Ciudad Voley Buenos Aires sweep Argentina’s final series to defend their title
Defending champions Hypo Tirol Volleyballteam Innsbruck collect their 12th title in Austria
Radnik Bijeljina claim their second consecutive title in Bosnia & Herzegovina
Durham Palatinates triumph as men’s England Cup winners
University College Dublin top final league standings in Ireland
Maccabi Yeadim Tel Aviv celebrate their fourth consecutive and 15th overall title
Jekabpils Lusi pick up their fifth championship title in Latvia
Stroossen Strassen emerge as 18-time Luxembourgish champions
Koll Oslo top podium in Norway after two-day Final Four tournament
From Friday through Sunday of last week, nine men’s volleyball national trophies were presented to their winners. The champions were crowned in Argentina, Austria, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Ireland, Israel, Latvia, Luxembourg and Norway, and the cup winners – in England.
ARGENTINA
Defending champions Ciudad Voley Buenos Aires claimed their second national title in Argentina by closing the best-of-five final playoff against Policial Voley Formosa in three matches. They started with two straight-set wins at home – 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-22) on 10 April and 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-22) on 12 April. The third match was played in Formosa and Ciudad produced a 3-1 (23-25, 25-16, 25-18, 26-24) comeback victory to triumph as champions. In the best-of-three semi-finals, Ciudad and Policial knocked out River Plate Buenos Aires and UPCN San Juan, respectively, by 2-1 each in wins.
Ciudad’s 23-year-old opposite Jonas Ponzio was named Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the season. The Dream Team was composed of setter Gaspar Bitar (Ciudad), opposite Geronimo Elgueta (Policial), outside hitters Facundo Conte (Ciudad) and Nicolas Lazo (Ciudad), middle blockers Agustin Gallardo (Policial) and Gustavo Maciel (Ciudad), and libero Tomas Ruiz (UPCN).
Ciudad Voley Buenos Aires’s team roster
AUSTRIA
Hypo Tirol Volleyballteam Innsbruck triumphed as Austrian champions for the second consecutive and 12th overall time on Saturday, when they closed the best-of-seven final series after four back-to-back wins over TSV Raiffeisen Hartberg: 3-2 (25-18, 25-20, 17-25, 19-25, 15-7) at home on 10 April, 3-0 (25-23, 25-17, 25-16) away on 14 April, 3-1 (25-19, 16-25, 25-23, 25-22) back at home on 17 April (pictured in the main photo; credits: GEPA Pictures via Volleyball AUSTRIA), and 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-19) away again on 20 April. Hypo Tirol’s 33-year-old Brazilian opposite Luan Weber was named MVP of the finals. The best-of-three bronze medal series between Union Raiffeisen Waldviertel Zwettl and Zadruga Aich/Dob, currently leveled at one win all, will be decided on Sunday, 27 April.
Hypo Tirol Volleyballteam Innsbruck’s team roster
BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA
Radnik Bijeljina defended their 2023 national title in Bosnia & Herzegovina and triumphed as champions for the second time in the club’s history on Saturday. After winning the first final match against Napredak Odzak away on 13 April by a hard-fought 3-2 (25-27, 25-20, 34-32, 22-25, 15-7), they mastered a 3-0 (25-21, 25-14, 25-17) sweep of the second match at home to close the series as winners. In the best-of-three semi-finals, Radnik produced two straight-set wins over Magic Ice Domaljevac, while Napredak defeated Kakanj 78, also in two games.
Radnik Bijeljina’s team roster
Radnik celebrate as 2024 Bosnian champions (Photo credits: Info Bjelina / osbih.ba)
ENGLAND
Durham Palatinates delivered a 3-1 (25-23, 25-20, 23-25, 26-24) victory over Malory Eagles London in Sunday’s England Cup final at the National Volleyball Centre in Kettering to claim the trophy for the second time in the club’s history. Their 23-year-old setter from the USA Bradley Peters was honoured as MVP.
Durham Palatinates’ team roster
IRELAND
Ireland’s Premier League season ended on Sunday, with defending champions University College Dublin topping the final standings on a 12-2 win-loss record and 37 points to earn their seventh title. They had already secured the trophy a leg in advance, but still went ahead and swept their last round-robin match on Sunday. Aer Lingus Dublin finished runners-up on 11-3 and 33. The third place went to Dalkey Devils Dublin on 9-5 and 26.
University College Dublin’s team roster
University College Dublin celebrate as 2024 Irish champions (Photo credits: Volleyball Ireland)
ISRAEL
Maccabi Yeadim Tel Aviv swept Israel’s best-of-five final series in three matches to celebrate their fourth consecutive and 15th overall title. In the championship playoff, they outplayed Hapoel Galil Mate-Asher Akko Shomrat, dropping only a set along the way: 3-0 (25-11, 25-15, 25-14) away on 15 April, 3-0 (25-14, 28-26, 25-15) at home on 18 April, and 3-1 (21-25, 25-18, 25-21, 25-19) away again on 21 April. Both Maccabi Yeadim and Hapoel Galil Mate-Asher also swept their semi-final playoffs against Maccabi Hod HaSharon and Maccabi Ashdod, respectively, by 3-0 each in wins.
Maccabi Yeadim Tel Aviv’s team roster
LATVIA
Jekabpils Lusi defeated Daugavpils Universitate/ Ezerzeme in the best-of-five Latvian championship series to raise the trophy for the fifth time in the club’s history. They started with a 3-2 (25-22, 19-25, 18-25, 25-20, 19-17) away win on 10 April, but suffered a 3-1 (25-23, 23-25, 25-21, 25-23) loss at home on 13 April. Jekabpils mastered a 3-0 (28-26, 25-19, 25-21) away win on 14 April to edge ahead again and closed the series at home with a 3-1 (25-21, 22-25, 25-18, 25-14) victory on Friday. RTU Robezsardze/Jurmala swept the bronze medal match at home against Piejura / MSG Seja in straight sets.
Jekabpils’s 23-year-old setter Janis Jansons was honoured as MVP. His teammates Zigurds Adamovics, Davis Melnis and Janis Medenis took the Best Middle Blocker, the Best Libero and the Best Opposite awards, respectively. Martins Jansons and Armands Rokjans of Ezerzeme were named Best Setter and Best Outside Hitter.
Jekabpils Lusi’s team roster
LUXEMBOURG
Stroossen Strassen emerged as 18-time champions in Luxembourg on Saturday after a 3-0 (27-25, 31-29, 25-19) sweep of the away second match of the best-of-three final series. A week earlier, they opened the gold medal playoff with a 3-1 (25-17, 22-25, 25-23, 25-12) win at home. Lorentzweiler took the bronze with a straight-set home victory over CHEV Diekirch.
Stroossen Strassen’s team roster
NORWAY
The two-day Final Four tournament in the Norwegian league was held in Randaberg. In Saturday’s final, Koll Oslo mastered a 3-0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-22) victory over TIF Viking Bergen and lifted the championship trophy for the third time in the club’s history. Earlier on Saturday, those who lost out in Friday’s semi-finals met for the bronze. Final Four hosts Randaberg produced a straight-set win over Forde.
Koll Oslo’s team roster