We deserve our place on the volleyball map

THERE ARE NO COINCIDENCES. At least, in volleyball there isn't as the fact that the women's national volleyball team qualified for the European Championship for the fifth time in a row cannot be attributed to luck. However, a few "ingredients" were definitely needed.

OUTSTANDING CHARACTERS

The first link in the chain is in the youth team, as the Hungarian team participated in the 2003 European Youth Championships with a squad that included Dóra Horváth, Zsanett Kötél and, Rita Liliom. The team, led by highly respected Zoltán Jókay, finished in seventh place and, thanks to them, the country was represented at the World Youth Championships again after ten years.

Six years later, they managed to qualify for the continental championships again with another successful team, including Rita Molcsányi, Ágnes Pallag, Zsuzsanna Tálas, and Evelin Vacsi. They finished the tournament in seventh place, and although almost the same squad qualified for the Junior European Championships a year later as the leaders in the group, they finished twelfth, winning only one set. The aforementioned players, along with other talents such as Renáta Sándor and Edina Dobi, were gradually given a chance to play for the senior team from 2009-2010 but failed to qualify for the 2011 and 2013 continental tournaments.

Another important element is the head coach. Former Dózsa Újpest setter Mihály Farkas, who coached the national team in eight matches, was succeeded by Zoltán Jókay, who made his debut on the bench in May 2011. The trainer was already a two-time champion and four-time cup winner with Vasas when he proposed to the federation's board that the Hungarian national team should join the European League. In the end, only the women were given the opportunity, but there is no doubt that this was a milestone. Overall, it was thanks to this that our team won the series in 2015, under the guidance of Belgian coach Jan De Brandt. But let's not get ahead of ourselves...

THE BELGIAN, THE REGIME CHANGER

The team has a bright future ahead of it as well as an internationally renowned professional. Jan De Brand was hired as national team head coach in March 2014 to succeed László Hollósy, who replaced Jókay in 2012. Jan De Brandt had previously won a Champions League silver medal and Turkish league and cup titles with Turkish women's team Fenerbahce and led the Belgian national team to seventh place at the 2007 continental tournament. Under his leadership, a fundamentally different system and a new approach began to emerge, and success came quickly: the team qualified for the 2015 European Championship in six qualifying rounds played between May 23 and June 1, 2014. The last time a Hungarian women's team had been to a continental tournament before that was 1987... And, as mentioned above, the players achieved a second feat in September 2015 by winning the European League. Back then, the final was played in a back-and-forth format, with a 3-0 win against Türkiye in Érd. Though, three days later in Izmir, with Türkiye leading 3-1, the Hungarian team won the golden set, ending it with a goal from Renáta Sándor.

The Hungarian women's national team has never won a gold medal in a prestigious international tournament before, but this success has put the country back on the international volleyball map.

There was no stopping, the European Championships started on September 26. Although Hungary lost to hosts Belgium and Türkiye, the team won the last group match against Azerbaijan to advance from Group B. In the end, Jan De Brandt's side finished twelfth in what was then a field of 16.

A year later, the national team's performance didn't start as expected; they lost every match in the European League as defending champions and their 2017 European Championship participation was also a disappointment. In any case, the best memories are still from the qualifying round: after a 3-0 win over Romania in the first leg, the Hungarian team won the golden set at the Érd Arena.

Then in December, a letter was sent to the Hungarian Volleyball Federation (MFA) in which Jan De Brandt resigned from the post of national captain citing family reasons. It was clear then that 2017 would be a very long national team season for the Hungarian team as they would play in the World Grand Prix and the World Championship qualifiers, as well as the European Championship. His successor, Alberto Salomoni, former German national team and MTK head coach, was appointed in March. To make things even harder for the new trainer, Dóra Horváth announced her retirement a month later. The best Hungarian volleyball player of the 2000s won the Challenge Cup that spring with Turkish club Bursa, won bronze in the 2014 Champions League with Azerbaijan's Rabita Baki and spent five-and-a-half seasons in the world's top women's league, the Italian A1.

The failed World Championship qualification was followed by winning the third division of the World Grand Prix. The continental tournament in Azerbaijan, after the end of a long season, proved to be no easy task. The hosts, known as the dark horses, Poland, and Germany joined Hungary in the group. This time, the girls failed to advance and were eliminated without a point.

BITTER EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP IN BUDAPEST

The Hungarian national team has had two years to prepare for the upcoming, partially home-organized European Championship. From 2019, the European tournament will be organized by four nations, with 24 countries participating, which means that qualification has become easier. With the return of Jan De Brandt, who lacked the energy and drive that had helped the girls so many times before, Team Hungary finished the tournament in 20th place.

Another difficulty for the future was the fact that the Hungarian national team had another generation change, as Renáta Sándor and team captain Rita Bokorné Liliom left the national team after losing the last group match against the Netherlands 3-0. The fourth-place finish at the Universiade was a cause for optimism by Máté Leiszt's team, which also included Anett Németh, Zsófia Gyimes, Gréta Kiss, and Fruzsina Tóth, who is preparing for her third European Championship next year.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the qualifiers were held in 2021, three months before the start of the European Championship. The team of newly appointed captain, Jakub Gluszak, who won the championship and cup gold with Vasas, had no difficulty in qualifying. In fact, after six years, they advanced from the group stage of the Serbia-Bulgaria-Croatia-Romania co-hosted continental tournament, with eventual silver medalists Serbia stopping Hungary in the round of 16.

We could be pleased with the success achieved, but the picture is only complete if we add that only Slovakia could be outclassed in the group stage.

This year the national team has a new head coach. Andreas Vollmer had no problem leading the team to its fifth consecutive European Championship, as the group was also favorable, just as in the previous season. However, they had to say goodbye to another battle-hardened squad: Zsuzsanna Király-Tálas, Ágnes Pallag, and Rita Molcsányi all set to drop the national team jersey.

The most important question is: what can we expect from the Hungarian team in the future? A lot depends on the youth players as we need to build a strong squad that can compete in the top half of the midfield. The team needs icons and characters. The World Cup and the Olympics are still a distant dream, we need to "occupy more space" on the map of the sport to have a real chance of competing in the qualifiers.

Translated by Vanda Orosz.