The U20 women’s teams of Germany and the Netherlands, the U20 men’s team of Bulgaria and the U18 women’s team of Jordan, all supported by FIVB Volleyball Empowerment, earned medals at regional and zonal volleyball competitions last week.
WEVZA U20 women’s volleyball zonal tournament in Terville, France
FIVB Volleyball Empowerment beneficiaries Germany and Netherlands earned gold and bronze, respectively, at the WEVZA U20 women’s volleyball zonal tournament in Terville, France. Germany also earned direct qualification to the 2027 CEV U20 Women’s Volleyball European Championship. Spain completed the podium with silver.
The German Volleyball Federation has been allocated a total of USD 252,000 in FIVB Volleyball Empowerment coach support for their national volleyball teams. Their women’s selections benefit from the expertise of Italian coach Giulio Bregoli. The Netherlands Volleyball Federation (Nevobo) has so far been granted a total of USD 886,000 in FIVB Volleyball Empowerment coach support for their national volleyball teams and another USD 6,000 in volleyball equipment. Their women’s national teams take advantage of the work of coach Felix Koslowski of Germany, assistant coach Gil Ferrer Cutino of Cuba and strength & conditioning coach Alessandro Bracceschi of Italy.
Germany topped the final standings at the WEVZA U20 women’s volleyball zonal tournament in Terville, which was played in a six-team single round-robin format. They defeated Portugal, the Netherlands (in five sets), France and Switzerland, and lost to Spain (in five sets) to finish on a 4-1 win-loss record and 12 points. On the last competition day, Spain suffered their only setback of the tournament, a straight-set defeat at the hands of the Dutch, and settled for second place on 4-1 and 11.
The Netherlands, on the other hand, also allowed a loss to hosts France on the first competition day and ended up third on 3-2 and 10.
France (3-2 and 9), Switzerland (1-4 and 2) and Portugal (0-5 and 1) lined up in the places from fourth to sixth.
WEVZA U20 women’s volleyball zonal tournament: results and standings
BVA U20 men’s volleyball zonal tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria
FIVB Volleyball Empowerment beneficiary Bulgaria finished runners-up at the BVA U20 men’s volleyball zonal tournament they hosted in Sofia. As the highest placed Balkan Volleyball Association member in the final standings, they also booked a direct ticket to the 2027 CEV U20 Men’s Volleyball European Championship. So did Russia, who won the tournament. Serbia finished in third place.
The Bulgarian Volleyball Federation has so far been funded with a total of USD 210,000 in FIVB Volleyball Empowerment coach support for their national volleyball selections. Their men’s teams benefit from the expertise of Italian coach Gianlorenzo Blengini. In addition, the BFV has received USD 167,000 in volleyball equipment.
The six-team BVA U20 men’s volleyball zonal tournament in Sofia was held in a single round-robin format. The home team started with victories over North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkiye and Belarus. Russia also defeated these four opponents, so when they met Bulgaria (pictured in the main photo; source: cev.eu) on the last competition, it proved to be the de facto gold medal final of the tournament. Russia managed to finish the event unbeaten after a 3-0 (25-21, 28-26, 25-22) victory over the southern European Lions.
On a 5-0 win-loss record, Russia topped the final standings. Bulgaria took second place on 4-1. Three teams – Serbia (with six points), Turkiye and Belarus (with five each), in that order – lined up in the next three places on 2-3 each. North Macedonia took the sixth place on 0-5.
BVA U20 men’s volleyball zonal tournament: results and standings
Arab U18 Women’s Volleyball Championship in Amman, Jordan
Jordan, whose federation takes advantage of FIVB Volleyball Empowerment funding, hosted the Arab U18 Women’s Volleyball Championship in Amman and finished on the podium with bronze. Egypt took the crown, while Algeria finished runners-up.
The Jordan Volleyball Federation has been funded with USD 210,000 in coach support for their national volleyball teams, USD 87,000 in volleyball equipment and USD 6,000 in a national team coach development knowledge transfer program by FIVB Volleyball Empowerment. Their national teams have been working under the guidance Egyptian coach Hassan Ibrahim Elhossary.
The Arab U18 Women’s Volleyball Championship was held in a seven-team single round-robin format. Jordan started off with wins over Bahrain and Morocco, followed by a loss to champions-to-be Egypt. In the next three matches, Jordan shut out Palestine, lost to Algeria and finished on a high note with a victory over Lebanon, thus taking third place on a 4-2 win-loss record.
Egypt and Algeria reached the last competition day in Amman undefeated and the game between them turned out to be the de facto championship final. Egypt mastered a 3-0 (25-11, 25-16, 25-17) sweep to claim the crown, leaving Algeria in second place with silver on a 5-1 win-loss record.
Lebanon (3-3), Morocco (2-4), Palestine (1-5) and Bahrain (0-6) took the places from fourth to seventh.
Arab U18 Women’s Volleyball Championship: results and standings
