New volleyball season opens this weekend in Baltic and National Leagues

The volleyball season begins this weekend in both the Baltic League and the National Leagues of the Latvian championship.

Baltic League

Seven teams will take part in the Elme Messer Baltic League this season: three each from Latvia and Estonia, plus reigning champions Kaunas-VDU of Lithuania. Last season RSU players won third place, RVS/LU went out in the quarterfinals, and Latvia's U18 national team did not reach the playoffs. Even so, taking part helped the young players prepare for the European U18 finals held in Riga this summer, where they finished 14th.

The Latvian Volleyball Development Centre team is built on a similar principle this season, although it has no specific goal of preparing for a national-team finals tournament. Coach Edvarts Buivids says the main idea is to give current and future youth national team candidates a chance to train in good conditions, strengthen their understanding of the national team's system of play and try to improve with each match. In his view, the Baltic League is a good tool for players to feel, as early as possible, the level they should aim for.

The coach notes that with such a young squad the main goals are long-term. Still, part of the team's core already went through this experience last season, so they may be able to fight for results in some games.

After their mutual match, the Development Centre team and RVS/LU will host the Lithuanian champions on Saturday and Sunday. After the two-round tournament, the top teams will go straight to the semifinals, while the next six will compete in the quarterfinals.

National Leagues

The men's National League will be opened on Saturday by VK Ventspils and Aizpute, who met in the round of 16 last season. Two matches are scheduled in the women's National League: Murjāņi Sports Gymnasium hosts Jūrmala VK/JSS on Saturday and plays RVS on Sunday.