Italy take #EuroVolleyU18W crown, Hungary celebrate historic bronze medal

A brilliant performance in the decisive matches in Riga secured the Italian team the #EuroVolleyU18W title – their fourth in the competition history. In the decisive game, the team led by Stefano Gregoris defeated Türkiye 3-0 (25-20, 25-16, 25-15), thereby avenging the setback suffered during the pool stage, the Italians’ sole loss of the tournament. The bronze medals went to Hungary, who defeated France 3-1 (25-23, 25-27, 25-20, 25-18) in the early match on Sunday. Italy’s Lisa Dharma Monari Gamba was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

Only a few points had separated the Turkish and Italian teams in the deciding set of their group stage match, so a fierce battle was expected in the final. However, the Italian players had other ideas and they began dictating play right from the opening points. Türkiye managed to recover after an initial run by their opponents, but the Azzurrine regained the lead in the closing stages of the first set, then went to win the second set even more convincingly, and in the third, they withstood Türkiye’s early offensive to break their opponents’ resistance and deservedly claim the European Championship title.

“I have never been so happy! Lifting the European Championship trophy is a wonderful feeling. All the hard work has paid off. I think today we were more focused on our goal,” said Lisa Dharma Monari Gamba, who was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. If the choice had been hers, she would have given the award to her teammate Anita Tessariol. “She was fantastic. The whole team was fantastic! This success was a true team effort.”
Tessariol stood out for the winning team with 19 points, while Bianca Legrenzi, Lisa Dharma Monari Gamba, and Giulia Faleschini scored nine points each. Aylin Uysalcan, the leader of the Turkish national team, scored 14 points.
“I want to congratulate Türkiye for the final. We played very good Volleyball and remained strong and athletic throughout the tournament, so we are delighted to win this title. This is a team victory. Yes, we have some special athletes here, but our greatest strength lies in playing as a team,” asserts Italy’s head coach, Gregoris. He noted that his team’s blocking performance and their very low error count were decisive factors in the final match.

Hungary celebrated taking third place. They had reached Riga after recovering from a 0-2 deficit in the decisive pool stage match against Bulgaria. In the battle for the bronze medal, the team led by Gabor König defeated France, the very team against whom they had suffered a painful loss during the pool stage in Lithuania. The Hungarian leaders rose to the occasion. Gréta Pampuch scored 22 points, while Anna Zsombok and Adél Bite combined for nine blocks. Anna scored a total of 15 points, and her sister Eszter Zsombok added another 10. “It is really special to win this medal together with my twin sister. We share everything – it will be a great memory for us,” said Anna Zsombok, unable to hide a broad smile. She revealed that the key to their success was belief in themselves. “Oh my God! I am super thankful to the coaches and everyone. I am really happy that we could win. It was a really big dream of mine, really unbelievable for me. I remember it was a bit tougher against France when we were in Šiauliai. We were down 0-2 but fought our way to a fifth set. That made us believe we could go for the win here.” 
These are the first medals in Hungary’s history at #EuroVolleyU18W, but the French team also achieved their highest-ever finish in the tournament.

Dream Team 

MVP: Lisa Dharma Monari Gamba (Italy) 
Libero: Lal Lüleci (Türkiye) 
Middle Blockers: Bianca Legrenzi (Italy) and Anna Zsombok (Hungary) 
Outside hitters: Ecrin Selis Türkyasar (Türkiye) and Giulia Faleschini (Italy) 
Opposite hitter: Aylin Uysalcan (Türkiye)
Setter: Alessia Manda (Italy)