European Champions Italy, have been drawn in Ireland’s Pool B ahead of this Summer’s u20 Women’s European Volleyball Championships to be held in Dublin.
Dublin and Volleyball Ireland will welcome three real powerhouses – defending European champions Italy, 2022 runners-up Serbia and Poland, whose team finished in third place two years ago in North Macedonia. This means that all three medallists from the previous edition of the European Championship in this age group (formerly U19) will be taking to the court in the Irish capital. Czechia, Finland, Ukraine, and Portugal complete Pool II at the Sport Ireland Campus – with Portugal making their historic debut in the final round of #EuroVolleyU20W after sensationally sweeping all their matches in a second-round qualifier that they hosted last week on home soil in Barcelos.
Volleyball Ireland President Clodagh NicCanna was ecstatic after this morning’s draw, “It’s a really perfect draw to have our close friends Italy coming to Dublin, after we’ve been working together the last couple years. And then to have Poland and Ukraine, with so many of that diaspora living in Ireland is fantastic. So many people from those countries have made Ireland home, and contributed to our sport and community. It will be amazing for them to see their home nation playing here in Ireland. It’s great for the Volleyball community in Ireland.”
Volleyball Ireland will be writing history as the first National Federation from the Small Countries Association (SCA) to deliver the final round of a continental championship in any age group.
The tournament begins on Monday August 5th, and runs through to August 13th. The match schedule will be finalised next week, with tickets on sale at that point.
Co-hosts Bulgaria will welcome their neighbours from Türkiye – usually a major force to reckon with in all age-group championships – plus MEVZA champions Croatia, four teams that reached the final round via last week’s second-round qualifiers – The Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain, and Belgium – and Sweden, winners of the NEVZA Championship in this age group contested in October of 2023 and returning to the #EuroVolleyU20W Final Round for the first time since 1984!
