Latvia's U20 volleyball team heads to Yerevan aiming to advance in European Championship qualifying

Latvia's men's U20 volleyball team left on Tuesday for Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, where the Eastern European Volleyball Zonal Association (EEVZA) tournament will take place from 28 to 31 October. The event doubles as the first round of qualifying for the European U20 Championship. The winner will secure a place at the championship finals, while teams finishing second to fourth will move on to the second qualifying round.

Match schedule

The team, led by head coach Raimonds Liniņš, plays Ukraine in the group stage on Thursday at 14:00 and hosts Armenia on Friday at 17:00. On Saturday it will play a placement match against one of the teams from Group A: Estonia, Georgia or Poland.

The European U20 Championship finals will be held in Croatia and Montenegro on 21–30 July next year. Sixteen teams will take part, and another eight will gain international experience in a European League tournament. The second qualifying round is scheduled for January. At the previous European U20 Championship finals in 2024, Ukraine finished fourth and Latvia 13th.

Squad and preparation

The core of the squad was born in 2009 and 2010, joined by a few players born in 2008. Two players took part in this autumn's European Championship for adult teams, where Latvia's senior side reached the knockout stage: captain Tomass Silavs and Arturs Gulovs, who is used as an outside hitter despite being a libero.

Preparation was less extensive this time. In September the team held a three-day camp in Liepāja, and last week it trained in Jēkabpils, playing two friendlies against Baltic League side Jēkabpils Lūši.

"The goal is to qualify for the next round and fight for medals at this tournament, but the most important thing is to show our best performance," Liniņš said before departure. He stressed that at this age a team cannot win relying on one or two players, so unified team play is needed.

Opponents

Latvia already knows Ukraine: earlier this year, in a European U18 Championship qualifying tournament, Latvia lost 3–2 (26–24, 26–24, 22–25, 27–29, 15–7 to Ukraine in the decider), with two leading Latvian players absent through injury. Ukraine's U20 squad is also built mainly from players born in 2009 and 2010. Little information is available on Armenia, but the team will have time on site to analyse its play.