VolleyBar86# : Monday September 14, 2026

On this day..
Eurovolley 2026, Amarcord and volleyball birthdays, Helen Crawford, NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship, Japan and Brazil

As we’ve welcomed many new readers lately, we thought it was worth reminding you that VolleyBar was the very first daily column created to bring together, in one place, all the main volleyball news from around the world — including stories you’ll rarely find elsewhere.
An idea that was, unsurprisingly, quickly copied in Italy by the very same people who have, on more than one occasion, published word-for-word translations of our articles without crediting the source. And now, in their rather approximate “daily columns”, almost all of the news comes from here.

So beware of imitations!

After a well-deserved weekend break — we’ve all been busy covering the European Championship, while Nathan was in Fukuoka for the Asian Championship — welcome back to the 86th episode of VolleyBar!

CEV Enel Eurovolley 2026 continued also in the weekend with games in every Pools in Italy, Bulgaria, Finland and Romania.
You can read all EuroVolley news directly here, while calendar with all games, results and gallery updated every day is here.

But now a little bit memories.
On September 14, 2023, Italy defeated France 3–0 (25:21, 25:19, 25:23) at Rome’s Palazzo dello Sport to reach the men’s European Championship final.
In front of 9,629 spectators, Ferdinando De Giorgi’s team produced one of its most convincing performances of the tournament. Yuri Romanò was Italy’s top scorer with 15 points, followed by Daniele Lavia with 13, while France’s Earvin Ngapeth finished with six.
Earlier that evening, Poland defeated Slovenia 3–1 (23:25, 25:21, 25:20, 25:21) in the first semifinal, with Wilfredo León scoring 25 points.
That set up an all-Polish–Italian final in Rome two days later.
Italy would eventually lose the final 3–0 to Poland, but September 14 remains the day the Azzurri booked their place in another EuroVolley final on home soil.

Exactly ten years earlier, on September 14, 2013, Russia became women’s European champions, defeating hosts Germany 3–1 (25:23, 23:25, 25:23, 25:14) at a sold-out Max-Schmeling-Halle in Berlin.
The victory gave Russia their 18th European Championship gold medal, extending their dominance of the continental competition. Nataliya Goncharova led all scorers with 28 points, while Tatiana Kosheleva contributed 19 and was named MVP of the tournament.
Germany, playing in front of 8,513 spectators, took silver — their first women’s EuroVolley medal since reunification.
A particularly nice detail: Russia entered the final as the reigning 2010 World Champions, so the European title further confirmed their status as the leading force in women’s volleyball at the time!

On September 14, 2021, Poland defeated Russia 3–0 (25:14, 26:24, 25:19) in Gdańsk/Sopot to reach the men’s European Championship semifinals.
It was an emphatic performance in front of 8,619 spectators at the Ergo Arena. Bartosz Kurek and Wilfredo León both scored 14 points, while Russia struggled to deal with Poland’s serving and blocking pressure.
The match is particularly memorable because Poland were playing at home, and because Russia were one of the tournament’s traditional medal contenders. Poland would eventually win the bronze medal after losing to Slovenia in the semifinal.

One of the nicest historical stories of the day come from EuroVolley 2019, when Montenegro defeated Estonia 3–0 (25:23, 28:30, 25:23) in Rotterdam to record the first victory in the history of the men’s Montenegrin national team at a European Championship final tournament.
Marko Bojić led Montenegro with 18 points, while Gojko Ćuk added 13. The second set was particularly dramatic, ending 30–28.
It was Montenegro’s debut at the EuroVolley finals, making the achievement even more significant!
On the same day, Russia and Bulgaria became the first two teams to secure qualification for the round of 16, while France beat Greece 3–0 and Slovenia defeated Finland 3–1 in Ljubljana.

In a fantastic match from the 2014 Men’s World Championship in Poland, on this day Argentina defeated the United States 3–2 (19:25, 28:26, 25:20, 23:25, 15:11) in Bydgoszcz, eliminating the Americans from the tournament.
The United States needed a 3–0 or 3–1 victory to guarantee their passage to the third round, but Argentina — already eliminated from contention themselves — produced a huge performance. Facundo Conte scored 21 points, while Matthew Anderson had 18 for the USA.
The result had an interesting coaching connection: Argentina were led by Julio Velasco, who had previously coached Iran. His team therefore indirectly helped Iran advance to the next round.
And this was the same day Italy finally ended a five-match losing streak at the tournament, beating Australia 3–1, while Brazil defeated Russia 3–1.

At the 2002 Women’s World Championship in Berlin, on this day, Russia defeated China 3–1 (25:20, 21:25, 25:23, 25:16) in the bronze-medal match.
China had been beaten by Italy in the semifinal the previous day, while Russia had lost a five-set thriller to the United States. The Russian team recovered to claim bronze before the USA and Italy played the final on September 15.
And that final produced one of the greatest matches in women’s World Championship history: Italy eventually defeated the USA 3–2 to win their first world title.

