margins
• Bryan Argilagos (setter, Perugia) — listed among the team's strong points
• Domenico Cavaccini (libero, Cuneo) — a new profile for the national team
• Francesco Recine (outside hitter, Milano) — a leading man in his season

One honest note: the transfer market moves right up to the last minute, so some destinations may change from what is written here. The names, though, stay.

What they have in common, physically

If you line the profiles up next to each other, the constant is not height — there are outside hitters, opposites, middle blockers and a libero. It is the fact that they all come from structured physical preparation, started in club and federation youth systems.

A player who steps into SuperLega at 20 already has years of programmed gym work, measured plyometrics and load monitoring behind him. He does not get there because he has "the talent": he gets there because somebody measured his physical qualities, trained them with a plan, and measured them again.

That is exactly the part missing for anyone training alone or in a club with no strength coach.

And you, where are you at?

The first number a strength coach takes on a young player is the jump: standing and with an approach. You can take it yourself, for free, in two minutes.

With the JHP jump test you upload a two-second video of yourself jumping and get your height in centimetres, calculated from flight time. No app needed, the analysis runs in the browser and the video never leaves your phone.

➡️ Measure your jump, free

Write the number down. Then measure again every four weeks: it is the same thing they do in clubs, just without the force plate.

How the physical side gets built

The JHP membership gives you 13 programmes with day-by-day plans, a video for every exercise and WhatsApp support, for €99/year:

• Jump Higher Program — 10 weeks of bodyweight jump work, if you have no gym (€60)
• JHP Gym Edition — 16 weeks in the gym on maximal strength and power (€60)
• Volley In-Season Workout — 16 weeks across pre-season and season, so you are not flat by March (€90)
• Spike Revolution — 16 weeks on spike power (€60)
• JHP Team Performance — if you coach a group and need ready-made plans (€50)

You might also like: how high volleyball players jump and who Luca Porro is.