On this day..
Eurovolley 2026, Amarcord and volleyball birthdays, memories, Men’s South American Championship, 2026 CAVB Men’s African Nations Championship, NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship, CEV U22 Beach Volleyball European Championship, CSV U19 Boys’ South American Championship and Africa
Welcome to the 87th episode of VolleyBar!
Yes, already 87, and we have a lot of volleyball stories for you today!
As we’ve welcomed many new readers with EuroVolley 2026, we thought it was worth reminding you again 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 by our italian “friends”: in their rather approximate “daily columns”, almost all of the news comes from here.
So beware of imitations!
CEV Enel Eurovolley 2026 continued in Italy, Bulgaria, Finland and Romania.
About yesterday’s top mentions, Bulgaria has officially booked their ticket to the knockout stage after secured their third win by battling back after dropping the first set to defeat Israel in four sets: 23:25, 25:22, 25:15, 25:20. Israel, however, won the first set in history against Bulgaria!
Also Germany officially punches their ticket to the knockout stage! They remain undefeated at 4-0 in Pool D after overcoming Switzerland in a four-set victory: 25:19, 25:17, 22:25, 25:21.
World No. 26 Greece delivered a massive upset securing their first win of the tournament by taking down World No. 5 Slovenia in a hard-fought four sets: 25:18, 19:25, 25:23, 25:20.
The victory comes with a huge boost in the global standings. Greece earned a massive +15.97 points to climb four spots to World No. 22, while Slovenia drops one spot to World No. 6.
Recall that you can read all EuroVolley news directly here, while calendar with all games, results and gallery updated every day is here.
September 15, 2002 became one of the most important dates in Italian volleyball history.
Italy defeated the United States 3–2 (18:25, 25:18, 25:16, 22:25, 15:11) in Berlin to claim their first-ever FIVB Women’s World Championship title. The Azzurre had to come from behind twice before finally completing the job in the decisive fifth set.
Elisa Togut was named MVP of the tournament, while Russia took bronze after defeating China in the third-place match. The title launched Italy into a new era and remains one of the defining achievements in the history of the women’s national team.
The 2011 Men’s EuroVolley produced an exceptional quarter-final day on September 15: Poland defeated Slovakia 3–0, Italy beat Finland 3–1, Russia overcame Bulgaria 3–1, while Serbia edged France 3–1.
Poland, the reigning European champions, advanced after a straight-set victory over tournament surprise Slovakia. Italy needed four sets against Finland, while Serbia survived a dramatic opening set against France before eventually winning 32:30, 25:20, 23:25, 26:24.
The final four in Vienna would therefore feature Russia, Italy, Serbia and Poland — four of the strongest European national teams of that generation.
Poland produced one of the most impressive atmospheres of EuroVolley 2019 on September 15, defeating hosts the Netherlands 3–0 (25:19, 25:18, 25:19) at the Rotterdam Ahoy, in front of 11,000 spectators.
Nimir Abdel-Aziz scored 19 points for the Dutch, while Wilfredo León finished with 12 for Poland. The victory gave Poland a third win in as many matches in Pool D.
On September 15, 2020, the CEV EuroBeachVolley finally got underway in Jūrmala, Latvia, after months of uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The tournament brought together 64 teams — 32 women’s and 32 men’s pairs — and represented one of the first major international beach volleyball events to return after the long interruption.
The atmosphere was obviously different: strict health protocols were in place, players did not shake hands and organisers created special procedures to limit contact between athletes. Yet the important thing was that international beach volleyball was finally back.
Mike O’Hara, born September 15, 1932, was an Olympian at Tokyo 1964, won gold with the United States at the 1959 Pan American Games, earned 12 USVBA All-American selections and became one of the pioneers of American beach volleyball, winning 38 open tournaments during the early years of the sport.
He died in 2018 aged 85.
Miodrag Mitić, born September 15, 1959, represented Yugoslavia at the 1980 Moscow Olympics and won bronze at the 1979 European Championship as well as gold at the 1979 Mediterranean Games.
His career after volleyball was just as unusual: he became a doctor, and at London 2012 he worked as team physician for the Serbian women’s national team. His son Mihajlo Mitić was also a member of Serbia’s men’s Olympic team.
Yuliya Gerasymova is one of the more recognisable Ukrainian volleyball personalities of her generation.
