At the Daugavpils Olympic Centre, the Latvian men`s national team suffered a decisive 3-0 defeat (18-25, 16-25, 16-25) against Israel on Friday during their second Pool D qualifier match for the #EuroVolleyU22M championship.
Latvia started strong in the opening set, with Ņikita Dimitrijevs contributing two blocks to establish an early 3-0 lead. Nevertheless, Israel quickly took control, moving ahead to 9-6 and extending their advantage to 21-16, boosted by an ace from Mark Rura. Israel continued their momentum, securing the next two points and clinching the first set 25-18.
The second set saw Latvia fall behind early, trailing 11-6, largely due to a powerful serve from Israel`s Yuval Chansky. The Israeli team further widened their lead to ten points. Despite a contribution from Armands Rokjāns that briefly narrowed the gap, Latvia ultimately lost the set 25-16.
The third set began similarly, with Latvia struggling and falling behind 7-3 after a block by Israel`s Shay Mayo Liberman. Latvia then mounted a four-point rally, reaching an 8-8 tie due to an opponent`s error. However, Israel swiftly regained control, scoring four consecutive points. Although Dimitrijevs delivered a block to bring the score to 13-11, another block, this time from Lior Vili Kopilevich, extended Israel`s lead to eight points. The set concluded with Latvia losing 25-16, sealing the match for Israel.
For Latvia, Armands Rokjāns was the leading scorer with eight points, followed by Ņikita Dimitrijevs with seven points (including four blocks), and Kristers Landzāns with six. Israel`s top performers were Mark Rura, who tallied 16 points, and Shay Mayo Liberman, contributing 13 points.
Team Reactions
Kristers Landzāns, a player for the Latvian team, commented on their performance:
“I think we lacked aggressiveness from the start. The Israelis started clearly stronger, more aggressively, and more emotionally. That’s exactly what we were missing. We wanted to win and did everything we could, but I don’t know… A lot of our players also play Beach Volleyball and couldn’t help out this time, so our team is quite young.”
Mārcis Obrumans, the head coach of the Latvian team, reflected:
“This time more things didn’t work than did. It was Israel’s strength and our inability. It’s hard to say in which game elements we were able to counter them. Israel didn’t particularly surprise us – they just made fewer mistakes and served aggressively. As a result, we often played against a well-structured and tall double block. This led to many errors in our attacks, while the Israelis played very confidently.”
Noam Katz, Israel`s head coach, stated:
“The team was well prepared. We studied how Latvia plays – they deserve a lot of credit for taking part in last year’s European Championship. We believe we made the right steps to win the match. Yesterday we lost to Poland, but it was a good match. Poland is a strong team – though they won, we knew we played well.”
Regarding Israel`s qualification prospects for the finals, Katz noted:
“Since we already suffered a loss, there is a chance we can still qualify as one of the best second-place teams. That will depend on tomorrow’s match against Croatia. We need to be just as prepared as today and do our job.”
When asked about his impressions of Latvia, Katz expressed:
“Latvia is a great country. I was here back in 1995 as a young player training during a tournament in Riga. It seems the country has developed a lot. I really like the people here – they are very helpful and pleasant.”
Group Standings and Outlook
In parallel, Poland secured a decisive 3-0 victory (25-10, 25-21, 25-17) over Croatia. Following Day 2, the group standings are: Poland leads with two wins and five points, followed by Israel with one win and four points, Latvia with one win and three points, and Croatia with zero wins and zero points.
Addressing the team`s position in the group, Latvia`s head coach stated:
“We have played decently against Poland’s team in this age group before. Now they are the leaders of the qualification group, and we have no more room for error. I hope today’s loss will be a big lesson. On Saturday, we must come with a different energy and play against Poland.”
The upcoming #EuroVolleyU22M final stage, set for next year, will feature the five group winners, the two best second-placed teams, and the host nation. Eligible players, born on or after January 1, 2005, will participate in the final tournament in Albufeira, Portugal, from June 29 to July 4, 2026.
