CEF 5 La Rioja lift historic championship trophy in front of 11 thousand fans in Argentina
Azerrail Baku defend their title in Azerbaijan
Cangrejeras de Santurce San Juan conquer first national title in Puerto Rico
Jedinstvo Stara Pazova defend last year’s inaugural title in Serbia
Slavia Kooperativa EUBA Bratislava win title in Slovakia for the 22nd time
Viteos Neuchatel achieve golden treble in Switzerland
The 2024 champions of six national women’s volleyball leagues – Argentina, Azerbaijan, Puerto Rico, Serbia, Slovakia and Switzerland – celebrated their trophies from Monday through Thursday of this week.
ARGENTINA
In front of over 11,000 spectators on the stands (pictured in the main photo; credits: Cef5 Voley La Rioja), CEF 5 La Rioja closed the final series in Argentina at home and triumphed as national champions for the first time in history. They had already edged ahead in the championship playoff with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-14, 25-16) away victory at Estudiantes de La Plata on 13 April. In the return match, CEF 5 delighted the home crowd with another straight-set victory, 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-22), to celebrate the historic success. To get to the finals, CEF 5 and Estudiantes managed two semifinal wins each over San Lorenzo de Almagro Buenos Aires and Boca Juniors Buenos Aires, respectively.
CEF 5 La Rioja’s team roster
AZERBAIJAN
Azerrail Baku claimed the women’s national league title in Azerbaijan for the second consecutive and eighth overall time, following their 3-1 (25-13, 15-25, 25-21, 25-21) victory over Absheron Baku in Tuesday’s final at the Baku Sports Palace. Murov Az Terminal Baku completed the podium after edging Ganja in the bronze medal match.
Azerrail’s 29-year-old Croatian opposite Katarina Pilepić was named Most Valuable Player (MVP), while the Dream Team was composed of setter Polina Neykova (Absheron), opposite Marijeta Runjic (Absheron), outside hitters Vielka Peralta (Azerrail) and Irina Milanovic (Murov), middle blockers Jineiry Martinez (Azerrail) and Mariya Kirilyuk (Absheron), and libero Piyanut Pannoy (Azerrail).
Azerrail Baku’s team roster
PUERTO RICO
Cangrejeras de Santurce San Juan, who debuted in Puerto Rico’s Superior Volleyball League last year, conquered their first national title on Monday, after sweeping the best-of-seven final playoff against Atenienses Manati in four matches. Cangrejeras opened the series with a four-set win on 14 April at home and doubled their lead on 17 April with a 3-2 (25-21, 23-25, 23-25, 25-23, 16-14) victory on the road. Back at home on 20 April, they swept the third game by 3-0 (25-16, 25-22, 25-21). On Monday in Manati, the squad from San Juan produced a 3-1 (25-22, 22-25, 25-22, 25-17) win to snatch the trophy. Their 38-year-old libero and captain Debora Seilhamer was honoured as MVP of the finals.
Cangrejeras de Santurce San Juan
SERBIA
Jedinstvo Stara Pazova defended their maiden national title from last year in Serbia and triumphed as champions again. They swept the best-of-five final playoff against TENT Obrenovac in three matches: 3-1 (25-18, 25-17, 14-25, 25-17) at home on 18 April, 3-1 (25-19, 13-25, 25-20, 25-12) in Obrenovac on 21 April, and 3-0 (25-14, 25-21, 25-18) back at home on Wednesday evening. Volleyball Federation of Serbia President Djula Mester handed the trophy to the winners. Jedinstvo’s 20-year-old outside hitter Branka Tica was awarded as MVP of the finals. In the best-of-three semifinals, Jedinstvo achieved two wins over Crvena zvezda Belgrade, while TENT knocked out Zeleznicar Lajkovac after three matches.
Jedinstvo Stara Pazova’s team roster
SLOVAKIA
Slavia Kooperativa EUBA Bratislava won the title in Slovakia for the fifth consecutive and 22nd overall time. The team from the capital turned the best-of-five final playoff around, after losing the first match on 17 April at Volley project UKF Nitra in straight sets, 3-0 (25-16, 27-25, 27-25). Slavia leveled the series after a 3-1 (18-25, 25-23, 25-19, 25-18) home win on 21 April, edged ahead after a 3-1 (20-25, 25-17, 25-20, 25-14) away win on 23 April, and closed it off after a 3-1 (25-14, 25-20, 14-25, 26-24) victory at home on Thursday evening. The best-of-five third-place playoff is still underway, with VKP FTVS UK Bratislava leading UNIZA Zilina by 2-1 in wins.
Slavia Kooperativa EUBA Bratislava’s team roster
SWITZERLAND
Viteos Neuchatel achieved their fourth consecutive and fifth overall title in Switzerland. Snatching the championship trophy on Wednesday evening, they also registered a domestic season’s golden treble. Viteos won all three of their matches in the final playoff against Power Cats Volley Duedingen: 3-0 (25-18, 25-14, 25-16) at home on 15 April, 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-16) away on 19 April and 3-1 (22-25, 25-17, 25-11, 25-22) at home again on 24 April. Sm'Aesch Pfeffingen took the bronze after two wins over Volley Lugano in the third-place playoff.
Viteos Neuchatel’s team roster