VolleyBar SPECIAL : Sunday August 16, 2026

On this day…Gheorghe Crețu, France National Team, and semifinals of 2026 Pan American Cup.

Welcome to the second special episode of VolleyBar this week!

We begin with news from Poland, where Gheorghe Crețu is set to return to Asseco Resovia Rzeszów. He is a coach with extensive international experience who has long been regarded as one of the leading coaches in European volleyball. Throughout his career, he has successfully coached top clubs and national teams, winning numerous domestic and international trophies. He is currently the head coach of the Serbian national team.
After ending his playing career, during which he played as a middle blocker, he began his coaching career in Austria in the late 1990s. There, he coached teams including SVS Sokol and hotVolleys Wien, gaining his first experience working with senior squads.
In the following years, he worked in Belgium, Italy, Qatar, Russia and Poland. In the PlusLiga, he coached teams from Olsztyn, Lubin, Kędzierzyn-Koźle and Rzeszów. During the 2018/19 season, he took over Asseco Resovia in the middle of the campaign, helping the team regain stability and improve its results.
His greatest club success came with ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle. In the 2021/22 season, he led the team to the Polish championship, the Polish Cup and the CEV Champions League title, completing a historic treble.
At the same time, his career at international level continued to develop. From 2007 to 2008, he was head coach of Romania, before taking charge of Estonia from 2014 to 2019 and Slovenia from 2022 to 2024. Since 2025, he has been the head coach of Serbia.
As Estonia’s head coach, Crețu won the European League twice, in 2016 and 2018, while with Slovenia he secured a bronze medal at the 2023 European Championship.

“I am convinced that Gheorghe Crețu’s return to Asseco Resovia Rzeszów will be an important boost for our team. He is a coach with tremendous experience who has repeatedly proven his value both at club and national-team level. He is a coach with a strong character, excellent tactical preparation and the ability to build a team. An additional advantage is the fact that he has already had the opportunity to work with some of our players, meaning that he knows their capabilities very well. I believe that his knowledge, charisma and experience will help us compete effectively for the top positions in the PlusLiga,” said Piotr Maciąg, President of Asseco Resovia Rzeszów.

After their 3-1 victory the previous day, France’s B team coached by Jocelyn Trillon defeated Spain once again, this time 4-0, with a bonus tie-break.
The day after their 3-1 victory over Spain, Jocelyn Trillon’s side once again came out on top against Hubert Henno’s team after 1 hour and 24 minutes of play. The new victory confirms France’s positive momentum, with Les Bleus still unbeaten since the beginning of their preparation for the Mediterranean Games, which will be held in Taranto, Italy, from August 21 to September 3.
For this second game, Jocelyn Trillon slightly changed his starting seven, notably bringing in Henri Léon and Lohan Nack Minyem. As in the first encounter, the head coach rotated his squad to give everyone an opportunity to play, with the exception of Hilir Henno, who remained on the bench throughout the match.
France’s preparation in Sète will continue with a final meeting against Spain on Sunday at 4:00 p.m. It will be the third encounter between the two teams before Les Bleus return to the CREPS de Montpellier.

Match statistics:

France: 52% attack success (44/84), 11 attacking errors, 35% attack efficiency, 56% positive reception, 8 aces, 19 service errors, 9 blocks.

Spain: 43% attack success (33/77), 8 attacking errors, 21% attack efficiency, 43% positive reception, 3 aces, 19 service errors, 6 blocks.

Puerto Rico goes for first Pan American Cup title after defeating Canada 3-1 (25:18, 25:23, 17:25, 25:20) in semifinals, with 14 points from Pedro Molina and 13 from Klistan Lawrence.
The last time Puerto Rico reached the Pan Am Cup final was in 2017!
In final, they’ll face USA, who advances to final after sweeping host Mexico 3-0 (25:16, 25:20, 25:16).
USA wil play Puerto Rico in the gold medal match, while Mexico takes on Canada for bronze.
Patrick Rogers and Cameron Thorne led the winners with 11 points each.
Curaçao takes 9th Place winning the Caribbean Clash against Trinidad and Tobago in five sets 3-2 (25:20, 20:25, 25:19, 19:25, 15:12) with 20 points from Marlison Kleinmoedig, while Guatemala finishes 7th after winning the all-Central American duel to Costa Rica 3-1 (26:24, 23:25, 25:20, 25:22) led in score by Andy Blanco, who left the court with 16 points.

And now it is time for us to say goodbye. We will be back tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. with the first regular episode of the week!
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