The middle blocker represented Ukraine at several European Championships and also played professionally in Türkiye and elsewhere in Europe. She later became particularly famous worldwide for her spontaneous dance during a Champions League match, which went viral on social media. Her date of birth is September 15, 1989.
Jeffrey Jendryk was born on September 15, 1995, so he turns 31 today. The American middle blocker was part of the USA team that won bronze at the 2018 World Championship, and his professional career subsequently took him through Germany, Poland, France, Italy and Türkiye.
A fascinating figure who went far beyond volleyball, Tibor Antalpéter, played for Csepel SC and the Hungarian national team before moving into diplomacy. He eventually became Hungary’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom from 1990 to 1995.
He died on September 15, 2012, aged 82.
Valderbi Romani was the coach of Brazil’s men’s volleyball team at the 1972 Munich Olympics, where Brazil finished eighth.
He died on September 15, 1997.
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But now we back to the present, with Bernardinho who has named the 14 players who will represent Brazil at the 2026 Men’s South American Championship, a tournament carrying consequences far beyond the continental title itself. From September 15 to 20, the Maracanãzinho in Rio de Janeiro will host six national teams — Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Venezuela — with a direct place at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games awaiting the champions.
The next major continental battle on the road to Los Angeles 2028 gets underway today in Tunis, where the 2026 CAVB Men’s African Nations Championship brings together Africa’s leading national teams.
Reigning champions Egypt will defend their title against hosts Tunisia, 11-time African champions, as well as Algeria, Cameroon, Libya and a number of emerging African programmes. The tournament runs from 15 to 25 September and carries much more than continental prestige: it is also part of the qualification pathway for LA28 and the 2027 World Championship.
While Africa is only getting started, the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship is already approaching its climax in Moncton, Canada.
Eight teams are competing in the first stage, with the tournament serving as a qualifier for the 2027 Men’s World Championship. The top three teams qualify for the World Championship, while the competition also determines who advances to NORCECA’s final LA28 Olympic qualification tournament.
The Olympic qualification phase itself will take place on 18–19 September in Moncton, meaning that North American and Caribbean volleyball is about to produce another direct step on the road to Los Angeles.
The United States are the defending champions of the continental championship, while Canada have home advantage.
Dominican Republic advanced to the semifinals after defeating Mexico in four sets, 16:25, 25:19, 25:19, 25:19.
Dominican Republic will face USA in the semifinals.
Also Cuba advanced to the semifinals after defeating Puerto Rico in straight sets, 25:21, 25:23, 25:15.
Cuba will face host Canada in the semifinals.
The CEV U22 Beach Volleyball European Championship finished in Madrid on September 13, but a new FIVB story published today gives the tournament an interesting second angle.
All six medals — men’s and women’s gold, silver and bronze — went to teams representing federations supported by the FIVB Volleyball Empowerment programme.
The champions were Latvia’s Gustavs Auzins and Kristians Fokerots on the men’s side and the Netherlands’ Nigella Negenman and Floor Hogenhout in the women’s tournament.
The Latvian victory is particularly interesting: Auzins and Fokerots completed a perfect tournament without dropping a set, adding the U22 European title to the U21 World Championship gold they won last year.
So this isn’t simply an age-group result — it’s also a nice example of how investment in developing volleyball federations is beginning to translate into international medals.
And there is another development story from South America.
Venezuela won bronze at the CSV U19 Boys’ South American Championship in Araguari, Brazil, reaching the continental podium for the first time in 16 years.
Hosts Brazil won the title, with defending champions Argentina taking silver. FIVB specifically highlighted Venezuela’s achievement in the context of its Volleyball Empowerment programme.
That is a small story compared with the senior continental championships, but exactly the kind of story that tends to disappear from the international news cycle — and therefore fits the original idea of VolleyBar very well!
To close, one more angle from Africa: there is also plenty happening around the African Championship before the first serve.
Nigeria have announced their 14-player squad, while Kenya have been drawn in Pool A alongside hosts Tunisia and Ghana. Rwanda and DR Congo are in Pool D with Cameroon and the Central African Republic, while Nigeria are in Pool C with Algeria and Chad.
That gives us a genuinely broad African picture rather than simply writing “Egypt and Tunisia are favourites”!
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