Druskininkai, Lithuania, February 5, 2019. Seeking to grow Snow Volleyball, the Lithuanian Volleyball Federation introduced the sport to the 2019 Winter Olympic Sports Festival, hosted by the Lithuanian Olympic Committee. As a showcase of the sports the second edition of National Snow Volleyball championship was organized and took place in resort city of Druskininkai together with the whole Lithuanian Olympic family.
While celebrating the beginning of February together with the whole Olympic community, the second edition of the National Snow Volleyball Championship was organized by Lithuanian volleyball federation and the first played according to the rules now in force, with three players on each side of the net.
14 teams took part in the championship, where 8 women teams and 6 men teams competed for the champion titles and 1200 euro prize money, established by one of the sponsors of the festival.
Although the real Lithuanian winter was felt outside with the temperature below zero, it did not stop the festival mood from kicking in and intensive Snow Volleyball games took place in two main courts next to the Snow Arena - an all-year indoor facility with two alpine-skiing tracks.
Men's medalists striking a pose
The men’s tournament featured 6 teams with European championship bronze medal winner and last year’s Lithuanian Snow Volleyball champion Arnas Rumševičius, together with his ‘extra’ partners - the young beach volleyball players Mantas Donela, Justas Abramaitis and the ‘senior head’ of the team and most experienced player and former Snow Volleyball champion in one of the Austrian Tour stops Tadas Donela. From the very beginning this team showed their mastery and experience emerging as the eventual winners after edging another quartet of young and little known players Malinauskas, Saladzius, Puidonas and Jonaitis in a two set winner match 2-0 (15-10, 15-10) in the final.
After a three set 2-1 (13-15, 15-10, 15-10) drama the participants of the first European Snow Volleyball tour in Moscow - the newly rising Lithuanian beach volleyball duo Vytene Vitkauskaite and Urtė Andriukaitytė who teamed up with the bronze medal winner of Moscow tour Daiva Anuskeviciute became the eventual champions.
"There were really tough moments, so I am extremely happy that we managed to defend my national snow volleyball champion title! We had great fun and lots of great time during the championship," smiled the two-time Lithuanian Champion Arnas Rumsevicius.
Highlights of the Winter Olympic Sports Festival
"Just because of our festive mood we managed to gain the champion titles. In the first set of the finals we were too stiff and strained, but after a short break we decided, that we have to have fun till the very end. We thoroughly followed our plan and that became our recipe for the win," said the freshly inaugurated snow volleyball champion Vytenė Vitkauskaitė.
During the Olympic Winter Sports Festival snow volleyball was introduced to more than 10 000 participants visiting the festival. Even Lithuanian Olympic medalists from different sports and the Olympic Mascots took part in the Festival and tried out their skills in the snow.