Grevena, Greece, 22 July 2026 – Hosts Greece and Türkiye are the only undefeated teams after Day 2 of the 2026 Women’s U16 Balkan Championship – both on track for a potential gold medal showdown when they clash on the Saturday on the closing day of competition.
Twice Greece led and twice Serbia equalised, forcing the first tie-break of the tournament, but the home team, again playing again before a full house at the Municipal Sports Hall Grevena, beating Serbia 3-2 (25-21, 20-25, 25-23, 23-25, 15-13). It was Serbia’s first defeat in the tournament.
Greece was more decisive in the tie-break, leading by three as the teams switched courts, and extended that lead to 12-7 before Serbia closed in. Still, the home team persevered to close the game with the tightest of margins on their second match ball.
Anastasia Oikonomidou led the scoring for Greece with 17 points, though the match high of 20 came from Serbia’s Helena Blagojevic. When the final count was in, Greece enjoyed a very slight advantage across most skills (15 aces to Serbia’s 13, 16% to 11% in reception and 8 blocks to 7), with attacking efficiency practically level at 39%.
“My players were brilliant,” said Greece Head Coach Thanassis Strantzalis after the match. “Their effort was magnificent. It is through such matches that character and personality is built. Our original goal was to claim a medal from this competition and we are now closer to achieving this.”
Previously, Türkiye had shut out Montenegro 3-0 (25-12, 25-18, 25-15) on the back of 15 points by Zumra Aktas (including 5 of her side’s 12 aces) and another 14 Sera Cadlar. Milena Muratovic of Montenegro was also on a joint match high of 15 points.
After two days of action, Montenegro are still in search of their first win in the Balkan Championship.
Bulgaria, meanwhile, made an eight-point run to come back from 17-22 down and take the first set 25-22 before carrying on to complete a straight-set win 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-22) win over Romania. It was Bulgaria’s first win here in Grevena, but, as with Montenegro, Romania are still looking to score their first win.
Maria Bakova, who came in off the bench in the first set (and stayed on), led Bulgaria with a match high of 18 points, while Romania’s Bianca Tranca and Ariana Harbuz scored 13 each. Bulgaria was better in all skills, but there was not much to separate the two sides.
“It’s very important for me that I saw my players react at the most difficult moments of the match to find solutions and help each other out,” said Bulgaria Head Coach Evelina Tsvetanova. “This is the way forward and I’m very happy for them.”
Day 3 (of 5) in this single round-robin tournament continues here on Thursday with Türkiye taking on Romania, Serbia facing Bulgaria and hosts Greece playing against Montenegro.