VolleyBar93# : Wednesday September 23, 2026

On this day..
Eurovolley 2026, volleyball birthdays and Amarcord, Piacenza and ZAKSA

Welcome to the 92th episode of VolleyBar, the first-ever daily column created to bring the day’s main volleyball news together in one place.

The title defense continues! Defending champions Poland have officially secured their spot in the Semifinals after defeating Germany in a commanding straight-sets sweep at the Men’s European Volleyball Championship: 25:23, 25:17, 25:17.
Earlier in Sofia, the reigning olympic champions France are officially back in the Semifinals after a commanding performance against Romania ended in straight sets too, 25:16, 25:19, 25:19.
The French squad secures a back-to-back Final Four appearance and keeps their European championship dreams alive.
Recall that you can read all EuroVolley news directly here, while calendar with all games, results and gallery updated every day is here.

One of the biggest names connected with September 23 is undoubtedly Sergey Tetyukhin.
Born in Fergana, Uzbekistan, on this day in 1975, he became one of the defining Russian players of his generation. He spent much of his club career with Belogorie Belgorod, winning three European titles and the 2014 FIVB Club World Championship, while also collecting Champions League success with Zenit Kazan. He played two seasons in Italy as well.
His international résumé is extraordinary: Olympic silver in Sydney 2000, Olympic bronze in 2004 and 2008, and finally Olympic gold at London 2012, where Russia produced one of the greatest comebacks in Olympic volleyball history against Brazil.
But he also holds a remarkable Olympic record: he appeared at six Olympic Games, from Atlanta 1996 through Rio 2016, becoming the first male volleyball player to do so. Russia reached at least the semifinals in all six editions. He retired from the national team after Rio with 320 official international matches and 2,488 points. He was inducted into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2021.

Another important volleyball birthday is Juan Ángel Pereyra, born in San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina, in 1952.
He had a career spanning more than three decades, first as a player and then as one of the world’s most experienced international referees. He officiated at three Olympic Games — Barcelona 1992, Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 — and remarkably refereed the men’s Olympic final in both Sydney and Athens. He was inducted into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2024.

There is also a strong Polish connection: Piotr Makowski was born in Bydgoszcz on September 23, 1968. He became a prominent Polish coach, particularly in women’s volleyball, working for years with Pałac Bydgoszcz/Centrostal and later serving as head coach of the Polish women’s national team. He had already been part of the national-team staff when Poland won bronze at the 2009 European Championship.

Another Polish name appearing in the historical records is Marzena Hanyżewska, born in Bydgoszcz on September 23, 1963. She represented Poland during the country’s earlier generations of women’s volleyball.

On September 23, 2019, Poland and Slovenia reach the EuroVolley semifinals
At the 2019 Men’s EuroVolley, two quarterfinals were played on September 23.
In Apeldoorn, Poland defeated Germany 3–0 (25:19, 25:21, 25:18). Wilfredo León led Poland with 18 points as Vital Heynen’s team booked a semifinal place. It was particularly significant because Poland had last won a medal at this competition in 2011.
In Ljubljana, meanwhile, Slovenia defeated Russia 3–1 in front of 11,225 spectators.
Slovenia had entered the knockout stage after losing to Russia in the pool phase, but this time the home side turned the tables. Tine Urnaut scored 13 points, while Victor Poletaev led Russia with 20. The Slovenian victory sent the hosts into the semifinals and produced an enormous celebration in Ljubljana.
The two results meant that Poland and Slovenia were the first semifinalists of EuroVolley 2019.

Exactly twelve years ago today, the 2014 FIVB Women’s World Championship opened in Italy.
The first whistle was scheduled for September 23 in Rome, Bari, Verona and Trieste, with 24 teams competing. Russia arrived as the defending champion and was seeking a third consecutive world title, while Brazil entered as Olympic champion but was still waiting for its first-ever Women’s World Championship gold. Ekaterina Gamova had returned to the Russian national team for the tournament.
Italy eventually reached the final four, while the United States won the title, defeating China in the final.

September 23, 2021 was also an important date in the aftermath of the Men’s EuroVolley 2021.
CEV published its official All-Star Team on that date, with Simone Giannelli named MVP after Italy’s title-winning campaign. Alessandro Michieletto and Daniele Lavia were selected among the best outside hitters, while Marko Podraščanin and Piotr Nowakowski were the best middle blockers.
It was an early indication of the extraordinary generation that would dominate European men’s volleyball in the following years.

And obviously, today itself has a major place in the volleyball calendar.

The men’s EuroVolley 2026 quarterfinals conclude in Turin:
Belgium vs Slovenia — 16:00
Italy vs Finland — 21:05
The winners advance to the semifinals in Milan on September 25!

Back to the present, there is actually some useful domestic material despite the EuroVolley taking centre stage.
In Italy, Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza have published the television schedule for the first five rounds of the 2026/27 SuperLega. Piacenza will open the championship away to Padova on October 18, while their October 25 home match against Modena will be shown on Rai Sport.
More interestingly for a daily roundup, Perugia are playing Grottazzolina today in a pre-season joint training session at PalaSavelli in Porto San Giorgio. The Block Devils will then face Terni Volley Academy on September 25.
And Allianz Milano are meeting supporters in Piazza Duomo today from 16:00, with players and staff available for photographs and autographs inside the EuroVolley fan zone. The event is part of the club’s 10th anniversary season.

In Poland, ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle face Ordu Baku from Azerbaijan today at 18:00 in Krosno, in the match for the President of Krosno Cup.
It is part of ZAKSA’s pre-season programme, which has already included matches against BBTS Bielsko-Biała, Jastrzębie BARKOM and MKS Kluczbork. The club is also integrating new American setter Quinn Isaacson and French outside hitter Thomas Pujol, while Fabian Plak and Szymon Jakubiszak will join after EuroVolley.
That gives us a nice France–Poland connection, because Thomas Pujol joined ZAKSA after winning gold with France U21 at the Mediterranean Games!

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