VMU Beach Volleyball Players Win Silver at the European Championship, University Ranks Third Overall
Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) continues its victorious summer in sports – returning from the EUSA European Universities Beach Volleyball Championship in Spain with yet another award. The VMU women’s team claimed silver medals in Granada, placing the university third overall in the European universities’ medal standings.
VMU Beach Volleyball Teams Among the Strongest in Europe
Both the men’s and women’s teams performed strongly in the tournament, representing not only their university but also Lithuania on the European stage. The women’s duo – Urtė Andriukaitytė and Irina Zobnina – competed with confidence and composure. In the knockout stage, they displayed elite-level play: winning the quarterfinals 2:0 against Charles University (Czech Republic) and securing a 2:0 semifinal victory over the University of Vienna (Austria).
The grand final against the University of Warsaw (Poland) proved to be a tense and hard-fought battle. After winning the first set, the Polish pair equalized, forcing a decisive third set. The score was tied at 11:11 in the final moments, but the final points fell in favor of the Polish team. The final result – 1:2 – awarded VMU the silver medal.
Men’s Team Concludes Tournament With Honor
The VMU men’s team – Artūr Vincėlovič and Audrius Knašas – started the tournament on a high note, going undefeated in the group stage, with wins against Tallinn University of Technology (Estonia) and Óbuda University (Hungary). In the playoffs, they faced their first defeat against the University of Warsaw and were later eliminated by the University of Łódź (Poland) with a 0:2 score.
Nevertheless, they finished the tournament strongly by defeating the National Institute of Applied Sciences of Toulouse (France) 2:1, securing a 7th place finish in Europe.
Third VMU Medal at European Championships – and Third Overall Position
The silver medals from Granada mark VMU’s third podium finish this summer at the EUSA European Universities Championships. Earlier, the university’s men’s basketball team claimed gold in Italy, while the badminton team took bronze in Madrid.
With these three achievements, Vytautas Magnus University now ranks third overall in the European university medal count, trailing only behind the University of Strasbourg (France), with 9 medals, and the University of Nottingham (UK), with 5 medals. It is worth noting that both Strasbourg and Nottingham earned all their medals in a single sport – badminton. In contrast, VDU’s success spans three different sports disciplines: basketball, badminton, and beach volleyball.
VMU Continues to Lead in Sports – in Lithuania and the Baltic States
Recent results reaffirm that VMU is not only a leader in Lithuanian university sports but also one of the top institutions in the Baltic region. In 2023, the university was ranked among the top 5 universities in Europe based on the number of medals earned in EUSA tournaments. In the summer of 2025, VMU also became the most decorated delegation at the SELL Games, where students from Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania compete.
These achievements highlight not only the individual excellence of VMU athletes but also the consistent effort of the university’s entire sports community – including students, coaches, and administration – in striving for the highest results on the international stage.