European Universities Games
Salerno 2026
July 18 - August 1

Volleyball and Beach Volleyball Numbers Break All Records!

Volleyball: Starting One Day Early

Volleyball will be among the inaugural disciplines of EUG 2026, alongside Futsal. In fact, the competitions will not start on July 18, the official opening date of the Games, but will begin one day early, running from July 17 to July 23. The men’s competition and women’s competition will feature 4 groups of 4 teams each, for a total of 32 competing teams divided into 16 men’s and 16 women’s sides.

EUG 2026: 4 Sports Halls for Volleyball

The Baronissi Campus will set the stage for the matches, thanks to four sports halls hosting the entire competition.

During the last EUG edition in Debrecen, the title in the men’s Volleyball competition was won by the University of Rostock, Germany. Among the women, however, Italy triumphed thanks to the University of Bologna, which defeated the Croatian side from the University of Zagreb in the final.

Beach Volleyball: From July 28 to August 1

The men’s and women’s competitions will take place from July 28 to August 1. There will be 48 teams in total: 24 men’s formations and 24 women’s formations. Specifically, the competition will be structured in three phases. In the first phase, teams will be divided into groups of three. The winners of each group will advance directly to the final phase. In the second phase, the teams finishing second and third in their respective groups will face each other to complete the bracket for the top 16 teams. The third phase will be reserved for the teams that did not qualify for the first two, who will play in the classification finals for positions 17th to 24th.

“Beach Volleyball has really taken off in recent years,” declared Roberto Corvo, official technical delegate for Beach Volleyball from Cus Salerno. “With many clubs dedicating themselves to this discipline after the winter indoor season. Four Beach Volleyball courts will be set up at the Baronissi Campus, one of which will be dedicated to training sessions. The technical level of the event is expected to be medium-high, thanks to the presence of numerous semi-professional athletes, an element that will contribute to raising the quality and competitiveness of the competition.”

“CUS Salerno,” continued Roberto Corvo, “enters this competition with excellent prospects in both the men’s and women’s sectors. During the winter season, our athletes are mainly involved in indoor Volleyball, while in the summer period they dedicate themselves to Beach Volleyball, regularly participating in the Serie B championships. Team preparation is entrusted to two highly qualified coaches, who carry out targeted weekly work from both a technical and tactical perspective, with the aim of consolidating team chemistry, refining team mechanisms, and taking care of every detail necessary to face a high-level competition.”

In the previous edition of the games, the highest step of the podium in Beach Volleyball went to the University of Vienna in the men’s competition, and to the Lithuanian Sports University in the women’s competition.