Grevena, Greece, 21 July 2026 – Hosts Greece, alongside Bulgaria and Türkiye took an early lead in the standings after the opening day of the 2026 Women’s Under 16 Balkan Volleyball Championship here in Grevena.
Before a full house of enthusiastic spectators, Greece kicked off their campaign with a very straightforward 3-0 (25-18, 25-14, 25-14) win over Romania on the back of some strong serving that yielded 15 aces – five by Dafni Korniaka alone.
Romania’s Bianca Tranca on 14 points was top scorer of the game, but Greece produced a much wider range with 12 by Anastasia Oikonomidou and 11 each by Kornakia and Vasiliki Drouga.
“In addition to the positive result, our performance was also very good,” said Greece’s Head Coach Thanassia Strantzalis. “We were initially concerned of first-day jitters, but all the players responded as they should.”
Earlier in the day some strong serving that produced 17 aces had helped the Turkish side overcome the resistance of Bulgaria for a 3-1 (25-20, 25-20, 22-25, 25-19) win, though only after coming from behind in the fourth set.
Zeynep Berksun and Zumra Aktas with 18 points each and Sera Cadlar with another 16 (including six aces) led the Turkish scoring. Bulgaria enjoyed a slightly better attacking efficiency, but it was not enough to take the match.
“It was the first ever match at this level for all our players,” said Head Coach Batuhan Ragip Sen after the win. “I’d like to congratulate my players, but what’s especially important to me is how we dealt with managing the situation after we fell behind in the score.”
And Serbia overwhelmed Montenegro 3-0 (25-7, 25-20, 25-14) with an important contribution of 15 points each from Helena Blagojevic and Nina Janic.
Action in this single round-robin tournament continues here on Wednesday with Turkey facing Montenegro, Romania taking on Bulgaria and Greece hosting Serbia.