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A European Championship is on the line for two NCAA men’s volleyball incoming freshman recruits.
BYU outside attacker Davide Gardini and Hawai’i outside attacker Filip Humler will represent their home nations at the U20 European Championship Final Round that began this weekend.
Gardini earned a spot on the Italian roster for the finals after the country went undefeated during the opening round in April to clinch a finals berth.
The 6-foot-9 outside attacker last year helped Italy win a silver medal at the U19 European Championships and was named the tournament’s the Best Outside Spikers. In addition, Gardini played for Italy at the 2017 FIVB U19 World Championship and was among the tournament leaders with a 46.38 percent offensive efficiency.
The Czech Republic with Humler coming off the bench as a serving specialist went undefeated during the third round of the European Championships in June to earn one of the final berths to the 12-team finals.
Humler, a 6-foot-7 pin hitter, helped the Czech Republic win the U19 European Championship in 2017. He also in 2017 won a Czech Republic national championship with his club team.
The European Championship Finals will take place in the Netherlands and Belgium and begin with the pool-play stage. The top-two teams from each of the six-team pools with advance to the semifinals.