Vienna, Austria. Next week the Austrian youth national teams will contest the second and final round of the European Championship qualification. The U16 girls coached by Tereza Soukup-Stribrna will meet hosts Slovenia, Turkey and Portugal in Maribor from May 6 to 8, 2021. The U17 boys of head coach Nina Sawatzki were runners-up in the first round organised by the Middle European Volleyball Zonal Association (MEVZA) in March, where they narrowly missed the direct qualification. They will be fighting for a European Championship ticket from May 5-7 in Viana do Castelo, Portugal taking on Turkey, Spain and Portugal.
The Austrian U16 national team during their first round qualifier held in March in Zadar (CRO)
“We are happy that all the players we have available are fit and healthy. We invited the Czech team to play three friendly matches. This gives us the opportunity to develop the team in various constellations so that we can go into the second qualifying round well prepared and deliver the best possible performance in Maribor.”
Stefan Spirk
Assistant coach of the women’s U16 national team
The Austrian teams are currently preparing in Fürstenfeld and Schielleiten. Nina Sawatzki, who coaches the U17 boys: “All the teams that have qualified for the second round are strong, have a very good level, so there are no easy opponents anymore. However, like the other teams, we think we have good chances in Portugal. We have a few test games against Slovenia and the Czech Republic in the coming days, so the chemistry should return quickly and the teamwork should get better too. After all, it was a break of several weeks. So far, everything is going according to plan, the players are healthy and I hope that we will take our chance and qualify for the European Championship.”
For the girls, the five group winners and the best runner-up will punch a final round ticket, for the boys, in addition to the six group winners, the two best runners-up will qualify as well. The 2021 edition of #EuroVolleyU16W will run from July 10 to 18 in Hungary and Slovakia, with the men’s U17 event scheduled for the same dates in Albania.
CEV U16 European Championship 2021 | Women Qualifiers
Pool E in Maribor/SLO
06.05., 16:00: Austria vs. Turkey
07.05., 19:00: Austria vs. Slovenia
08.05., 16:00: Portugal vs. Austria
Schedules, Results and Rankings
CEV U17 European Championship 2021 | Men Qualifiers
Pool E in Viana do Castelo/POR
05.05., 18:00: Austria vs. Turkey
06.05., 21:00: Austria vs. Portugal
07.05., 18:00: Spain vs. Austria
