Roccaraso, Italy, February 9, 2018. The CEV Snow Volleyball European Tour will stop for the first time in Roccaraso, the best known of the ski resorts in Abruzzo, Italy. The competition will be taking place from February 16 to 18 and feature some of the best Snow Volleyball players in Europe.

The tournament features the reigning ‘King of the Snow’, i.e. Michal Matyja of Poland, as well as the winners of the 2018 European Tour stop held in Erciyes, Turkey, i.e. Russia’s Ruslan Daianov and Taras Myskiv. Poland’s Tomasz Cwiertnia and Piotr Groszek will be medal contenders as well, with Groszek being a bronze medal winner from the 2017 European Tour event in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic.

Turkey’s Bugra Eryildiz and Aleyna Vence, the winners of the tournament in Erciyes, are travelling to Italy as well and will take there on the 2014 ‘Queen of the Snow’, Silvia Poszmikova of Slovakia.

As for the host country, 2012 Olympian and former European Beach Volleyball champion Greta Cicolari will join forces with Giulia Toti – with whom she claimed and shared the ‘Queen of the Snow’ title in 2016. Italy’s reigning ‘King of the Snow’ Luca Fazio will compete in Roccaraso as well – as will Alessandro Carucci, a bronze medal winner from the European Tour stop in Plan de Corones / Kronplatz in 2016.

There will be valuable points at stake for teams to qualify for the inaugural CEV Snow Volleyball European Championships, which are due to take place from March 23 to 25 in Wagrain-Kleinarl and Flachau, Austria. Next to the CEV event, Roccaraso will host an open men’s and women’s tournament as well, with the eventual winners progressing to the Main Draw of the European Tour stop. On top of this, mixed amateur teams will enjoy the opportunity to play 2-a-side or 4-a-side to have fun and understand how it feels to play Volleyball on snow.

Matteo Carlon, who is at the helm of Snow Volley Italia and the Organising Committee, said: “We are happy with the development that Snow Volleyball has been undergoing. We so much wanted to take this sport to Italy via this project, which has grown with the help of a group of friends all equally passionate about Snow Volleyball. We are obviously very pleased with the opportunity to host a stop of this year’s European Tour in Italy and more specifically in Roccaraso.”

Click here for further information including detailed entry lists