VBH, Mamer, Stroossen, Chenois and Viteos earned the crowns in their countries
National cup competitions in several European countries climaxed last week with the trophy matches to determine their 2023 laureates. VBH Yerevan won the women’s Armenia Cup, Mamer and Stroossen Strassen claimed the women’s and the men’s Luxembourg Cup crowns, while Viteos Neuchatel and Chenois Geneva celebrated in Switzerland.
Armenia
VBH Yerevan, the team representing the Brusov State University, won the women’s Armenia Cup in the country’s capital on Sunday. In the big final for the trophy, they delivered a four-set victory over Van Yerevan. Earlier in the day, the third place match was played and another club from the capital, FIMA Yerevan, shut out Kotayk Geghashen to complete the podium with the bronze medals.
Luxembourg
Mamer and Stroossen Strassen defended their Luxembourg Cup crowns for women and for men, respectively, by shutting out their opponents in the finals on Saturday.
In the women’s final, played at the Prince Henri Omnisports Hall in Walferdange, Mamer hammered out a 3-0 (25-12, 25-12, 25-7) blowout of Volley Bartreng Bertrange in just 54 minutes of play to celebrate their 13th trophy in the history of the competition.
The men’s final took place at the same venue, following the women’s game. It took Stroossen 67 minutes to complete a 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-13) sweep of Fentange and add their 15th Luxembourg Cup to the club’s collection.
Stroossen Strassen’s team roster
Switzerland
The men’s and the women’s finals of the Switzerland Cup were played in front of almost two thousand spectators at the Win4 AXA Arena in Winterthur on Saturday, and Chenois Geneva and Viteos Neuchatel grabbed the respective titles.
In the men’s Mobiliar Volley Cup final, the team from Geneva produced a 3-1 (25-15, 21-25, 25-13, 25-20) victory over Lausanne UC to lift their ninth trophy in the competition. It was Chenois’ first cup final since 2006. Lausanne’s Argentinean opposite German Johansen was the best scorer of the final with 27 points, while Serbian middle blocker Dejan Radic was named Chenois’ best player of the match.
“It's incredible! Since the start of the season we’ve had a team ready to win,” said Radic. “After losing in the league playoffs, we are all the happier that we were able to win here in the cup final.”
In a spectacular five-set women’s final, Viteos flipped the score from a 0-2 deficit to a 3-2 (22-25, 14-25, 25-16, 25-20, 15-7) victory over Volley Lugano to claim their second national cup crown, after the first in 2019. Middle blocker Samira Sulser was voted the winning team's most valuable player, while American setter Carinne Gebhardt had that honour on Lugano’s side.
“It's unbelievable! For me it is the very first cup victory, as well as for many of my teammates, so we are extremely happy,” said Sulser. “My team played very well in reception and setting, which was why it was possible to play so much through the middle.”
Viteos Neuchatel’s team roster