On September 14, 2014, in Baku, Dutchmen Reinder Nummerdor and Christiaan Varenhorst won the CEV Beach Volleyball Masters, completing a clean sweep of their matches.
For Nummerdor, it was particularly meaningful: the three-time European champion was beginning the second major chapter of his beach-volleyball career with Varenhorst. Their victory also secured the Netherlands a place at the following year’s World Championship.
The same day in Stuttgart, German pairs Karla Borger/Britta Büthe and Philipp Arne Bergmann/Malte Stiel won the inaugural CEV Satellite, giving the home country both titles.

The 2018 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Two-Star event in Zhongwei, China, began on September 14 and eventually saw Wen Shuhui and Wang Jingzhe take the women’s title.
It was the final women’s Two-Star event of the 2018 season.

Moon Sung-min, born on September 14, 1986, is one of South Korea’s best-known opposite hitters of the modern era.
He represented Korea internationally for more than a decade and won medals at the Asian Games and Asian Championships, while also playing abroad for VfB Friedrichshafen in Germany and Halkbank Ankara in Türkiye before returning to Hyundai Capital.

Another international player born on this day, September 14, 1992, is Henriette Nadège Koulla, born in Yaoundé, Cameroon.
She represented Cameroon at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, where the African side made its Olympic debut.
She later played professionally in France.

Turkish international Can Ayvazoğlu was born on September 14, 1979.
A long-serving player who spent much of his career with major Turkish clubs including Galatasaray, Fenerbahçe, Halkbank and Ziraat Bankası, he also represented Türkiye more than 100 times internationally.

Born in Budapest in 1940, Katalin Eichler-Schadek represented Hungary at two Olympic Games — Munich 1972 and Montreal 1976.

Another historical Olympic birthday is Oh Cheong-Ja, born September 14, 1944.
The South Korean player competed at the Tokyo 1964 Olympic Games, where Korea finished sixth in the women’s tournament.

Egyptian volleyball legend Azmi Megahed died on September 14, 2020, aged 70, after contracting COVID-19.
He represented Egypt for 16 years and played at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. He was named Africa’s Best Volleyball Player in 1974 and spent much of his club career with Egyptian powerhouse Zamalek.
After retiring as a player, he became a coach and Zamalek official, and later a television commentator. He was regarded as one of the most important figures in Egyptian and African volleyball.

Another, more obscure Russian historical entry is Ilya Nikolaevich Simonov, a Soviet/Russian volleyball coach, referee and sports administrator, who died on September 14, 2009.
He was born in 1923 and later served as chairman of the Nizhny Tagil City Committee for Physical Culture and Sports and as a republican-level volleyball referee.

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But now we back to the present with another sad news: Volleyball England has been extremely saddened to learn of the passing of well-known and well-loved volleyball player Helen Crawford.
“UK Armed Forces player Helen was truly dedicated to UKAF and RAF Volleyball,” said a short statement on the RAF
Instagram page.
“Her vibrant character and wonderful spirit will be deeply missed across the entire volleyball community,” it continued.
“We send our heartfelt thoughts and condolences to her family during this incredibly difficult time.”
All at Volleyball England would like to offer its own condolences to Helen’s family and friends at this very sad time. May she rest in peace.

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The USA has advanced to the semifinals of the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship after defeating Cuba in four sets in Pool B: 19:25, 25:23, 25:18, 25:14.
Cuba will have to compete in the quarterfinals for a spot in the semifinals.
Also the home team is rolling straight to the semis: Canada locked up the top seed in Pool A with a straight-sets sweep over an undefeated Mexico squad: 25:15, 25:18, 25:20.
The Canadian team earns a well-deserved bye, while Mexico heads into the quarterfinals with everything on the line to battle for a spot in the top four!

Japan is officially heading to the LA 2028 Olympics!
They took down their rivals Iran to win the AVC Continental Championship and booked their ticket to California in the process: 25:21, 26:24, 25:23.
The back-to-back Asian Kings are officially Olympic-bound! Massive congratulations to the squad!

FINAL STANDINGS: AVC Men’s Volleyball Continental Championship 2026
🥇: Japan ✅🏆
🥈: Iran ✅
🥉: Korea ✅
4th: Australia
5th: Thailand
6th: China
7th: Chinese Taipei
8th: India
9th: Bahrain
10th: Oman
11th: Qatar
12th: New Zealand

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In Women’s competitions, Brazil has officially qualified for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games!
They secured their Olympic berth in dominant fashion after capturing their 16th consecutive crown as the South American Champions. Congratulations to the Queens of South America on booking their ticket to the biggest stage in sports!

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