An exciting day at the Universities Volleyball European Championship, but crucial questions are still undecided

The level of play on day 6 was just as high as on the previous ones, while key match-ups—including the final and the bronze medal match—were decided. The host institution, Hungarian University of Sports Science (TF), made history with its women's team by fighting their way into the European Championship final.

Men's competition

Three German universities reached the semi-finals in the men’s competition, making it certain that at least one of them would feature in Sunday’s final. Rostock faced Fenerbahçe, while Karlsruhe took on Dresden. Fenerbahçe took the first set with relative ease, and Rostock responded by winning the second. The third set was tightly contested, but after dominating the fourth, the Turkish team secured their place in the final with a 3:1 victory. Two notable stats from the match: Krabel stood out for the Germans with 23 points, while nearly half of Fenerbahçe’s points were scored by Karabuga, Guner, and Senay.

Karlsruhe, who had eliminated Hungarian University of Sports Science (TF) in the quarter-finals, won the first two sets against Dresden with identical 25:21 scores. The third set turned into a marathon, with Dresden taking it 30:28. However, Karlsruhe quickly wrapped up the match, winning 3:1. As a result, they will meet Fenerbahçe in the gold medal match on Sunday, while Dresden and Rostock will battle for bronze.

The match-ups for Sunday’s 5th and 7th place games were also decided through two additional quarterfinals. Host TF faced West Bohemia in what was expected to be a tough match, especially after the Czech team had given Dresden a hard time the day before.

The match started a bit sluggishly for TF, but the hosts soon found their rhythm and convincingly won the opening set (25:17). The Czechs, however, quickly turned the game around. Although TF managed to level things again by taking a set, the decisive fifth set went to West Bohemia, sealing their 3:2 win and a spot in the 5th place match.

In the other game, Valencia defeated Porto in straight sets (3:0), meaning they’ll face West Bohemia for 5th place, while Porto will play TF for 7th.

As for the 9th to 14th placements, two matches were held today as part of the ongoing group-stage battles in two groups of three teams. In Group E, Tours comfortably beat Zagreb (3:0), while in Group F, Babeș-Bolyai University defeated Lisbon by the same score. This sets up the following matchups: Tours vs. Babeș-Bolyai for 9th place, Zagreb vs. Lisbon for 11th place, and Luigj vs. Bergen for 13th place.

Semi-finals (teams in bold advanced to the final)

• University of Rostock (Germany) – Fenerbahçe University (Turkey) 1:3 (18:25, 25:17, 22:25, 18:25)
• Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Germany) – Technical University of Dresden (Germany) 3:1 (25:21, 25:21, 28:30, 25:19)

5th–8th Place

Quarter-finals

• University of Valencia (Spain) – University of Porto (Portugal) 3:0 (25:16, 25:18, 25:19)
• Hungarian University of Sports Science (Hungary) – University of West Bohemia (Czech Republic) 2:3 (25:17, 30:32, 21:25, 25:23, 11:15)

9th–14th Place

Group E

• University of Tours (France) – University of Zagreb (Croatia) 3:0 (25:22, 25:18, 25:20)

Group F

• Babeș-Bolyai University (Romania) – Nova University Lisbon (Portugal) 3:0 (25:22, 25:14)

Women's competition

The host, Hungarian University of Sports Science (TF), had already made history by reaching the semi-finals, where they faced Zagreb, the bronze medallists of the previous tournament. Despite the tall Croatian players delivering powerful and accurate hits, and despite some positioning errors from TF, a late time-out in the first set proved decisive for the Hungarians who won the first set 25:23.

The second set was similarly close—as expected from a semifinal clash. The Croatians started stronger and led for a while, but TF head coach Zoltán Jókai successfully used his time-outs to rally his team, who eventually took the set 25:21.

Fired up and visibly motivated, TF stormed into the third set with a 10:2 lead. Despite a Croatian time-out, the home team kept their momentum. TF played with precision, blocked effectively, and stayed in the flow, which earned them a historic 3:0 victory and a place in the final.

Those watching the simultaneous Ovidius – Yasar semi-final were also treated to a thrilling match. The first set was neck-and-neck until the end, with the Turkish side narrowly winning it (27:25). In the second set, the Romanians took control, but thanks to standout performances by Kandemir and Cevik, Yasar made a stunning comeback to win it 26:24.

The third set started similarly but was more dominated by Ovidius. A well-timed Turkish time-out sparked a turnaround, and although Ovidius fought hard, Yasar claimed the set 25:21—securing their place in the final.

On Sunday, the gold medal match will be TF – Yasar, while Zagreb – Ovidius will battle for bronze.

Two quarter-finals were also played for 5th–8th place. Torino needed three tightly contested sets to overcome Tartu (3:0), while Bologna defeated Cologne in a more convincing fashion, though the third set proved to be a challenge (3:0). Bologna and Torino will now play for 5th place, and Tartu and Cologne for 7th.

For 13th place, Bergen – Minho ended in a straightforward 3:0 win for the Portuguese team. In the 15th-place match, Catalonia delivered a confident performance and beat Wageningen 3:0, securing 15th place.

Semi-finals (teams in bold advanced to the final)

• Hungarian University of Sports Science (Hungary) – University of Zagreb (Croatia) 3:0 (25:23, 25:21, 25:15)
• Ovidius University (Romania) – Yasar University (Turkey) 0:3 (25:27, 24:26, 21:25)

5th–8th Place

Quarter-finals

• Turin Polytechnic (Italy) – University of Tartu (Estonia) 3:0 (25:20, 25:21, 25:23)
• German Sport University Cologne (Germany) – University of Bologna (Italy) 0:3 (16:25, 12:25, 24:26)

13th Place

• University of Bergen (Norway) – University of Minho (Portugal) 0:3 (16:25, 23:25, 22:25)

15th Place

• University of Wageningen (Netherlands) – Polytechnic University of Catalonia (Spain) 0:3 (17:25, 17:25, 18:25)

Match results and placement pairings are available here: https://results.eusa.eu/

Photo gallery: https://www.flickr.com/photos/eusavolley2025/albums/