Køge, Denmark, September 15, 2019. The qualifying process for the 2020 edition of the CEV U17 Women Volleyball European Championship started this week in Køge, Denmark, with a NEVZA zonal qualifier hosted by the Danish Volleyball Federation. Finland were the eventual winners of the tournament to secure their participation in the Final Round due to take place next year in Montenegro. Denmark and Sweden finished in second and third place, respectively, and they will continue their journey in the next round of qualifications scheduled for the spring of 2020.

The national teams of Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark participated from the NEVZA region, with the addition of Ireland from the Small Countries Association, as SCA do not hold their own qualifying event in this age group. Asgård Sports Hall played host to as many as 11 matches across three days of competition and spectators from all participating countries accounted for an amazing atmosphere and a full house for several games.

Final - Finland vs. Denmark 3-0 (25-14, 25-9, 25-14)  

Both teams had made it through the pools and the semi-finals without any set loss. The host team from Denmark enjoyed the support of a big home crowd, but also Finnish fans had found their way to Køge. Finland started out very strong and left no chances for the Danish team in the first set. This pattern continued in the second set, where Denmark did not find a way to control the strong serves from Finland. As for the third set, Denmark displayed a good performance, but Finland eventually closed the match in three sets.

Classification match 3-4 - Sweden vs. Norway 3-2 (19-25, 25-8, 25-20, 17-25, 17-15)  

This match between the two Scandinavian neighbours was a truly important one, since the eventual winners would continue their journey in the next round of qualifications. As it is usually the case when Sweden and Norway lock horns, it turned out to be a close and exciting match. The importance of the match was obvious to both teams, since they alternated good actions and rather easy mistakes. The momentum changed back and forth a number of times and Sweden were ahead 8-7 at the side change in the fifth set, while the spectators were cheering loudly for their favourites. The finish of the match became as close as it can be, before Sweden ended the game with a lucky ace, touching the top of the net.

Classification match 5-6 - Ireland vs. Iceland 1-3 (11-25, 16-25, 25-19, 22-25)

The green girls from Ireland met the blue team from Iceland. Both teams had showed good fighting spirit during the tournament, but this had not produced any victory yet. Although Ireland put up a great fight, especially in the third set, which gave them the first set victory in the competition, and they kept the same pace in a thrilling fourth set, at the end the well-organised team from Iceland proved too strong and won the match in four sets.

Final standing

1.    Finland *
2.    Denmark **
3.    Sweden **
4.    Norway
5.    Iceland
6.    Ireland

* Qualified to Final Round
** Qualified to second round of qualifications