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BVA Cup Women 2023 from Tuesday to Thursday in Gjilan

by Press 18/09/2023

written by Press

The BVA Cup 2023 in Women’s competition will be played from 19th until 21st September in Gjilan, Kosovo.

Participants teams on Women BVA Cup 2023 are KV Drita from Kosovo, KS Skenderbeu from Albania, Galatasaray from Turkiye and AO Markopoulo from Greece.

MATCH SCHEDULE:

Tuesday, 19th September:

Galatasaray – KS Skenderbeu (17.30h)

KV Drita – Ao Markopoulo (20.00h)

Wednesday, 20th September

Ao Markopoulo – Galatasaray (17.30h)

KV Drita – KS Skenderbeu (20.00h)

Thursday, 21st September

KS Skenderbeu – AO Markopoulo (17.30h)

KV Drita – Galatasaray (20.00h)

18/09/2023 0 comments

CEV’s golden jubilee celebrated in Rome

by Press 18/09/2023

written by Press

Only a few hours away from the eagerly anticipated climax of a drama filled CEV EuroVolley 2023 Men, the members of the European Volleyball family came together in Rome for a gala held at the iconic Villa Piccolomini to celebrate the CEV’s golden jubilee. Some 50 years ago, the forefathers of European Volleyball had officially established the European Volleyball Confederation on September 9, 1973, in The Hague – and since those early days, Volleyball in Europe has simply gone from strength to strength.

Rachele Sangiuliano, a former member of the Italian women’s national team now working as a TV presenter and pundit, did host an event where sports, music, arts, culture were nicely combined and all played their role in celebrating five decades of European Volleyball history, while looking forward to what lies ahead.

CEV President Aleksandar Boričić emphasised:

“I am incredibly proud of standing here and celebrating 50 years since the CEV was officially established and to do so together with all of you. I feel and regard myself as the coach leading our 56 National Federations. We obviously look back at the journey that we have gone through with much pride – but we shall start working already now for the next 50 years so that we can provide the younger generations with even more and better opportunities to grow and shine.”

FIVB President Dr Ary Graça F° was among the many honorary guests in attendance: “I wish to congratulate the CEV President and all of you on this golden anniversary but especially on the tremendous transformation that European Volleyball has experienced under the leadership of Mr Boričić. This is something you can see for yourself here tonight in this wonderful location – and that I could witness last night during the EuroVolley semis too. The passion, enjoyment and involvement of the audience were simply spine-tingling. I can only hope and wish that you will continue to work with the same spirit and strive for further innovation, while being ready to share and transfer your experiences to other continents as well.”

The FIVB President received a special medal in recognition of his support to the European Volleyball family and as a sign of friendship and mutual respect between the two organisations.

Volleyball visuals were projected on the facade of Villa Piccolomini

The gala was an opportunity to acknowledge and award the CEV’s long-time partners – such as Infront and Mikasa – for their contribution to the continuous efforts made to grow Volleyball at all levels. Moreover, the Presidents of all National Federations, as well as all members of the CEV Board of Administration received specially designed medals to celebrate the CEV’s golden jubilee.

The Presidents of all National Federations received a specially designed medal to commemorate the CEV’s 50th anniversary

Other guests to receive such memorabilia were the President of the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) and IOC member, Giovanni Malagò, the President of the Croatian Olympic Committee and CEV Volleyball Ambassador, Mr Zlatko Mateša, as well as the Presidents of the Continental Confederations governing Volleyball in Asia (AVC), Ms Rita Subowo, and South America (CSV), Mr Marco Tullio Teixeira, and FIVB General Director Fabio Azevedo.

CEV Managing Director Thorsten Endres received a medal too to acknowledge the hard work and efforts made by the staff working at the CEV headquarters in Luxembourg.

Other highlights of a truly memorable night included live music performances, a surprise celebration of the CEV President’s and wife’s 50 years of marriage and a pyrotechnic show to cap it all off.

