Year 2017 summary: Girls' U16 and Boys' U17

Poland national under-16 girls and under-17 boys teams did not qualify to the European Championship Finals.

Despite the straight-set victory over Spain in the last day of the Girls' U16 European Volleyball Championship Qualfying Tournament, the Polish team did not book a spot in the final tournament. A defeat suffered in the first match against the Netherlands and unfavourable results of matches in other pools resulted in Polish players absence among the two runners-up with the best result across all pools progressing to the finals of the European Championship.

In the Boys' U17 European Volleyball Championship Qualification, after suffering a loss in the match against Belgium and winning with Latvia Poland also claimed the second place and waited for the results from other pools. The result of the last match in Palencia, Spain was crucial to their fate. The hosts lost with the Netherlands 1:3 and despite the defeat had a better ratio of small points than Poland, thus it was them who book the ticket for the final tournament of the European Championship.

Let us remember that the girls' team secured a spot in the playoff by claiming the second place in the Eastern Europe (EEVZA) Championship behind Russia, who qualified directly for the U16 European Championship. The title of the European Champion was earned by Italy, Russia got silver and Bulgaria bronze.

On the other hand, our boys took the 3rd place in the Eastern Europe (EEVZA) Championship, behind Russia and Estonia. This way white-and-red team qualified for the playoff. Italy won the continental championship, followed by Belgium and Turkey.

Results of the Girls' U16 European Championship Qualification, Pool D, Palencia:

Netherlands - Poland 3:1 (18:25, 25:22, 25:21, 25:23)

Poland - Latvia 3:1 (25:17, 25:20, 25:18)

Poland - Spain 3:0 (26:24, 25:19, 25:16)

Poland national girls U-16 team for the European Championship Qualification:

Martyna Borowczak

Karolina Drużkowska

Aleksandra Justka

Anna Korth

Zuzanna Kuligowska

Gabriela Lendzioszek

Agata Lesiak

Martyna Łazowska

Julita Piasecka

Paulina Reiter

Maja Słowikowska

Maja Szymańska

Coaching staff:

Andrzej Peć - head coach

Przemysław Płaczek - assistant coach

Michał Gaca - doctor

Tomasz Banyś - physiotherapist

Marcin Nowakowski - team manager

Results of the Boys' U17 European Championship Qualification, Pool C, Vilvoorde:

Poland - Belgium 1:3 (23:25, 20:25, 29:27, 20:25)

Poland - Latvia 3:1 (16:25, 25:15, 25:19, 25:22)

Poland national boys U-17 team for the European Championship Qualification:

Jakub Baranowki

Mikołaj Bogucki

Patryk Cichosz

Jakub Czerwiński

Jakub Dereń

Jakub Durski

Jakub Jaruzal

Dominik Kramczyński

Michał Nowakowski

Filip Roque De Oliveira

Piotr Skałbania

Bartosz Sławiński

Coaching staff:

Artur Łoza - head coach

Ariel Fijoł - assistant coach

Krzysztof Wróbel - physiotherapist

Maciej Etgens - statistician

Tomasz Wątorek – team manager