26 Volleyball Empowerment duos chase LA28 ticket at the CEV Beach Volleyball Championship in Stare Jabłonki, Poland; Olympic berth at stake
26 Volleyball Empowerment women duos chase LA28 ticket at CEV Beach Volleyball Championship – FIVB
The 2026 CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship (EuroBeachVolley) will take place in Stare Jabłonki, Poland from 12 to 16 August with 26 out of the 32 participating women teams being supported by the FIVB Volleyball Empowerment Programme.
It will be the first time Poland will be hosting the senior European Championship. Volleyball Empowerment-supported pairs from Austria, Czechia, Spain, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, The Netherlands, Switzerland and Ukraine will line up in Stare Jabłonki where at stake will be the continental title and a slot to the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028.
Of the 26 empowered duos, Germany will have the highest representation with four pairs followed by Lithuania, Switzerland, Czechia and Ukraine who have three each. Spain, France and The Netherlands all have two teams while Austria, Latvia, Estonia and Hungary have one each.
Reigning world champions Tina Graudina & Anastasija Samoilova of Latvia are the tournament’s top seeds and will be chasing a third European title after winning the 2019 and 2022 editions. They are in Pool A alongside Estonia’s Heleene Hollas & Liisa Remmelg, Ukraine’s Valentyna Davidova & Anhelina Khmil and Spain’s Sofía Izuzquiza & Tania Moreno Matveeva.
Latvia’s progress in beach volleyball continues to be driven by both talent and investment. Through the FIVB Volleyball Empowerment Programme, the Volleyball Federation of Latvia (LVF) has been allocated USD 84,000 in Coach Support to enhance the technical and tactical growth of the women’s national team which is led by Spain’s Daniel Luis Wood Rodriguez.
Meanwhile, The Netherlands Volleyball Federation (Nevobo) has so far been granted a total of USD 332,000 in women’s national beach volleyball teams coach support from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment. Their women’s pairs benefit from the expertise of Brazilian coach Lucas Motta Palermo.
Katja Stam & Raïsa Schoon of the Netherlands will start as the second seeds following an impressive season on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour including gold in the Rio de Janeiro Elite stop held in July. They are in Pool B with Poland’s Patrycja Jundziłł & Julia Jaroszczak, 2025 silver medallists Clémence Vieira & Aline Chamereau of France and Lithuania’s Ieva Dumbauskaitė & Gerda Grudzinskaitė.
The French duo of Vieira & Chamereau will look to go one better after settling for silver in the 2025 edition held in Düsseldorf, Germany. FFvolley’s beach volleyball department has so far been allocated a total of USD 538,500 in coach support from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment for the senior women’s national team with Isabelle Kadjo in charge.
Ukraine’s Tetiana Lazarenko will be keen on defending her European title with her new partner Sofia Kurnikova after winning the 2025 edition with Maryna Hladun. Seeded 25th, Lazarenko & Kurnikova are in Pool H with compatriots Yeva Serdiuk & Daria Romaniuk, Poland’s Urszula Łunio & Maja Kruczek and Spain’s Ana Vergara & Sofía González.
The FIVB Volleyball Empowerment program has been supporting the Ukraine Volleyball Federation in continuing its volleyball and beach volleyball activities since 2022 as part of an ongoing Memorandum of Understanding, which has so far provided total funding of USD 245,750 for the senior women’s beach volleyball team.
The 2024 champions, Svenja Müller & Cinja Tillmann, will lead Germany’s onslaught from Pool D where they will take on Poland’s Katarzyna Kropidłowska & Marta Lodej, Floor Hogenhout & Mila Konink of The Netherlands and Czechia’s Marketa Svozilova & Marie-Sara Stochlova.
The German Volleyball Federation’s beach volleyball department has been allocated 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.
Two-time European champions, Nina Brunner & Tanja Huberli, arrive in Stare Jabłonki fresh from winning gold at the Hamburg Elite stop on the Beach Pro Tour. The Olympic Games Paris 2024 bronze medalists from Switzerland are in Pool F with Poland’s Zuzanna Michalska & Natalia Okła, Czechia’s Kylie Neuschaeferová & Martina Maixnerová and France’s Lézana Placette & Alexia Richard.
Swiss Volley’s beach volleyball department has so far been granted USD 126,000 in coach support from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment for their women’s team programme. Thanks to that funding, their women’s national teams are working under the instruction of Polish coach Damian Wojtasik.
The 32 participating men’s teams will be split into 8 single round-robin pools of four. The top three teams in each pool will progress straight to the Round Of 24.
The knockout stage continues in a direct elimination format, further including the Round Of 16, the quarterfinals, the semifinals and the two medal matches.
Volleyball Empowerment teams eye men’s title in CEV Beach Volleyball Championship
Empowered Colombia celebrate South American Cup bronze
26 Volleyball Empowerment women duos chase LA28 ticket at CEV Beach Volleyball Championship
LA28 slots at stake as Beach Volleyball Continental Championships begin
Ehlers & Wust and Brunner & Huberli conquer Hamburg Elite gold with Empowerment
Empowerment beneficiaries from Colombia and Venezuela medal at South American Tour opener
La iniciativa de la FIVB construye un futuro con mejores oportunidades para las mujeres en el ámbito del entrenamiento
Cuatro medallas para China en el Pingtan Futures
Se entregaron los primeros premios de la Gala de los AVC en una glamurosa ceremonia celebrada en Bangkok
Socios globales de la FIVB
Proveedores oficiales de la FIVB