At the recent CEV U22 Beach Volleyball European Championships held in Baden, a significant majority of medal winners hailed from national federations receiving support from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment funding. In the women`s final, Ukraine`s Yeva Serdiuk and Daria Romaniuk secured the gold medal, triumphing over Czechia`s Katerina and Anna Pavelkova. For the men, France`s Teo Rotar and Arthur Canet clinched gold, while Austria`s Timo Hammarberg and Tim Berger earned bronze. Latvia`s Olivers Bulgacs and Kristians Fokerots took home silver, and Poland`s Malgorzata Ciezkowska and Urszula Lunio claimed the women`s bronze medal.
The FIVB Volleyball Empowerment program has been a crucial support system for the Ukraine Volleyball Federation, enabling its continued volleyball and beach volleyball activities since 2022. This ongoing partnership, governed by a Memorandum of Understanding, has provided a total of USD 670,000 in funding. Similarly, the Czech Volleyball Federation has benefited from USD 168,000 in FIVB Volleyball Empowerment coach support for its women’s beach volleyball teams, along with an additional USD 24,000 for national team coach development knowledge transfer programs. Their women’s pairs have notably leveraged the expertise of Argentinean coach Sebastian Menegozzo.
Ukraine’s Yeva Serdiuk and Daria Romaniuk delivered an outstanding performance in the women’s tournament in Austria, achieving their first continental gold by winning all seven matches in straight sets. Their impressive history includes U18 European silver in 2021 and U19 world champion titles in 2022. In the Baden semifinals, the Ukrainian duo secured a 2-0 (28-26, 21-14) victory over Switzerland’s Muriel Bossart and Leona Kernen, before dominating the gold medal showdown with a 2-0 (21-16, 21-18) win against Czechia’s Katerina and Anna Pavelkova.
The 19-year-old Pavelkova twins also maintained an undefeated streak leading up to the final, dropping only a single set throughout their campaign. They cemented their strong run with a 2-0 (21-14, 21-17) semifinal victory over Poland’s Malgorzata Ciezkowska and Urszula Lunio, securing their fourth age-category continental medal. This achievement adds to their 2022 U18 gold, 2023 U20 bronze, and the well-deserved 2024 U22 silver.
In a thrilling bronze medal match, the Polish pair overcame the Swiss duo with a nail-biting 2-1 (21-23, 22-20, 15-13) victory, earning their fourth major age-group medal. Their past accolades include U20 European gold in 2023, U21 world bronze in 2023, and U22 silver in 2024.
Women`s Tournament Highlights
FIVB Volleyball Empowerment has significantly supported France’s beach volleyball department, allocating a total of USD 1,077,000 for coach support to date. The Federation Francaise de Volleyball has also received USD 5,500 for beach volleyball equipment. Austria’s beach volleyball program benefited from USD 84,000 in coach support from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment, along with an additional USD 6,000 for a national team coach development knowledge transfer program. Greek coach Georgios Kotsilianos notably oversees the Austrian men’s national duos.
France’s Teo Rotar and Arthur Canet, already U19 world champions in 2021 and U20 European champions in 2023, added a second age-group European title to their collection. This brings their total medals from youth world and continental championships to seven. They lost only one set throughout their seven-game campaign in Baden en route to the top of the podium. In a very tight semifinal, Rotar and Canet narrowly defeated Austria’s Timo Hammarberg and Tim Berger 2-0 (22-20, 23-21), before delivering a commanding 2-0 (21-14, 21-18) sweep in the final against Latvia’s Olivers Bulgacs and Kristians Fokerots.
Bulgacs and Fokerots of Latvia, who previously earned both U20 and U22 continental bronze medals two years ago, elevated their performance to clinch silver this time. Their impressive run of six consecutive wins in Baden culminated in a hard-fought 2-0 (21-19, 23-21) semifinal victory over Lithuania’s Karolis Palubinskas and Povilas Piesina.
Hammarberg and Berger of Austria rebounded from their semifinal loss to the eventual champions with a decisive 2-0 (21-18, 21-8) win in the third-place match against Palubinskas and Piesina. This secured their fifth age-group medal, adding to their 2021 U18 European bronze, 2022 U20 European gold, 2023 U20 European silver, and 2023 U21 world silver.
Men`s Tournament Highlights
The CEV U22 Beach Volleyball European Championships featured a total of 64 teams, comprising 32 women’s and 32 men’s pairs, representing 27 different national federations.
Finley Blackwood 
Oliver Wrenwick