Volleyball Empowerment fuels three teams to gold in CEV European Leagues

Three national teams benefitting from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment support topped the podiums at CEV European League competitions. Ukraine triumphed in the women’s Golden League, Estonia won the women’s Silver League and Latvia claimed the trophy in the men’s Silver League.

After both the Ukrainian men’s and women’s national teams advanced to the finals of the respective Golden European Leagues to book their spots in the upcoming Volleyball Challenger Cups 2023 in a historic achievement, the ladies went on to win their final and the trophy after two straight-set victories over Sweden last week. It was the second time in history, after 2017, that the Ukrainian women topped a European League podium.

Playing their home leg of the final series in the Romanian city of Piatra-Neamt on Thursday, Bulgarian coach Ivan Petkov’s squad hammered out a 3-0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-19) shutout of Isabelle Haak and her teammates, with opposite Anastasiia Kraiduba leading the way with 22 points. Sweden’s Generation O star Haak finished with 20 points. The Ukrainians were just about as emphatic in the away match, held in Lund on Sunday. Despite a 31-point match high from Haak, the visitors mastered a 3-0 (25-17, 25-22, 32-30) victory to raise the trophy.

Ukrainian team became European Golden League champions (Photo credits: cev.eu)

The FIVB has been supporting the Ukrainian Volleyball Federation in continuing its volleyball activities since 2022 as part of Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) signed in 2022 and 2023. In total, the FIVB provided financial support up to USD 210,000 in 2022 across the men’s, women’s, U21 women’s and U22 men’s national volleyball teams, as well as Ukraine’s senior and U19 national beach volleyball teams, Meanwhile, the 2023 MoU covers further support up to USD 210,000 to support all of Ukraine’s volleyball and beach volleyball national teams with a focus on the Olympic Games Paris 2024.

Also on Sunday, the men’s national team of Latvia, benefitting from Volleyball Empowerment coach support of CHF 72,000 and guided by Polish head coach Michal Mieszko Gogol, claimed their first-ever European Silver League trophy. They won both games of the final series against Hungary. On Thursday in Becescsaba, they defeated the hosts by 3-1 (17-25, 25-10, 25-21, 25-11) with opposite Renars Pauls Jansons leading the way with 22 points. In the return match at home in Riga on Sunday, the Latvians hammered out a convincing 3-0 (25-21, 25-16, 25-18) shutout to celebrate as Silver League champions. Jansons was once again the best scorer of the match with 21 points.

The first set of the game in Hungary was the only set the Latvians lost throughout the tournament. During the league round, they mastered two straight-set victories over Cyprus and Faroe Islands and, in the semifinals, they produced two clean sweeps against Austria, who finished in third place.

Volleyball Empowerment has so far assisted the Volleyball Federation of Latvia with coach support of a total of CHF 180,000, also helping the women’s national volleyball team and the country’s men’s beach volleyball pairs.

Latvian men celebrate the historic European Silver League trophy (Photo credits: cev.eu)

The women’s European Silver League final four tournament was held two weeks earlier in Graz. In their semifinal match, Estonia knocked out Portugal by a hard-fought 3-1 (29-27, 25-22, 18-25, 26-24), led by opposite Kertu Laak with 24 points. In next day’s rollercoaster final against hosts Austria, Italian coach Alessandro Orefice’s squad came back from a set down twice before celebrating a 3-2 (31-33, 25-11, 13-35, 25-12, 15-12) victory and their first trophy in the history of the competition. Kertu Laak was once again the most productive player of the match with 25 points to her name.

To qualify for the final four tournament, Estonia topped the Pool A standings on a 5-1 win-loss record and a better set ratio than pool runners-up Austria.

The Estonian Volleyball Federation has so far been allocated over CHF 290,000 worth of Volleyball Empowerment support, with half of it going to coach support for the women’s national team.

Estonian women receive the European Silver League 2023 trophy (Photo credits: cev.eu)

Another team supported through Volleyball Empowerment, Montenegro, made the Silver League semifinals after winning Pool B, also on a 5-1 win-loss record and a better set ratio than pool runners-up Portugal. After conceding four-set defeats at the hands of Austria in the semis and Portugal in the bronze medal match, they settled for a fourth-place finish, a very positive result, which exceeded the expectations for the Silver League rookies.

Montenegro’s first-time participation in the women’s Silver League was part of the implementation of a Volleyball-Empowerment-funded project, through which the Volleyball Federation of Montenegro aims at improving and developing the women’s national team to be part of bigger international competitions. During the first year of FIVB assistance, they received coach support of CHF 72,000.

“I would rate our participation in this year's European League as positive. We played very well. Unfortunately, a little more experience was missing. It was felt, especially in tight sets. I hope that we will continue to grow year after year and that next year we will have another final four and compete for medals,” said Montenegro’s head coach Milorad Krunic.