High-level volleyball played the main role on the first day
The European Universities Volleyball Championship has started in Budapest at the Hungarian University of Sports Science (HUSS), with exciting and spectacular matches, serious comebacks, nice attendance and great atmosphere.
The first match day immediately showed that the 2025 European Championship is an excellent event, the good organization showed that the modern venues were brought to life by the teams and spectators. Hungary has organized many outstanding sports events in the recent years, and the best of university and world sports are now almost returning home to this sport-loving country. This is all for good reason because the host country is a true sporting nation, and its center of sports science, the Hungarian University of Sports Science (HUSS), along with its staff and volunteers, are all deeply passionate about sports.
Match days start at nine in the morning all week - except on Thursday - and the last games start at seven in the afternoon. So there is a real rush at the venues. The opening day started with a memorable match, when the Polytechnic University of Catalonia started well in the women's group C on the single court of the Koltai Sports Center, winning the first two sets by 17 and then 23 against the Czech team of Masaryk University. However, the Czech girls found their rhythm afterwards, perhaps the early start bothered them, because they played great and turned things around.
Polytechnic University of Catalonia (ESP) - Masaryk University (CZE) 2 : 3 (25 : 17, 25 : 23, 23 : 25, 23 : 25, 11 : 15)
In the other match of the women's group C:
German Sport University Cologne (GER) - Turin Polytechnic (ITA) 3 : 1 (25 : 22, 20 : 25, 25 : 22, 25 : 14)
In the women's group B, the University of Bologna, led by Sara Fontemaggi, played worthy of the defending champion, presenting itself in a very spectacular and confident manner. Perhaps it was a bigger surprise that the Dutch University of Wageningen was defeated in three games by Corvinus University. The Hungarian team was also known for its familiarity and championship routine, which was evident in the match.
Group B
University of Bologna (ITA) - University of Tartu (EST) 3 : 0 (25 : 16, 25 : 19, 25 : 18)
Corvinus University of Budapest (HUM) - University of Wageningen (NED) 3 : 0 (25 : 15, 25 : 20, 25 : 18)
The tournament also started with two comfortable wins in group A, as both the host Hungarian University of Sports Science and Ovidius University played volleyball confidently.
Group A
Ovidius University (ROU) - University of Bergen (NOR) 3 : 0 (25 : 20, 25 : 20, 25 : 8)
Hungarian University of Sports Science (HUN) - University of Cyprus (CYP) 3 : 0 (25 : 12, 25 : 19, 25 : 19)
In the girls' group D, the University of Zagreb won against the powerful Rostock in a very close, exciting and high-quality match.
Group D:
University of Zagreb (CRO) - University of Rostock (GER) 3 : 1 (25 : 14, 23 : 25, 25 : 23, 25 : 21)
Yasar University (TUR) - University of Minho (POR) 3 : 0 (25 : 20, 25 : 18, 25 : 15)
In the men's tournament, the match of the day was clearly contested between players from a French and a German university. Rostock finally defeated the Tours after a serious battle. The crucial fourth set, with the score at 1–2, was won by the French team 29, but even that was not enough to win. It was a match of giants, where Julien Faganas’ outstanding performance, scoring 32 points, while Jan-Philipp Krabel contributed 26 points for the Germans. The competition in this group will be exciting, as very strong four teams will compete each other. Both the host, the Hungarian University of Sports Science, and the Portuguese Nova University Lisbon have a significant squad. This was evident in the evening match, where the Hungarian players defeated a tough opponent with impressive volleyball.
Men, Group A:
University of Tours (FRA) - University of Rostock (GER) 2 : 3 (14 : 25, 22 : 25, 25 : 19, 31 : 29, 11 : 15)
Hungarian University of Sports Science (HUN) - Nova University Lisbon (POR) 3 : 0 (27 : 25, 25 : 20, 25 : 19)
Men, Group B:
University of Zagreb (CRO) - University of Porto (POR) 1 : 3 (25 : 18, 23 : 25, 21 : 25, 18 : 25)
Babes Bolyai University (ROU) - Technical University of Dresden (GER) 0 : 3 (18 : 25, 19 : 25, 19 : 25)
Men, Group C:
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (GER) - Luigj Gurakuqi University (ALB) 3 : 0 (25 : 13, 25 : 19, 25 : 18)
Men, Group D
Fenerbahce University (TUR) - University of Bergen (NOR) 3 : 0 (25 : 21, 25 : 22, 25 : 12)
The competition will continue on Tuesday morning, when the teams from Groups C and D that have not yet played a match will also take the court.
All results and group standings can be found at https://results.eusa.eu/.
Full gallery is avaiable here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/eusavolley2025/albums/