Loeppky back in Italian SuperLega finals

It looked this like Italian powerhouse Lube’s hopes for a “double” championship year were all but dashed. The team went into their semi-final of the highest tier of volleyball in Italy without home court advantage and promptly dropped the first two matches in the best-of-five series against defending champions Perugia.

Lube, which features Steinbach’s Eric Loeppky as an outside hitter, stormed back to win three consecutive matches, including a 3-1 (29-27, 19-25, 17-25, 22-25) victory in game five inside Perugia’s home gym. Perugia defeated Loeppky’s Vero Volley Monza in the 2024 finals.

The game five victory came at the service, line, with Lube knocking home 17 aces.

“This was the victory of those who don’t feel sorry for themselves, of those who always look for solutions and do their best with what they have, believing strongly in their own means,” Lube coach Giampaolo Medei said in a translated statement published on the Lube website.

“We created a masterpiece and now in the final we will try to create another.”

Loeppky made the move this offseason to Lube, which has dominated the last decade in Italy, making five consecutive SuperLega finals between 2018 and 2022. They won the Italian cup championship this season, defeating Rana Verona in a five set classic to take the trophy.

While Loeppky doesn’t get the same opportunity to rack up stats as he did when playing for Vero Volley, he still had an impact in the semi-finals, getting named to the starting line-up in game three and leading the team with 12 points. In the cup final, Loeppky was solid, nabbing 17-points, second-most on Lube for the match.

Loeppky was at the service line in the waning moments of key first set of game three in the SuperLega semi-finals, clinching set point in a 25-23 score, and setting off the Lube comeback.

Lube is facing Itas Trentino in the best-of-five final, the top ranked regular season team. Both Perugia and Trentino finished with a regular season record of 20-2, with Lube finishing third.

In game one April 27, the favoured Trentino took control, with a three-set sweep.

The semi-final victory qualified Lube for Champions League play next season, and the team will get to play the best teams from across Europe.