Latvia embark on quest for second straight #EuroVolleyU22W appearance

On Friday, Team Lavia will begin their quest for a spot in the Final Round of #EuroVolleyU22W with a match against Denmark at the Daugavpils Olympic Centre. On Saturday, the Danes will face their peers from Ukraine, while on Sunday the tournament will feature a matchup between the Latvian and Ukrainian teams. 

“The squad for the tournament in Daugavpils includes our most consistent players. All three players from the Latvian senior national team also joined today for their first training session,” said Latvian U22 head coach Inguna Minusa, a 2009 European champion in Beach Volleyball. 

The team has already played five test matches – meeting Algeria twice in Riga, and facing the U22 national teams of Ukraine, Norway, and Algeria in Daugavpils. “In the test games, our main goal was to implement the tactical solutions we will use in the qualification tournament and to build coordination between the setters and the rest of the team. We made progress with each game,” the coach explained.

Today, the team will face Denmark. “Denmark has been investing significant effort in Volleyball development for some time, and I haven’t seen any footage of them, as they haven’t played any test matches,” Minusa noted. “Denmark is a bit of an unknown - a ‘cat in the bag.’ They should be a strong team, and I wouldn’t say we got lucky with the group draw. Both teams will likely deal with nerves in their first match. Our dream is to repeat last year’s success and qualify for the Final Round. The girls are highly motivated to make it happen.”

Latvia’s U22 roster for the tournament includes:

Setters: Laura Kristīne Vāvere (RSU/MSĢ), Arina Sosinoviča (Northeastern University, USA)
Middle Blockers: Karmena Struka (RSU/MSĢ), Marta Beatrise Gintere (RVS/LU), Jana Franckeviča (Daugavpils Sports School)
Opposite Hitters: Anete Čelnova (RVS/LU), Kristīne Leskinoviča (Hylte/Halmstad, Sweden)
Outside Hitters: Katrīna Struka (RSU/MSĢ), Anna Cepurīte (Saturnus Michelbeke, Belgium), Rūta Putene, Šarlote Šlitere (both – RVS/LU), Elizabete Helēna Štolca (Orsa Cuti Volley, Italy)
Liberos: Jasmīna Bērziņa (FT 1844 Freiburg, Germany), Megija Rumaka (RVS)

The team is led by Inguna Minusa, assisted by Daniele Mario Capriotti and Atvars Ozoliņš, with Vladimirs Visockis as statistician, Luisa Dombrovska as physiotherapist, and Kristaps Čerņavskis as team manager.

A total of 19 national teams have registered to participate in the women’s qualifiers for the 2026 edition of #EuroVolleyU22W. The winners of the five qualification groups and the two best second-placed teams will advance to the final round, where they will be joining the host nation. Players born on or after January 1, 2005, will compete in the finals, which will take place in The Hague, Netherlands, from July 7 to 12, 2026.

In the previous championship, Latvia’s U22 team qualified for the final tournament via a qualification round held in Daugavpils as well and finished the competition played in Italy in 8th place.