Azernews.Az

Laman Ismayilova

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The preliminary squad of the Azerbaijan women's national volleyball team for the European Championship has been announced, AzerNEWS reports.

The head coach, Faig Garayev, has called up 16 players for the team's training camp.

Setters in the preliminary squad are Kristina Besman (Omichka, Russia), Raziya Aliyeva (DH Voley), and Natalia Solovyeva (Murov AZ Terminal).

The outside hitters are Polina Rahimova (Panionios, Greece), Yelizaveta Ruban (Leningradka, Russia), Margarita Stepanenko (UNEC), Narmin Musayeva (Ganja), Ulkar Karimova (Turan), Ilhama Azimova (Azərreyl), and Kseniya Pavlenko (National Aviation Academy).

The middle blockers are Ayshan Abdulazimova (Turan), who will serve as team captain, Aynur Imanova (DH Voley), and Mariya Kirilyuk (Yenisey, Russia).

The liberos are Yuliya Karimova (Turan), Beyaz Guliyeva (DH Voley), and Jeyran Imanova (DH Voley).

The Women's European Volleyball Championship will be co-hosted by Azerbaijan, Turkiye, the Czech Republic, and Sweden from August 21 to September 6.

Azerbaijan will host the matches in Pool C, where the national team will compete against Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, Romania, and Spain. The matches in Baku will be held at the National Gymnastics Arena from August 21 to 28.

The Azerbaijan Volleyball Federation (AVF) is the governing body of volleyball and beach volleyball in Azerbaijan.

The federation was founded in 1991 and became a member of the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) and the European Volleyball Confederation (CEV) in 1992.

The main goals of the AVF are to promote volleyball across the country, support youth and grassroots development, improve coaching and officiating standards, and achieve consistent success at the international level.

The federation works closely with clubs, schools, and regional organisations to expand participation and raise the overall quality of the sport.