Icelandic, Scottish, and Irish teams, all supported by FIVB Volleyball Empowerment, achieved a remarkable clean sweep of the podiums at last week`s SCA U19 Beach Volleyball Championships held in Dublin. Iceland secured both men`s and women`s gold medals, with Soldis Sigurpalsdottir & Helena Kristjansdottir winning the women`s title and Emil Mar Diatlovic & Agust Leo Sigurfinnsson taking the men`s. The Icelandic contingent also claimed women`s bronze through Hrefna Marinosdottir & Audur Petursdottir. Scotland`s Fraser Amundrud & Cailean McAllister and Aaron Gillies & Gabriel Caesar completed the men`s podium, while Ireland`s Holly Cassidy & Angela Mulcahy earned a silver medal for the host nation in the women`s event.
This impressive performance highlights the success of the FIVB Volleyball Empowerment program. The Icelandic Volleyball Association has received significant support, including USD 94,500 for national team coach support in both volleyball and beach volleyball, plus USD 35,000 in volleyball and USD 6,000 in beach volleyball equipment. Their teams benefit from the expertise of Spanish coach Borja Gonzalez. The Scottish Volleyball Association has been granted USD 126,000 for beach volleyball coach support, with Rachael Gunn (New Zealand) and Seain Cook leading their training. Scotland also received USD 6,000 for a national team coaches development program. Similarly, the Volleyball Association of Ireland secured USD 85,500 in beach volleyball coach support and USD 12,000 for coach development programs, with Melissa Cupples guiding their pairs.
In the women`s competition, Iceland`s Soldis Sigurpalsdottir & Helena Kristjansdottir dominated, winning all five of their matches to secure the gold. They defeated Ireland’s Holly Cassidy & Angela Mulcahy 2-1 (21-10, 10-21, 15-6) in a hard-fought final, dropping only one set throughout the entire tournament. Earlier, Sigurpalsdottir & Kristjansdottir overcame fellow Icelanders Hrefna Marinosdottir & Audur Petursdottir 2-0 (21-11, 21-19) in the semifinals. Cassidy & Mulcahy reached the final by defeating Faroe Islands’ Osla Johannesen & Maria Teresa Vitalis 2-0 (21-17, 23-21). The bronze medal match saw Marinosdottir & Petursdottir triumph over Johannesen & Vitalis with a 2-0 (21-15, 21-14) victory.
The men`s tournament saw Iceland’s Emil Mar Diatlovic & Agust Leo Sigurfinnsson claim gold after an undefeated run of five matches. They secured the top spot with a decisive 2-0 (21-17, 21-11) victory over Scotland’s Fraser Amundrud & Cailean McAllister in the final. Their only dropped set came in the semifinals against Andorra’s Christian Ribeiro & Alan Mitjana, whom they defeated 2-1 (19-21, 21-13, 15-12). In an all-Scottish semifinal, Amundrud & McAllister edged out Aaron Gillies & Gabriel Caesar 2-1 (21-10, 18-21, 15-8). Gillies & Caesar then earned the bronze medal in a tight 2-1 (22-20, 18-21, 15-13) contest against the Andorran duo.
The SCA U19 Beach Volleyball Championships in Dublin featured nine women’s and nine men’s pairs from six nations: Andorra, Faroe Islands, Iceland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Scotland.
Jasper Thornfield 
Finley Blackwood