Five age-category zonal volleyball championships were held across Europe last week. Poland, Bulgaria and France claimed U20 men’s zonal titles, while Slovenia and Croatia triumphed as MEVZA U18 winners in the boys and girls’ competitions, respectively. All five of these teams qualified directly to their respective European Championships in 2024.
The U20 men’s national teams of Ukraine and Latvia, benefitting from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment support, earned the silver and the bronze medals, respectively, at the EEVZA championship. They are among the teams that will compete in the second stage of age-group continental qualifications later this year.
EEVZA U20 Men's Volleyball Championship
Poland claimed yet another Eastern European Volleyball Zonal Association (EEVZA) zonal title, this time in the U20 men’s category, and qualified for the 2024 CEV U20 Men’s European Championship finals in Greece and Serbia. At the five-team single round-robin EEVZA U20 Men's Volleyball Championship, held in Gorzow Wielkopolski, the hosts topped the final standings undefeated in the four matches played, losing only a set along the way. Ukraine, whose Federation has been receiving Volleyball Empowerment support since 2022, were the only team to take a set from Poland in the tournament (pictured in the main photo; credits: eevza.eu). Ukraine took the silver after finishing runners-up on a 3-1 win-loss record. Latvia, whose Federation’s men’s volleyball programme has been allocated CHF 72,000 worth of coach support from Volleyball Empowerment, finished on a 2-2 record and took the bronze. Ukraine, Latvia and fourth-placed Estonia (1-3) advanced to the second round of U20 European Championship qualifications, whilst winless Azerbaijan took the fifth place.
The EEVZA U20 men’s medallists (left to right): Ukraine, Poland and Estonia (Photo credits: eevza.eu)
BVA U20 Men's Volleyball Championship
Four southern European countries took part in the Balkan Volleyball Association (BVA) U20 Men’s Volleyball Championship in Izvorani, Romania, played in a single round-robin format. Bulgaria topped the final standings undefeated after winning all three of their games, booking their ticket to the continental finals in Greece and Serbia. In what proved to be a crucial clash for the gold medal, Bulgaria managed a 3-2 (29-31, 25-20, 21-25, 25-18, 15-12) victory over Türkiye with their 17-year-old setter and captain Simeon Nikolov firing four aces in a row to turn the score in the tie-breaker set around. The Bulgarian rising star delivered an amazing total of 21 aces across the three matches played in Izvorani. Türkiye finished second on a 2-1 win-loss record, followed by Romania on 1-2 and Montenegro on 0-3. These three teams will compete in the second round of continental qualifiers in April.
Bulgarian juniors rejoice victorious over Türkiye in Izvorani (Photo credits: bvf.bg)
WEVZA U20 Men's Volleyball Championship
France triumphed in the Western European Volleyball Zonal Association (WEVZA) U20 Men’s Volleyball Championship held in Frankfurt, Germany. In Saturday’s final, they squeezed out a tight 3-2 (27-29, 25-15, 21-25, 25-18, 15-13) victory over Italy to claim the zonal title and progress to the U20 Continental Championship in Greece and Serbia. These two teams topped their round-robin pool standings in the first stage of the tournament. In their semifinals, France mastered a 3-0 (25-13, 25-22, 25-20) win over Belgium, while Italy managed a 3-0 (25-14, 25-22, 25-17) sweep of their game against Switzerland. In the bronze medal game, Belgium celebrated a 3-0 (25-21, 25-16, 25-15) victory over Switzerland. Germany, Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands, in that order, lined up in the places from fifth to eighth.
France’s outside hitter Mathis Henno was honoured as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the Championship and named on the tournament’s Dream Team along with setter Amir Tizi-Qualou (France), opposite David Boon (Switzerland), outside hitter Lorenzo Magliano (Italy), middle blockers Mati Pardo (Italy) and Joris Seddik (France), and libero Luca Loreti (Italy).
French juniors triumph as U20 WEVZA champions (Photo credits: cev.eu)
MEVZA U18 Men's Volleyball Championship
The Middle European Volleyball Zonal Association (MEVZA) U18 Men’s Volleyball Championship was held in Zadar, Croatia with the participation of seven teams. After topping their pool without losing a single set in three matches, Slovenia persevered through two five-set battles, coming back from two sets down in each of them, to claim the title and book their ticket to the 2024 CEV U18 Men’s European Championship in Bulgaria. In Saturday’s gold medal game, they achieved a 3-2 (18-25, 22-25, 25-21, 25-16, 15-12) victory over Czechia. The day before, Slovenia grabbed a 3-2 (28-30, 22-25, 25-15, 25-18, 15-13) semifinal win over Israel. In the other semifinal, Czechia produced a 3-1 (15-25, 28-26, 25-22, 25-23) comeback against Austria. Israel defeated Austria in a five-set third-place match, 3-2 (17-25, 25-18, 25-21, 31-33, 15-13), to earn the bronze. Fifth-placed Croatia and sixth-placed Hungary will join Czechia, Israel and Austria in the second qualifying round for the Continental Championship, whilst Cyprus finished seventh in Zadar.
Slovenian boys celebrate the U18 MEVZA trophy (Photo credits: cev.eu)
MEVZA U18 Women's Volleyball Championship
Croatia won the MEVZA U18 women’s title at the Championship in Maribor. After a 3-1 (18-25, 25-18, 25-23, 25-17) victory over hosts Slovenia in Friday’s gold medal match, they also earned a spot at the 2024 CEV U18 Women’s European Championship to be organised by Greece and a yet-to-be-determined co-host nation. Croatia went through round-robin Pool B undefeated in three games and went on to deliver a 3-0 (25-19, 25-15, 25-12) sweep of their semifinal encounter with Hungary. Pool A winners Slovenia also won their semifinal in straight sets, 3-0 (26-24, 25-12, 26-24) over Slovakia. Hungary snatched the bronze after a 3-1 (25-19, 18-25, 25-22, 25-23) victory over Slovakia in the third-place match. Czechia, Austria, Cyprus and Israel, in that order, took the places from fifth to eighth. Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia, Czechia and Austria earned the right to compete in the second round of the continental qualifiers. Croatia’s Masa Mlinar was named MVP of the Championship.
Croatian girls triumph as U18 MEVZA champions (Photo credits: mevza.org)
Source : fivb.com
Cet article est repris de son site d'origine, où vous trouverez la version complète.
Lire l'article sur fivb.com
