Laura Ludwig is attempting her fifth European Championship gold, Karla Borger wants the third medal: Four women’s duos and one men’s team will represent the German Volleyball Association (DVV) at the European Championships in Vienna (2nd to 6th August). The German duos all qualified via the ranking list of the continental association CEV, as the DVV announced.
In addition to the three national teams Svenja Müller/Cinja Tillmann (Hamburg/Düsseldorf), Karla Borger/Sandra Ittlinger (Düsseldorf), Louisa Lippmann/Laura Ludwig (Hamburg), the young athletes Leonie Körtzinger/Lea Kunst (Hamburg) are there. The DVV men are represented by the national team Nils Ehlers/Clemens Wickler (Hamburg).
32 teams per gender are divided into eight groups of four and the group games are played in the so-called modified pool play. From the round of 16, the knockout system will be used.
Müller/Tillmann lead Pool D as group head and have to play against Lithuania, Spain and Austria. Borger/Ittlinger and Körtzinger/Kunst have to deal with the Vice European Champions from Switzerland Brunner/Hüberli in Pool A. In Pool B, Lippmann and the Rio Olympic champion Ludwig will meet Stam/Schoon from the Netherlands, who won bronze at the European Championships last year. The only German men’s team with Ehlers and the former vice world champion Wickler is set as the head of the group in Pool F.