CEV EuroVolley 2021 Women Pool Analysis

The women's CEV EuroVolley 2021 finished up in style on Thursday, May 20th, in Belgrade. Now that the dust has settled on the event and we have had some time to consider the results, it is time to analyze how each of the pools ended up. In this article, we'll take a look at some of the early storylines of each pool and pick a player to keep your eye on. 

Serbia | Azerbaijan | Russia | Belgium | France | Bosnia & Herzegovina

Of course, the 2017 and 2019 champions Serbia headline Pool A of EuroVolley and remain the team that most already have penciled in as one of the finalists. While we can’t predict their final lineup, their last European Championship showed how deep the Serbian talent pool is. And regardless, if you throw unstoppable opposite Tijana Boskovic in with just about any lineup, she will take them far.

The rest of the draw looks interesting as well, with Russia attempting to reassert themselves on the world stage after some recent disappointing finishes while Belgium will give the keys over to Britt Herbots and see if she belongs in the same conversation as Stysiak, Egonu, Haak, and Boskovic.

Player to watch: Héléna Cazaute, France. France has always had a solid team, but lacked a top player that could handle the elite block-defenses that you encounter at top tournaments. Cazaute has emerged as the player that could potentially be that, leading all outside hitters in points during the qualifiers and grabbing a spot in an Italian Serie A1 team for next season.

Bulgaria | Poland | Germany | Spain | Czech Republic | Greece

Pool B may not have a top contender like Serbia or Italy in it, but it might end up being the hardest pool to progress in due to the depth. Bulgaria, Poland, and Germany all have medal potential while Spain, the Czech Republic, and Greece all could play spoiler as well. There will be no easy matches in pool B, and no team wants to exhaust their players before the knockout stages even begin. Germany has a young team that just missed out on the Olympics,  this EuroVolley could be the tournament where Louisa Lippmann, Hannah Orthmann, Camilla Weitzel, and the rest of this this group makes a statement

Player to watch: Magdalena Stysiak, Poland. The young Polish opposite has taken another step up from her already impressive performance in 2019 to establish herself as one of volleyball’s most prolific scorer. She played outside hitter in the last EuroVolley to make room for Malwina Smarzek-Godek, but her clear ability as a high usage first scoring option will create some tough choices.

Croatia | Italy |  Belarus | Slovakia | Hungary | Switzerland

While Italy stands out immediately as one of the strongest contenders at the tournament, there is an opportunity here for one of the other teams to make a strong run in the pool phase. Croatia has one of the biggest stars of the tournament at their disposal, Samanta Fabris, while Belarus has the size to match up favourably with almost anyone.

This pool will be one of the most interesting to watch towards the end of the pool phase, as with several of the teams so evenly matched it could come down to the final set. The last couple teams to advance in this pool are anyone’s guess.

Player to watch: Maja Storck, Switzerland. The 22-year-old Swiss opposite is not your traditional big scoring opposite, standing at only 184cm. But with an arsenal of different shots and a great jump, she has the ability to score around bigger blockers and dropped 6.38 points per set in Switzerland’s qualifying effort.

Romania | Turkey | The Netherlands | Ukraine | Finland | Sweden

Hosts Romania will have a couple of tough battles on their home court, most notably being Turkey and The Netherlands. Turkey has high expectations of their team, barely finishing second to Serbia in a nail biter of a 2019 EuroVolley finals and grabbing a spot in the Olympics. Their team should be slightly younger than previous editions, with new generation players like Ebrar Karakurt, Cansu Özbay, and Tuğba Şenoğlu to play bigger roles.

There are several question marks for The Netherlands, especially with the retirement of star opposite Lonneke Sloetjes. Will Celeste Plak be ready to fill in her shoes after taking a year off or will Nika Daalderop emerge as their new go-to scorer?

Player to watch: Isabelle Haak, Sweden. The Vakifbank star carried Sweden to their first appearance at EuroVolley, scoring over 8 points a set in the qualifiers. Her match against Turkey is a must-watch as she faces her adoring club fans on the other side of the net.