Loeppky suits up in elite Italian league

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This article was published 04/12/2020 (1615 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For Steinbach’s Eric Loeppky, this was a trajectory in his incredible volleyball career, despite his young age, that was expected.

The 22-year-old, voted the top university player in Canada this past year, is playing his rookie season of professional volleyball in Italy at Ravenna, an eastern Italian coastal city south of Venice, playing for a legendary team formed in 1963 called Porto Robur Costa, or Bunge Ravenna.

Known as SuperLega, the top division in Italy, it is also considered the leading professional volleyball league in the world. Other top European leagues are also held in France, Poland, Germany, Russia and elsewhere as the European professional leagues attract all of the top players in the world, including those from Canada and the U.S.

And such is the case in the Italian SuperLega, where Loeppky is the youngest player on the team, playing with and against some of the best volleyball players in the world. He says it provides a good measuring stick for his play. “My favourite part in playing some of the top players in the world is the chance to match myself up against them to see where I’m at. I don’t think there is a better way to learn and see the growth that needs to be done when getting a chance to play against some of the best.”

He says it is pretty special to have the opportunity to compete against the world’s best. “I have grown up knowing who many of these players are, watching them on YouTube and admiring their highlight tapes. Honestly it doesn’t seem real yet that I get to play against them. I have to constantly remind myself that I am good enough to be here.”

The pedigree that Eric Loeppky brings to his first season of pro volleyball in Italy is really as good as it gets, it is really second to none in Canada.

He was the best high school player in Manitoba in both his grade 11 and 12 years, including in grade 11 when he led the SRSS Sabres to their first provincial ‘AAAA’ volleyball championship.

One of the most highly recruited high school players in the country, he chose to attend one of the top university programs in Canada at Trinity Western in B.C.

Again, to no one’s surprise, Loeppky emerged as the top university player in the country in his four years at Trinity playing for the Trojans. Trinity head coach Ben Josephson called Loeppky “a once in a generation player.”

His university career came to a disappointing end last March in Winnipeg. As defending champions, the Trojans came into Winnipeg for the U Sports national championships as the number one seed. But just hours before it was set to begin, the pandemic caused the cancellation of the championships.

 “It was bitterly disappointing, “said Loeppky at the time, “the games were all sold out at the U of M, playing in Winnipeg in front of family of friends was going to be a highlight.”

The 6’5” outside hitter, who is also one best of servers in the game, has all the tools, and that is why he has been part of the Canadian National Team men’s program for the past several years, first with the Junior National Team and now with the men’s team.

He was under consideration for a possible roster spot for Team Canada at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. He did not make that final roster, but now with the Games postponed one year, it’s not impossible that a roster spot might open up. “It is not really my place to say whether I will make it to Tokyo or not. All I can do is control what I can control and work my hardest to give myself the best opportunity to make the roster.” But time is on his side as he could be part of the national team plans for the next two Olympics cycles, regardless of what happens in Tokyo.

Meanwhile, with having spent the past three months in Italy, he says “I am loving my experience in Italy. It is a beautiful country that has much to offer, the food is amazing and the people are friendly, accommodating my lack of Italian.”

Moving to Italy was a big enough change in his life by itself. But just before he left for Europe, in plans that were sped up because of the pandemic, he underwent another life-changing moment, to say the least, he got married.

He is married to Samantha Seliger-Swenson, a setter with the U.S. national women’s volleyball program, one of the top players in history to come out of the University of Minnesota Gophers program.

They met a couple of years ago at an international tournament in Colorado where he was with the Canadian national men’s team and she was with the U.S. women’s team. “She basically makes all my volleyball success look like nothing with her resume,” said Loeppky. “She finished her career at Minnesota as a four-time All-American (first time in program history) and Big Ten Player of the Year, and the list could go on and on.”

Their plans were to get married in the summer of 2021. But of course the pandemic changed things. Living in two separate countries, and she has also played professionally in France, spending time together was not easy.

In August, after spending the summer in Steinbach, Loeppky flew to Minneapolis where her family lives, and they were married in a small ceremony. They plan to have a full wedding when conditions allow and family and friends from both countries can attend.

“We are now loving our life in Italy together.” They are living in an apartment that is provided by the team (with an ocean view) in a little tourist and beach town about a 10-minute drive from Ravenna.

The team is off to a slow start this year, now just returning to action after a two-week pause because of COVID-restrictions.

“We have been back training and are excited for a match this coming Saturday,” Loeppky said in an email last week. “We get tested one to two times per week, depending on how many games we have.”

“For me, I am just happy to be playing in this unusual time. Just really feel for my old Trinity Western teammates back home and for all the club and high school players that aren’t able to play right now due to the restrictions put in place.”