The CEV President addressing the many guests invited to the gala organised to celebrate the CEV’s golden jubilee

In his final address, the CEV President echoed the words he said only a couple of weeks ago at the CEV XLIV General Assembly in Brussels:

“I invite you once again to stick together and to work together for the good of our sport. Only this way will we be much stronger, and Volleyball will continue to thrive and go from strength to strength for another 50 years and further on.”

18/09/2023 0 comments

CEV Main

Türkiye is European Champion for the first time after Balkan Final

by Admin 04/09/2023

written by Admin

Down after the first and third sets, Türkiye mounted a dramatic comeback to seal their first-ever trophy at the CEV EuroVolley Women, after clinching a 3:2 win over Serbia, with opposite Melissa Vargas delivering an epic performance in her maiden appearance in the European premium competition, scoring 41 points.

It was always going to be a tense and dramatic final, and the two sides, which went into the last act of the CEV EuroVolley 2023 Women riding eight-game winning streaks, surely delivered exactly what everyone was waiting for, a topsy-turvy match, a true roller coaster of emotions, where both Serbia and Türkiye looked like they were going to clinch the gold medal.

The focus was going to be on the battle between the two stars – Tijana Bošković and Melissa Vargas – and while Vargas might have impressed from the start of the match, with devastating attacks in the first set, it was still Serbia which were calmer and more clinical in the first set, clinching it, 27:25, after keeping the lead throughout most of the first part of the match.

03.09.2023, Palais 12, Brüssel / Bruessel
Volleyball, Europameisterschaft / EuroVolley, Siegerehrung
Foto: Conny Kurth / www.kurth-media.de

Slowly, but surely, Türkiye came back into the game and it was thanks to Vargas, Ebrar Karakurt and Zehra Güneş, all of the three stars contributing with a little of their own to the success. With a better efficiency, more aces, more winning spikes and less opponent errors, six for Serbia and three for them, Türkiye clinched the second set, 25:21, and looked in control.

It was do-or-die for Türkiye from that moment on and Vargas’ maiden CEV EuroVolley Women appearance was crucial for her side. The opposite, who was the second best scorer in the competition after Bošković, had some impossible to stop serves, delivered magnificent attacks and took all the weight up her shoulders in the closing moments of the fourth set, one which Türkiye eventually took, 25:22.

In the tiebreaker, only the fourth final to be decided in the fifth set since 1987, Türkiye and Serbia went head-to-head, albeit with Türkiye a little more prepared, better on the defensive end and with Vargas firing from all cylinders.

The pivotal moment came at 10:8 for Türkiye, with Vargas closing a point in superb fashion, as she also was the one delivering the decisive point, as Türkiye celebrated a 15:13 win in the tiebreaker, to seal their first ever European trophy, after having lost two finals, one in 2003 and the other in 2019, against Serbia, in Ankara.

While Bošković finished with 37 points, Vargas dominated everybody, with 41 points, delivering one of the best-ever performances in a final of the CEV EuroVolley Women, as Türkiye sealed the double this summer, adding the European title to the one sealed in the FIVB Women’s Nations League in July.

On the other hand, Serbia sealed their sixth medal at the CEV EuroVolley Women and the fifth in a row, with the powerhouse now boasting three gold medals, three silver medals and two bronze medals in the European premium competition.

Earlier on Sunday, in the Palais 12 in Bruxelles, the Netherlands sealed a surprising bronze medal, after a hard-fought win against Italy, in straight sets, 3:0 (25:23, 28:26, 25:20).

Italy’s Elina Pietrini (18 points) and Ekaterina Antropova (15 points) tried to finish off the competition as best as possible for the reigning champions, but faced an immovable object in the Netherlands, who delivered an excellent all-around performance, with four players scoring at least 10 points.

After a 17-game winning streak, Italy conceded two losses in a row and missed out surprisingly on a medal, having lost both matches which they did not play on their home court, with the Netherlands sealing the bronze, their first medal since 2017 and the first bronze since 1985 at the CEV EuroVolley Women.

04/09/2023 0 comments