Jovo Caković to lead Montenegro at historic EuroVolley debut

Montenegro are the only debutants at the CEV EuroVolley Women 2026 and will compete in Pool D in Gothenburg, Sweden, alongside Italy, France, Sweden, Slovakia and Croatia. Montenegro secured the greatest achievement in the history of their women's national team under the guidance of Serbian coach Jovo Caković.
Caković is the seventh head coach of the Montenegro women's senior national team and the first to lead the team to a European Championship.

“Generally speaking, the process started before I arrived. I simply helped the team reach that goal. Montenegro deserved to qualify for the continental Volleyball showcase. Montenegro does not have many Volleyball players; it is a small country, but the girls who play Volleyball are outstanding athletes. I believe that in the coming years there will be more and more players from Montenegro making a significant impact on European Volleyball. This success should serve as motivation for future generations and help Montenegro continue its Volleyball development. That is my main priority, especially because I came here on a four-year project. We are now in the second year, and I hope that after I leave, something meaningful will remain for the generations of players to come,” Caković said.

Speaking about Pool D in Gothenburg, the passionate 46-year-old coach from Prijepolje commented:

“It is a group full of challenges. There is no point in wasting words about it because, considering that we have the fewest ranking points and are the lowest-ranked team in the CEV Ranking, we could not have expected an easier group. We will have many opportunities to prove ourselves both collectively and individually. Playing against Italy, France, Sweden, Slovakia and Croatia will provide valuable lessons and exciting challenges. We will have the chance to see how the highest level of Volleyball is played in Europe, and I want our players to enjoy every point. At the same time, we want to show that we have not qualified by accident and that we are capable of playing quality Volleyball. We cannot burden ourselves with results, but we have the obligation to give our maximum and show that Volleyball is also played in Montenegro.”

Based on recent results, Italy, France and Sweden are the favourites to finish in the top three places in the pool, while Croatia, Slovakia and Montenegro are expected to battle for a place among the best 16 teams in Europe.

“It is still too early to talk about that. Of course, we will set ourselves that objective. The challenge is to try to finish among the top four teams in the group. Everything will depend on our preparation, the squad we bring to Sweden and the squads of our opponents. There are many factors that will influence the outcome, but we certainly need to set ourselves a goal,” Caković said before continuing:

“At this moment, we do not have 14 equally competitive players. We have a starting line-up and many, many young players. If we continue this trend of progressive improvement and development, perhaps we will have that in the future. These are girls born in 2008, 2009 and 2010. I will be happy if I have several outside hitters and opposites available for rotation because those positions require a great deal of energy throughout a match. The period ahead of us will show whether we can achieve that,” the Montenegro coach explained.

Jovo Caković has enjoyed a long and successful coaching career with Jedinstvo Stara Pazova, leading the Serbian club to two Serbian Championship titles, two Serbian Cup trophies and two Serbian Super Cup titles.

“I started with the men's club Jedinstvo Stara Pazova in the 2012/2013 season, when we earned promotion to the Serbian SuperLiga, and since 2013 I have been coaching the women's team. Since then, only once have we failed to reach the semi-finals of either the championship or the Serbian Cup. From the very beginning, our goal has been to work with young players and help them establish themselves. I am pleased that players from our Serbian Volleyball school have gone on to build successful careers both with the national team and with clubs abroad,” Caković explained.

As head coach of Serbia’s U18 women’s national team from 2014 to 2022, he won silver at the 2015 CEV U18 European Championship, bronze at the 2020 edition, silver at the 2015 European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF), two BVA gold medals and one silver medal between 2014 and 2016, as well as fourth place at the 2021 FIVB U18 World Championship and fifth place in 2015.

“At that time we worked in two-year cycles. In one way or another, I helped those girls who are now members of Serbia’s senior national team. It is not for me to speak about that - they can say a few words themselves about that stage of their development. I am certainly proud of the results we achieved together and of everything they have accomplished afterwards,” Caković said modestly.

The Montenegro coach also served as assistant coach to Zoran Terzić with the Serbia women’s national team at the 2014 FIVB World Championship. There is now a theoretical possibility that Serbia and Montenegro could meet in the Round of 16.

“In theory, it is possible. It would certainly be a wonderful moment, but for us that is still a long way away. My time with Serbia’s senior national team was fantastic. At that time I was coaching Jedinstvo and the Serbian U18 national team as well, and it would have been too much to continue working in Zoran Terzić’s coaching staff. I had to make a decision. It was a wonderful period and it is truly easy to work with such outstanding players and such exceptional people in the coaching staff,” Caković stressed.

Montenegro competed in this year’s CEV European League and finished 13th overall.

“Our goal is to try to qualify for the 2028 European Championship through the European League by collecting enough ranking points to make that possible. We also want to promote another generation of young players. We are aware that many stronger teams are ahead of us at the moment. The European League is very good for Montenegro because it gives us the opportunity to compete while developing young players and, at the same time, fight for qualification to the European Championship.”

Speaking about the competition format for the European Championship, Caković added:

“For all smaller countries, this format is very suitable because it allows us to compete at the European Championship and play against the best teams. Montenegro does not have many clubs and the domestic league is not at a particularly high level. That is why I believe that qualifying for major competitions like this can contribute greatly to the development of Volleyball in Montenegro.”

He concluded: “I would like Montenegro not to be just a participant at this year’s European Championship, but to establish continuity and regularly compete at future editions while gradually finding its place on the European Volleyball map. I also hope these results by the national team will encourage Montenegrin clubs to continue developing, raise the overall standard of Volleyball and coaching, and, as a result, make the national team stronger year after year.”

Montenegro will open its European Championship campaign against the hosts Sweden on 21 August at 19:00, before facing Italy on 22 August at 15:00, France on 24 August at 19:00, Slovakia on 26 August at 19:00, and Croatia on 27 August at 16:00.