Empowerment-funded pairs from Cape Verde, Gambia, Senegal, Netherlands, Switzerland, France and Germany medal at zonal events – FIVB
Cape Verde’s Ludmila Sofia Oliveira Varela & Janice Anilda Oliveira Varela celebrate after winning the CAVB Zone II Beach Volleyball Nations Championships (Photo credits: CAVB)
Duos representing the FIVB Volleyball Empowerment supported federations of Cape Verde, the Gambia, Senegal, the Netherlands, Switzerland, France and Germany made the podiums at zonal beach volleyball events last week.
CAVB Zone II Beach Volleyball Championships in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau
Volleyball Empowerment pairs from The Gambia, Cape Verde and Senegal swept the podiums at the CAVB Zone II Beach Volleyball Nations Championships held in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau from 4-6 June.
Cape Verde’s Ludmila Sofia Oliveira Varela & Janice Anilda Oliveira Varela clinched the gold medal unbeaten after going on a six-match winning streak without dropping a set. Lu & Jany defeated Senegal’s Dieynaba Thiam & Diouma Ndior in straight sets (21-18, 21-13) in the women’s final after eliminating The Gambia’s Hoja Njie & Mariama Sambou by a similar margin (21-11, 21-14) in the semifinals.
The top two teams in each gender category qualified for the 2026 CAVB Africa Nations Beach Volleyball Championships.
Brazilian expert Márcio Henrique Barroso Araújo is in charge of both Cape Verde’s senior and U21 men’s and women’s teams as part of a Coach Support project worth USD 84,000. On the other hand, Italian Martino Cagnazzi leads Senegal’s men’s and women’s teams in a Coach Support project worth USD 84,000.
The bronze medal went to Senegal’s Sokhna Diouf & Seynabou Faye who edged out The Gambia’s Njie & Sambou by 2-1 (17-21, 21-17, 15-11) in the third place playoff. Sokhna & Zeyna had lost by 2-1 (23-25, 24-22, 18-20) to compatriots Dieynaba & Diouma in the semifinals.
The Gambia’s Sainey Jawo & Laity Nyabally emerged champions in the men’s competition after a convincing 2-0 (21-17, 21-09) win over Cape Verde’s Admilson Melo & Ivan Mota in the final. Victory in the gold medal match capped a flawless six-match winning run by Jawo & Nyabally who had beaten Senegal’s Diallo Mohamadou & Samb Babacar by 2-0 (21-19, 21-17) in the semifinals.
Italian expert Niccolo Lattanzi leads The Gambia’s men’s team in a Coach Support project worth USD 42,000.
Mohamadou & Samb bounced back in the third place playoff with a comfortable 2-0 (21-15, 21-16) win over compatriots Mouhamadou Moustapha Sarr & Serigne Bassirou Ndiaye to bag the bronze medal. Sarr & Bass had lost to Admilson & Ivan in straight sets (21-23, 19-21) in the semifinals.
12 men’s and 11 women’s teams from The Gambia, Cape Verde, Senegal, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Sierra Leone and Guinea participated in the CAVB Zone II Beach Volleyball Nations Championships held in Bissau.
WEVZA U20 Beach Volleyball Championships in Stuttgart, Germany
Five of the six medals at last week’s WEVZA U20 Beach Volleyball Championships in Stuttgart went to teams representing the FIVB Volleyball Empowerment supported federations of the Netherlands, Switzerland, France and Germany. France’s Ylan Louis & Jules M’Couela, Germany’s Lasse Huper & Hannes Ludwig and Switzerland’s Livio Friedli & Luke Koller, in that order, lined up in the first three places and occupied the entire men’s podium. Jara Both & Matilda de Groot of the Netherlands brought home the women’s gold, while Tina Wiedmer & Fiona Probst of Switzerland finished runners-up. Italy’s Ilaria Nozza & Micol Lafuenti completed the women’s podium in Germany with bronze. The event also served as qualification for the CEV U20 Beach Volleyball European Championships.
France’s beach volleyball department has been allocated coach support funding from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment totaling USD 1,119,000 so far. Their men’s national duos are working under the guidance of Brazilian coach Calvis Lopes. The Federation Francaise de Volleyball has also received USD 5,500 in beach volleyball equipment. The Netherlands Volleyball Federation (Nevobo) has so far been granted a total of USD 664,000 in national beach volleyball team coach support from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment. Their women’s pairs work under the guidance of Cypriot coach Antreas Savvidis. Swiss Volley’s beach volleyball department has so far been funded with USD 336,000 in coach support from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment. Thanks to that support, their women’s national teams are working under the instruction of Polish coach Damian Wojtasik and their men’s duos are benefitting from the expertise of coach Philip Gabathuler. The German Volleyball Federation’s beach volleyball department has received a total of USD 168,000 in coach support from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment. Their national pairs are training under the supervision of former European champion and two-time Olympian Christoph Dieckmann, while Fabian Tobias has been hired in the role of National Coach for Science.
The WEVZA U20 Beach Volleyball Championship was a really tough tournament for France’s Ylan Louis & Jules M’Couela. They played tie-breakers in six of their seven matches, finished on a 6-1 win-loss record and triumphed as zonal U20 Western European champions. In the semifinals, they managed a 2-1 (21-17, 13-21, 15-11) victory over Mica Bezemer & Bram van der Wel of the Netherlands, and in the gold medal showdown, they mounted a 2-1 (24-26, 21-17, 15-10) comeback against German home favorites Lasse Huper & Hannes Ludwig.
Huper & Ludwig reached the final undefeated in the four matches played on the way and crowned that run with a 2-1 (19-21, 21-14, 15-10) semifinal turnaround against Switzerland’s Livio Friedli & Luke Koller. The Swiss bounced back to snatch the bronze with a 2-0 (21-12, 21-18) sweep of the third-place playoff against Bezemer & Van der Wel.
The Dutch duo of Jara Both & Matilda de Groot won all six of their matches in Stuttgart to top the women’s podium. They hammered out a 2-0 (21-14, 21-15) shutout of Italy’s Ilaria Nozza & Micol Lafuenti in the semifinals and battled it out for a 2-1 (18-21, 21-18, 15-11) comeback victory over Switzerland’s Tina Wiedmer & Fiona Probst in the final.
The Swiss duo finished second in their pool, but then managed to string up three consecutive wins in the knockout rounds, advancing to the gold medal showdown after a 2-1 (19-21, 21-16, 15-12) semifinal victory over Sandra Otte & Annalena Richter, with which they got back at the top-seeded Germans for the only defeat they suffered in the pool.
An injury forced Otte & Richter’s withdrawal from the third-place match and allowed Nozza & Lafuenti to register a 2-0 (21-0, 21-0) forfeit win and claim the bronze.
14 men’s and 13 women’s teams from Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland took part in the WEVZA U20 Beach Volleyball Championships in Stuttgart.
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