Latvia to play for third place at EEVZA #EuroVolleyU18M qualifier

Team Latvia will play for third place on Sunday at the EEVZA first-round zonal qualifier for the 2026 edition of #EuroVolleyU18M which is being held in Daugavpils. The hosts lost to Poland 0-3 (14-25, 17-25, 19-25) on Saturday.

Latvia’s top scorer was Tomass Silavs with eight points, while Poland was led by Karol Leppert with 15 and Adam Potempa followed next with 13.

“Unfortunately, we lost 0-3 to Poland. We knew they are a strong team without weak spots and, of course, we want to beat every opponent, but today it didn’t work out, and I must evaluate the result negatively. Still, we had our positive moments,” said Latvia U18 head coach Aivis Kokins. “Poland has a very balanced and aggressive team with great height. In some positions we lack height at the net. However, I want to highlight our willingness to fight and play aggressively. That was the plan – to start aggressively. We tried, but unfortunately couldn’t maintain this same pace throughout the match.”

On Sunday Latvia will face Estonia in the bronze-medal match. Estonia lost in four sets to Ukraine earlier on Saturday to finish second in the other pool.

“Estonia also has a very tall team with strong attacking capabilities. Tomorrow we will analyse videos and discuss tactical details with the players. It is very important to recover quickly – calm down, sleep and rest. If we are fresh and mentally stable, we can definitely fight for the win,” Kokins added.