FERIZAJ, Kosovo – Türkiye captured the gold medal at the U17 Women’s Balkan Championship 2026, successfully defending their unbeaten record to finish at the top of the standings after five days of exciting volleyball in Ferizaj, Kosovo. Montenegro secured an outstanding silver medal, while Bulgaria completed the podium by claiming bronze.

Hosted by the Volleyball Federation of Kosovo under the auspices of the Balkan Volleyball Association (BVA), the championship gathered six national teams – Albania, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro and Türkiye – competing in a single round-robin format at the Palestra “Bill Clinton” from 21 to 25 July.

Türkiye demonstrated remarkable consistency throughout the tournament, producing commanding performances to remain undefeated and deservedly lift the Balkan trophy. Montenegro enjoyed a memorable campaign, earning the silver medal after a series of impressive victories, while Bulgaria finished in third place to take home the bronze medal.

Trophy to captain of Türkiye was awarded by Bahri Gjinovci, president of Kosova Volleyball Federation.

Following the conclusion of the championship, the best individual performers of the tournament were honoured during the closing ceremony:

Fair Play Award – Njola Babuni (Kosovo)
Presented by: Valon Nikqi – Secretary General, Kosova Volleyball Federation

🏅Best Libero – Magdalena Bogdanova (Bulgaria)
Presented by: Valon Xhafaj – Vice President, Kosova Volleyball Federation

🏅Best Middle Blocker – Nejla Guzonjic (Türkiye)
Presented by: Arbër Bytyqi – Director of Urbanism, Municipality of Ferizaj

🏅Best Outside Spiker – Elena Jovanovic (Montenegro)
Presented by: Nikola Kazić – President, Montenegro Volleyball Federation

🏅Best Opposite – Cagla Caglayandere (Türkiye)
Presented by: Nikola Kazić – President, Montenegro Volleyball Federation

🏅Best Setter – Nadja Pekovic (Montenegro)
Presented by: Filip Despotovski – BVA Supervisor

🌟Most Valuable Player (MVP) – Selis Ecrin Turkyasar (Türkiye)
Presented by: Bahri Gjinovci – President, Kosova Volleyball Federation

The individual awards reflected the high level of competition throughout the championship, with Türkiye, Montenegro and Bulgaria all represented among the tournament’s standout performers.

The U17 Women’s Balkan Championship once again highlighted the growing quality of volleyball across the region, providing young talents with valuable international experience and confirming the bright future of Balkan volleyball.

U17 Women Balkan Championship 2026

Turkish captain Sera Caglar, who was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament, led her side to a convincing 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-17) win over hosts Greece to claim the gold medal of the 2026 Women’s U16 Balkan Championship here in Grevena, Western Macedonian city.

Türkiye wrapped the tournament undefeated, having dropped only one set, to Bulgaria on the opening day. It was Greece’s first defeat of this Balkan Championship, as the hosts finished second in the final standings to claim the silver medal.

Caglar was once again top scorer of the Turkish side, bagging 22 points as her side outplayed Greece across all scoring skills, with 10 aces to 5, 49% to 32% in attacking efficiency and 10 to 2 blocks.

Zeynep Berksun added another 15 points for Türkiye and Beren Eralp registered five blocks.

“I feel so happy,” said Caglar after the match, the gold medal hanging from her neck and the MVP trophy in her hand. “We now have the European Championship ahead of us and I hope we can claim the gold there as well. The MVP award means a lot to me personally, because I have worked a lot in training and the matches. I am grateful to my coaches.”

MVP Sera Caglar and BVA Supervisor Ivan Jecmenica

“This was our first tournament together and we are very happy for the first place,” added Turkish Head Coach Ragip Batuhan. “We have a lot of talented players and we need to carry on with the same tempo”.

Earlier, Bulgaria, who had mathematically secured the bronze medal by the time their match came around, found themselves in trouble in the first set as Montenegro failed to convert three set points at 21-24 and another at 24-25, before Dea Ananieva delivered an ace for Bulgaria’s set point. Bulgaria carried on to take the match 3-1 (27-25, 25-16, 18-25, 25-23), though not before Monenegro had bagged their first set of the tournament.

Bulgaria were led by Aleksandra Zanova who scored 16 points, including 6 blocks, but the match high came from Montenegro’s Kaja Miric with 20 points.

“I’m happy with our game and the level of performance we had,” said Bulgaria Head Coach Evelina Tsvetanova, who brought on several subs after the second set. “It has been difficult to become a proper team, as this was the first time we played together. I hope we will have more time in the future to be able to show what we are capable of.”

Meanwhile, Romania stunned Serbia 3-2 (22-25, 25-19, 26-24, 10-25, 15-12) to snatch fourth place in the final standings.

Romania could have had an easier time in the third set when they led 24-21 before Serbia cancelled three set points to draw level at 24-24. After a one-sided fourth, Romania quickly broke away 4-0 in the tie-break before Serbia pulled together to even briefly lead at 9-10 and 10-11. It was a 5-1 run by Romania in the end to bring it home.

Serbia produced better blocking with 15 stuffs (to Romania’s 9) and serving with 18 aces to 13, but Romania countered that with better reception and better attacking.

Bianca Tranca scored 26 points for Romania and Adela Vasilescu added another 17, but the match high (also a tournament high) came from Serbia’s Helena Blagojevic with 34 (including 10 aces).