The VMU team, after a fierce battle, lost 1:3 (15:25, 12:25, 25:22, 19:25) to the volleyball players from the University of Bologna (Italy), who triumphed in the last two European University Games in 2022 and 2024.
Read more Lithuania eagerly started sorting: the most accurate municipalities were revealed
This VMU silver medal is the first women’s volleyball award in the history of Lithuanian higher education institutions’ participation in EUSA Games and championships. Until now, the best achievement was recorded by Mykolas Romeris University, which took 7th place in 2012.
Previously, in the EUSA Games semi-final, the VMU team defeated Ovidius University from Romania with a score of 3:0 (25:16, 25:20, 25:22), and even earlier in the quarter-final, they overcame the University of Gdańsk (Poland) 3:1 (25:20, 20:25, 25:11, 25:13).
Before that, the VMU women’s team also progressed quite confidently – they won two out of three matches in the group stage and took second place in Group A.
The VMU volleyball team in Salerno consisted of Martyna Paukštytė, Odri Višumirskytė, Vaiva Valionytė, Emilija Barkauskaitė, Vilūnė Rauluševičiūtė, Vakarė Bartkutė, Roberta Gabulaitė, Greta Mikoliūnaitė, Egzi Ozkan, Nehir Aras, and Nazli Kozinoglu.
Read more First Lithuanian blueberries – already in stores: how their price has changed
The team in Italy was led by head coach Viltė Bogdanovič, assisted by coach assistant Alfonsas Kazlauskas and physical training coach Domantas Žalga.
“We are very happy that we managed to bring home a medal from these games – it’s a great recognition of the entire team’s work. Participation in competitions of this level was not only a valuable experience but also a great opportunity to improve and test our strength in the international arena. Italy is one of the cradles of world volleyball, so we are glad that we could fight with the girls from Bologna as equals. We believe that this experience will be an important step for our further growth,” said V. Bogdanovič.
The volleyball players are not the only VMU representatives at the EUSA Games. VMU table tennis players have already participated in the European student sports festival, and next week, badminton, beach volleyball, and men’s and women’s 3×3 basketball teams will begin their performances.
The European University Games are the largest European student sports event, bringing together the elite of student sports. For comparison, about 400 athletes who had previously participated in the European University Games or other EUSA university sports events competed in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Read more The Klaipėda-Kaunas highway will be closed: in which direction and when?
