The championships that started on July 1 took place in Šiauliai and Riga. This was the first time a final stage of the European Volleyball Championship for any age group was held in Lithuania.
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In the semifinals, the Turkish team defeated Hungary 3:1 (25:22, 25:6, 27:29, 25:19), while Italy beat their French peers 3:0 (25:21, 25:22, 25:8).
In the group stage, Turkey won a five-set battle against Italy, but the picture was different in the championship final. The Italians, who showed impressive play, left no chance to their opponents and won the gold medals with a 3:0 (25:20, 25:16, 25:15) victory.
The Italian team became European U18 champions for the fourth time. This weekend once again confirmed Italy’s youth dominance in Europe in recent years. On the same day, the Italians also triumphed in the European U22 championships.
The best player of the European U18 championship was recognized as Italian volleyball player Lisa Monari Gamba.
“I have never been so happy. The feeling of lifting the trophy is wonderful. All the hard work paid off. I think today we were more focused on our goal,” said L. Monari Gamba.
She revealed that she would have awarded the best player title to her teammate Anita Tessariol, who was the top scorer in the final with 19 points.
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For the first time in history, the Hungarian team won the bronze medals at the European U18 championship. They defeated the French 3:1 (25:23, 25:27, 25:20, 25:18) in the match for 3rd place. This was also the highest achievement for the French in this championship.
In the group stage held at the Šiauliai arena, Hungary was down 0:2 against Bulgaria in the last match but fought back to win 3:2 and thus secured a ticket to the semifinals.
In the bronze medal match, Greta Pampuch scored 22 points for Hungary. Anna Zsombok scored 15 points, and her twin sister Eszter Zsombok scored 10.
“It is special to win a medal together with my sister. We share everything, so this will be a special memory for us,” said A. Zsombok.
The symbolic best team of the championship included Italians L. Monari Gamba, Bianca Legrenzi, Giulia Faleschini, and Alessia Manda; Turks Lal Luleci, Ecrin Turkyasar, and Aylin Uysalcan; and Hungarian Anna Zsombok.
Sixteen teams participated in the European U18 girls’ volleyball championship. In the group in Šiauliai, the Lithuanian team lost all seven matches and took eighth place. The Lithuanian volleyball players managed to win a set against the Hungarian and Greek teams.
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