Fiery Final Four to deliver champion in Golden League Women

A new champion will be crowned at the end of the week, as the Final Four of the current season of the CEV Volleyball European Golden League 2025 Women will play its final four matches in Ängelholm, Sweden.

Reigning champions Sweden can defend their title on home soil, as they were already qualified to the business end of the competition, but also finished third in the league round standings, with five wins and a single loss, finishing the first phase of the competition on a high, with four wins in a row.

Now, Sweden will face 2023 champions Ukraine in the second semi-final of the competition, in what will surely provide a highly entertaining and energetic match, with the two sides already facing off in the last week of the league round, when Sweden took a clear 3:0 (25:20; 26:24; 25:19) win in Radom, Poland.

“The girls are fantastic. We share goals and they know very well what I want to do. They themselves are the ones who create all this positivity that we have around us. I have told them that we are in a kind of bubble, where we have created a good feeling and positive attitude. And that creates the conditions for us to play as well as we do,” said Sweden’s coach, Lorenzo Micelli.

Both sides registered five wins and one loss, winning 15 sets and losing six, but Ukraine had a better set point ratio, 1.227, than Sweden’s 1.095, as well as a point more, 15 compared to 14. But Sweden have a fantastic player on their hands, Isabelle Haak, the MVP of the last season of the CEV Champions League Women, which she won with A.Carraro Imoco Conegliano.

Haak is also the top scorer in the competition, with 159 points, tied with Hungary’s Anett Nemeth, who has also scored 159 points in the six matches she played, as Hungary are looking for their first title in the CEV Volleyball European Golden League since 2015.

To secure that chance, Hungary will have to deliver a win against Romania, the team which won the league round, having the largest number of points, 16, conceding only a loss and four sets. However, the single loss for Romania came on their home court, in Blaj, 2:3, against their semi-final rivals.

“We are very motivated. We have a balanced team, where experience is perfectly combined with the enthusiasm of young players. Confidence comes from both what we offer in the game and the way we present ourselves as a team,” said Romania’s Adelina Ungureanu.

Romania have never won the CEV Volleyball European Golden League Women title, with their best placement being the fourth place, in the previous season.

The two semi-finals will take place on 28 June, with Romania taking on Hungary at 16:00 CEST, and Sweden facing Ukraine at 19:00 CEST. The bronze medal match is scheduled on 29 June at 16:00 CEST, with the title decider at 19:00 CEST.