VolleyBar81# : Monday September 7, 2026

On this day..
Amarcord and volleyball birthdays, Türkiye and Melissa Vargas,AVC Men’s Volleyball Continental Championship and beach volleyball teams to Los Angeles…

Welcome to first episode of this new week of VolleyBar after a (well-deserved) weekend break!

On this day, September 7, 2025, Italy return to the top of the world after defeating Türkiye 3–2 (25:23, 13:25, 26:24, 19:25, 15:8) in Bangkok to win the Women’s World Championship, 23 years after their first and, until then, only world title in Berlin in 2002.
It was much more than another World Championship victory. Under Julio Velasco, Italy completed an extraordinary sequence: Olympic gold at Paris 2024, VNL 2024, VNL 2025 and now the World Championship, reaching 36 consecutive official victories. The final was also the first World Championship final ever for Türkiye.
The match itself had everything: Italy won the first set, collapsed in the second, survived a dramatic third set after Türkiye erased three set points, and then recovered from another Turkish comeback before dominating the deciding set. Paola Egonu scored 22, Myriam Sylla 19 and Ekaterina Antropova 14, while Melissa Vargas produced 33 for Türkiye.

On September 7, 2022, Slovenia defeated Ukraine 3–1 (18:25, 26:24, 25:19, 25:23) in Ljubljana to reach the men’s World Championship semifinals for the first time in their history. More than 11,000 spectators filled Arena Stožice as Slovenia recovered from losing the opening set.
It was an extraordinary milestone for a relatively young volleyball nation. Both Slovenia and Ukraine were appearing at the World Championship for only the second time, and both had reached the quarterfinals for the first time. Slovenia eventually finished fourth, losing to Italy in the semifinals and Brazil in the bronze-medal match.

On September 7, 2019, Serbia defeated Italy 3–1 (25:22, 25:21, 21:25, 25:20) in the women’s European Championship semifinal in Ankara to reach their second consecutive EuroVolley final.
It was another chapter in Serbia’s extraordinary golden period. The team coached by Zoran Terzić had won the European title in 2017 and the World Championship in 2018, and was now one victory away from defending its continental crown.
Italy, led by a 26-point Paola Egonu, fought back after losing the first two sets, but Serbia restored control in the fourth. Tijana Bošković scored 22 points.
On the same night, Türkiye defeated Poland 3–1 in the other semifinal in front of a huge home crowd in Ankara, reaching the EuroVolley final for only the second time in history.

Going further back, September 7 has a nice beach-volleyball story.
In 1997, Norway’s Jan Kvalheim and Bjørn Maaseide won the Tenerife Open, the seventh and final FIVB World Tour title of their partnership.
It is a particularly nice historical footnote because the pair were among the pioneers of Norwegian beach volleyball before the country became a modern powerhouse of the discipline.

Five years later, on September 7, 2002, Brazil’s Shelda Bede and Adriana Behar won the Mallorca Open.
It was the 28th of their remarkable 31 FIVB World Tour victories together.
That statistic alone makes the date worth remembering: Shelda and Adriana were one of the most dominant women’s beach-volleyball partnerships ever, and by 2002 they were already deep into an extraordinary run of international success.

September 7, 2003 also belongs to beach volleyball history.
China’s Jia Tian and Fei Wang won the Milan Open, recording the second and final FIVB World Tour victory of their partnership.
The same day, Brazil’s Márcio Araújo and Benjamin Insfran won the Mallorca Open, the sixth of eight World Tour victories they would collect together.

Another interesting beach-volleyball milestone came in 2008.
The Netherlands’ Danielle Remmers and Marleen van Iersel won the FIVB Under-21 World Championship, one of the titles recorded for September 7 in FIVB’s historical World Tour archive.
Van Iersel would go on to become one of the most successful Dutch beach-volleyball players of her generation.

And there is an Italian connection on the same date: Francesco Giontella and Paolo Nicolai won the men’s FIVB Under-21 World Championship in 2008. It was the second and final FIVB victory of their partnership.
Nicolai, of course, would later become one of Italy’s greatest beach-volleyball players, winning Olympic silver at Rio 2016 and bronze at Tokyo 2020.

There are also some very good volleyball names born on September 7.

Giovane Gávio was born September 7, 1970.
One of Brazil’s great outside hitters, he won Olympic gold at Barcelona 1992, defeating the Netherlands 3–0 in the final. He played at three consecutive Olympic Games and later moved into coaching.

Ginger Mayson, former Michigan State women’s volleyball head coach, died on September 7, 2023, aged 68.
He coached Michigan State from 1985 to 1992 and remained connected to the program long after leaving coaching.

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But now we back to the present, with Türkiye who have officially secured their ticket to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics! They clinched the coveted Olympic quota after defeating Italy to claim their second consecutive European Championship title.
Melissa Vargas has once again been named the MVP of the European Championship for the second consecutive edition!
In addition to the top honor, the Turkish star was also named the Best Opposite Spiker for the second straight tournament. Congratulations!
Serbia have claimed the bronze medal at the European Championship! They bounced back to defeat Poland in four sets, securing their 6th consecutive podium finish at EuroVolley: 25:21, 25:19, 15:25, 25:18.

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China advanced to the quarterfinals of the AVC Men’s Volleyball Continental Championship! The team secured their spot with a commanding straight-sets sweep over New Zealand: 25:17, 25:22, 25:18.
They will next face Iran in a highly anticipated battle for the top seed in Pool B.
Australia takes care of business with a flawless straight-sets sweep over Oman to lock in their spot in quarterfinals: 25:18, 25:14, 25:22.
The Volleyroos will next face Japan in their final preliminary match to determine the top seed emerging from Pool A.
From rank 62 two days ago to rank 48!
Thailand rises four spots to World No. 48 after another impressive win against World No. 25 Korea.
What a remarkable run for Thailand, who survives a five-set thriller against Korea to secure their spot in the quarterfinals: 25:18, 25:16, 20:25, 22:25, 15:12.

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Stefanie Fejes and Taliqua Clancy bagged the gold medal at the AVC Beach Volleyball Continental Championship after sweeping host team China Yan Xu and Xia Xinyi: 23:21, 21:16.
With the victory, Australia also secured an Olympic quota for the LA 2028 Olympic Games!

Brazil is heading to the LA 2028 Olympic Games after World No. 3 Thamela Cordadello and Victoria Lopes were crowned champions of the CSV Beach Volleyball Continental Championship, defeating No. 27 Paraguay’s Michelle/Corrales in the final!
Brazil secured both Olympic quotas in the men’s and women’s divisions.
World No. 9 André Stein and Renato Carvalho were crowned champions of the CSV Beach Volleyball Continental Championship, defeating their compatriots, World No. 3 Evandro/Arthur Lanci, in the final!
Congratulations, Team Brazil!

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