Year in Review: EuroVolley and European Leagues

The CEV EuroVolley 2023 competition in both genders started in 2022 with the qualifiers. This summer also featured another set of the annual European Leagues, Golden and Silver for women and for men, on the 2022 senior national team calendar.

24 national teams took part in the qualification matches for the women’s European Championship and half of them booked their tickets for the Finals to join another 12 directly qualified teams from August 15 through September 3 in Belgium, Estonia, Germany and Italy.

The candidates were split into six qualification pools of four teams each and played in a home-an-away double round robin format from August 20 through September 11, 2022. The six pool winners – Romania, Czechia, Ukraine, Slovenia, Slovakia and Bosnia & Herzegovina – and the six pool runners-up – Croatia, Finland, Hungary, Azerbaijan, Spain and Greece – earned the right to compete at EuroVolley 2023. Eventually, Switzerland, the third-placed team with the best record, also qualified, taking the place of disqualified Russia.

Czechia, Ukraine and Slovenia excelled as the only three teams undefeated in these qualifiers, with the Czechs particularly outstanding as they dropped only a set in the six matches played.

On the men’s side, the 25 contesting teams were distributed into three pools of three and four pools of four, also played in a home-an-away double round-robin format, from August 3 through 21. Turkiye, Finland, Belgium, Portugal, Greece, Spain and Romania won their pools to qualify. The five pool runners-up with the best records – Denmark, Estonia, Montenegro, Croatia and Switzerland – also booked their spots at EuroVolley 2023, along with the 12 teams qualified directly as co-hosts or based on their EuroVolley 2021 results.

Greece and Spain emerged from the four-team pools with six wins out of six games each. Finland and Belgium were the undefeated squads in the three-team pools.

EuroVolley 2023 will be held in Bulgaria, Israel, Italy and North Macedonia from August 28 through September 16.

The lots for EuroVolley 2023 in both genders were drawn on November 16 in the Italian city of Naples.

Nine women’s national teams were distributed into three pools of three for the start of the CEV Volleyball European Golden League 2022. The league round matches were played in May and June in a double round-robin format. Pool winners France, Czechia and Romania, and Croatia as the best second-placed team, advanced to the semifinals. Paris 2024 Olympics hosts were the only team to win all their matches.

France went on to shut out Croatia at home, in Orleans, in one of the June 16 semifinals. In the other, in Prostejov, hosts Czechia persevered through a five-set battle to overcome Romania.

The big final was played in Orleans on June 19. Led by opposite Lucille Gicquel, the French were merciless on the way to a 3-0 (25-22, 27-25, 25-14) sweep of the Czechs and claimed not only their first trophy, but also their first medals in the history of the competition. Gicquel was named Most Valuable Player of the Golden European League.

An 11-team pool round was held in the men’s European Golden League in May and June of 2022. Three undefeated teams – Turkiye in the three-team Pool A, Ukraine in the four-team Pool B and Czechia in the four-team Pool C – progressed to the Finals on June 18 and 19 in Varazdin to join hosts Croatia, who finished Pool B runners-up.

Czechia mastered an amazing comeback from two sets down to edge Ukraine in the first semifinal. In the second, Turkiye disappointed the home crowd with a four-set win over Croatia. The hosts redeemed themselves with success in a nail-biting five-setter against Ukraine to snatch the bronze.

The Czechs secured their second European League title (after winning the inaugural edition in 2004) with a 3-1 (25-21, 25-22, 21-25, 27-25) victory over defending champions Turkiye in the final. Jan Galabov was honored as the MVP.

The first stage of the women’s CEV Volleyball European Silver League was a double round-robin affair with five teams, who played home and away matches from May 25 through June 26. Sweden topped the standings on a 7-1 win-loss record, suffering their only defeat in a five-set match at home at the hands of Portugal, who finished runners-up on 6-2.

The two teams qualified for the trophy match played in Lund on July 2. Hosts Sweden made no mistake against Portugal this time and hammered out a 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-16) shutout. It was their second crown in the European Silver League, after winning the first edition in 2018. Swedish outside hitter Alexandra Lazic received the MVP nomination.

After the withdrawal of Azerbaijan from the men’s European Silver League, Pool A was played with two teams only. It was won by Finland after two victories over Hungary. In the four-team Pool B, Romania topped the table on a 5-1 win-loss record, followed by North Macedonia on 3-3.

Budapest welcomed the Finals on June 18 and 19. In the semifinals, Finland took a 3-1 victory over North Macedonia, and Romania beat hosts Hungary in straight sets. A five-set bronze medal match finished in favor of North Macedonia, before another five-set duel decorated the big final. Romania came back from a set down twice in the match to emerge with a 3-2 (17-25, 25-21, 20-25, 25-23, 15-13) victory over Finland and win the Silver League for the second time, after 2019, while their setter Cristian Bartha earned the MVP award.