Turkey won the European Women’s Volleyball title for the first time in its history. The team took a hard victory over the world champions Serbia by 3-2 (25-27, 25-21, 22-25, 25-22, 15-13) in an absolutely epic EuroVolley 2023 women’s final played in front of nearly 11,000 spectators in the “Palace 12” hall in the Belgian capital Brussels.
Thus, Turkey won the trophy after two lost finals in 2003 and 2019, when it lost to the Serbian national team with a 2-3. In addition, the team have three bronze medals from European championships (2011, 2017, 2021).
This is the second title in a row from a major forum that Turkey has won, after less than two months ago it also won the Volleyball League of Nations.
On the other hand, this is the second consecutive lost final of the European Championship for Serbia, which in 2021 lost to Italy with a 1-3. The Serbian women remain with 3 titles (2011, 2017, 2019), three silver medals (2009, 2021 and 2023) and two bronze medals (1951 and 2015).
Melissa Vargas played an incredible match for Turkey, scoring a fantastic 41 points (3 aces and 55% attack efficiency) for the win. She was subsequently named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player (MVP).
Eda Erdem Dundar (5 blocks!, 1 ace and 56% offensive efficiency!) and Zehra Gunes (4 blocks and 100% offensive efficiency!) each added 15 points for the win.
For the Serbian team, Tijana Boskovic also “exploded” with 37 points! (1 block, 2 aces and 47% attack efficiency). Bianka Busa finished with 13 points (4 blocks, 47% offensive efficiency and 42% positive reception), but even that did not help the victory and the title.
Earlier today, the Netherlands won the bronze medals after a 3-0 victory over former champions Italy.
