Latvia's volleyball women return to European Championship after 29-year wait
Latvia's women's national volleyball team is competing at the European Championship for the first time since 1997, opening Group A play against reigning champions Turkey.
Latvia's women's national volleyball team has reached a milestone by qualifying for the European Championship for the first time since 1997. The team earned its spot thanks to a strong showing in last summer's CEV European League, where Latvia beat Greece and Iceland and took points off Estonia and Romania.
The European Championship runs from August 21 to September 6, with group stage matches held across four countries – Azerbaijan, Czechia, Turkey and Sweden. The knockout rounds will take place in Istanbul, the home city of the Turkish national team.
A tough group draw
Latvia is placed in Group A, opening the tournament against Turkey – third in the world rankings, the reigning European champion and world runner-up, considered one of the tournament favorites alongside Italy, Serbia and Poland. Over the following week, Latvia will also face Germany, Poland, Slovenia and Hungary, all ranked well above Latvia, which at 65th in the world rankings is the lowest-ranked team among all participating nations. Four of the six teams in Group A will advance to the knockout stage.
Encouraging warm-up results
Ahead of the championship, Latvia played warm-up matches in which it defeated a much higher-ranked Croatian team and lost to Azerbaijan only in a deciding fifth set.
Latvia's group stage schedule includes matches against Turkey on August 21, Germany on August 23, Poland on August 24, Slovenia on August 26, and Hungary on August 27.
