Estonian women’s national team awarded as ‘Team of the Year 2023’
News
The women’s national team of Estonia finished a truly historic year 2023 with another unprecedented achievement as they received the award for the ‘Best Team’ of the Baltic country. Never had any Volleyball national team in Estonia claimed such a coveted award, which for the past few years has been awarded to rally duo Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic champions in the women’s epee or rowing crews with Olympic medals to their name as well.
The women’s Volleyball team secured a historic gold medal in the CEV European Silver League in the summer of 2023, a unique and unprecedented achievement for the Baltic country. Only a couple of months later, they played the pool stage of CEV EuroVolley in Tallinn and won the hearts of many sports fans, not just Volleyball ‘addicted’ ones. There were 3,000 to 4,000 fans cheering for the home team in Unibet Arena – a feat which left a deep footprint on Estonian women’s sport in general, not just on Volleyball. The matchup with Finland set a record of attendance in women’s team sports with a crowd of 3,812 in attendance.
Liis Kiviloo“It is an unbelievable achievement that none of us expected to happen. We just play and give our best and do not think about awards. But we had a crazy year and I believe we deserved the prize as we played ourselves into the hearts of many people in Estonia who were not Volleyball fans before. We still have little girls coming up to us and bringing us gifts and I hope we inspire them to choose Volleyball as their sport so we can continue to grow as a country where Volleyball matters.”
Captain of Estonia
Photos courtesy of Estonian Olympic Committee