Civitanova Lube fall in Italian league final

For the third consecutive season, Eric Loeppky will be bringing home a Silver medal from the Italian SuperLega play-offs.

Loeppky plays for Civitanova Lube, which finished the regular season in sixth place, but managed to put together a run to the finals, where they looked out-matched by first place Perugia. A dominant 3-0 win by the higher seeded Block Devils in game one was followed up by 3-1 wins in the second and third matches of the best-of-five final.

Perugia have dominated Italian volleyball this season, winning the Club World Championship in addition to their domestic success.

In both the second and third match of the final, Lube was able to claim the first set, before falling three straight. They had an outstanding chance to extend the series in game three, claiming a 20-14 lead in the second set, before an incredible service run from Tunisian International Wassim Ben Tara put Perugia on the path to victory.

“There’s a bit of disappointment because I think the team has made great strides towards the end of this season, both technically and in terms of character,” Lube head coach Giampaolo Medei said in a translated statement on Lube’s website after the loss.

“Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough. Both today and in Game 2, we squandered some important opportunities. We lacked the right amount of determination, but tonight we remained engaged in the game. Everyone gave their all, and in the end, I think I’m right in saying that we’re leaving this series with our heads held high.”

Loeppky had an outstanding effort in the first set of game three, with a spectacular kill through a triple-block attempt to flip the game late in the set, in addition to a pair of key aces. He finished the third match with 15 points. He was even one of the featured players promoting game three on the volleyworld broadcast page.

“Game after game, in the playoffs, we deserved to play in this final,” Lube middle Marko Podraščanin said after the final.

“The disappointment of not having taken advantage of all the opportunities we had remains, but I want to look at the glass half full. Although I don’t like losing finals at all, I think in this case, we should especially congratulate our opponents.”