VolleyBar27# : Tuesday June 23, 2026

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We have reached the 27th episode of VolleyBar, the daily column where we were the FIRST to bring together all the day’s major volleyball news, allowing our readers to find everything they need in one place!

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In France, Coupe de France finalists Nice Volley Ball announced a new face for the 2026/27 season: 20-year-old Argentine outside hitter Fausto Diaz. After playing in his homeland, most recently with Ciudad Vólei during the 2024/25 season, he spent last year in Spain with ConectaBalear CV Manacor.
His arrival follows the confirmations of setter Pepin Rajoharivelo, who joins Slovenian Nejc Najdič (from ACH Volley Ljubljana), liberos Mason Briggs and Nathan Cudeville, outside hitter Colin Castelnau, and middle blockers Rodney Ah-Kong, Lohan Nack-Minyem, and Sacha Kiciak.

Their neighbours, AS Cannes Volley, were delighted to welcome Luuc Van der Ent for the upcoming season.
The Dutch international has competed in several major European leagues, notably in Italy with Modena, in Germany with Eltmann, Herrsching and Düren, and in France with Saint-Nazaire and Sète, where he played last season.

And Canadian outside hitter Erik Siksna, from Canada NextGen and Belgium’s Knack Volley Roeselare, is officially a new player of Poitiers.

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In Poland, Patryk Waloch will remain with GKS Katowice. The libero joined the club in the 2024/25 season and has already made 23 appearances with the club’s colours.
Meanwhile, runners-up Bogdanka LUK Lublin announced the return of outside hitter Paweł Rusin. He previously represented Lublin from 2019 to 2021 before spending the following two seasons with Czarni Radom and joining InPost ChKS Chełm in 2023.
However, the biggest story of the day concerns the transfer of Polish national team middle blocker Jakub Kochanowski, who moves from PGE Projekt Warszawa to reigning champions Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie.
And libero Paweł Zatorski, a true legend of Polish volleyball, extended his contract with Asseco Resovia Rzeszów, which he has represented since 2021.

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In Italy, Cisterna Volley bid farewell to and thanked Canadian libero Landon Currie, while Gas Sales BluEnergy Piacenza moved quickly to strengthen their squad after the Efe Mandıracı situation, with the Turkish outside hitter eventually joining Galatasaray despite having been under contract with the Italian club. Piacenza responded by signing Cooper Robinson. The American outside hitter, born in 2002 and set to turn 24 on August 8, had initially signed with Polish side ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle but ultimately chose Piacenza instead. Last season, he played in Japan with the Hiroshima Thunders, his first experience abroad after completing his collegiate career in the United States (An important note: this is an unconformed news from local sources from Poland, If it is incorrect, we do not take responsibility for it!!!)

Vero Volley Monza also welcomed another promising youngster for next season, signing opposite hitter Nicolò Mapelli, born in 2008, who won both the U19 World Championship with Italy and the Del Monte Junior League title.

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To wrap up this episode, we would like to remind everyone that tomorrow marks the start of the second week of the 2026 Volleyball Nations League in Gliwice (Poland), Ljubljana (Slovenia) and Orléans (France), with four of our contributors reporting directly from the courts, while the CEV has also officially confirmed the venues and kick-off times for the European League semi-finals!

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