The European volleyball championship ended in Milan with a final between reigning Olympic champions France and reigning European champions Poland. Poland retained the continental crown for a second consecutive time. Slovenia reached the final four again but lost to Finland in the bronze-medal match and remains short of a fifth European Championship medal.
Thirty-year-old middle blocker Jan Kozamernik topped the individual blocking chart with 29 blocks. Belgium’s Martijn Colson was second with 24 and Finland’s Miika Haapaniemi third with 23. Despite finishing first in the category, Kozamernik was not selected for the tournament’s ideal team.
Nik Mujanović scored 150 points, behind only Finland’s Luka Martilla on 157; Joonas Jokela was third with 149. Mujanović ranked sixth in attack points with 120, the same total as Aleksandar Nikolov. Martilla had 132, Jokela 129, and Ferre Reggers of Belgium and France’s Theo Faure 121 each. Reggers and Nikolov had exited in the quarter-finals and round of 16, respectively.
Ukraine’s Oleg Plotnytskyi led serving with 20 aces in six matches; Martilla also recorded 20 across nine matches. Mujanović and Simeon Nikolov had 18 each, while Aleksandar Nikolov and Yuri Romano had 15 apiece.
Jani Kovačič placed seventh among top receivers, with 35.96 percent perfect receptions. Sweden’s Joel Andersson led at 44 percent, followed by Ukraine’s Oleksandr Boiko at 43.80 and Bulgaria’s Jasmin Veličkov at 41.91. Italy’s Simone Giannelli topped the setter statistics but, like Kozamernik, was not named to the ideal team.
Poland’s Wilfredo Leon won MVP. France’s Antoine Brizard was named best setter and Theo Faure best opposite. Martilla and Leon were the best receivers; Poland’s Jakub Jakubiszak and Bartlomiej Lemanski the top middle blockers; and Jakub Popiwczak the best libero. Poland’s Serbian coach Nikola Grbić received the coaching award.