# 2008 Men's European Volleyball League

The 2008 Men's European Volleyball League was the fifth edition of the European Volleyball League, organised by Europe's governing volleyball body, the CEV. The final Four was held in Bursa, Turkey from 19 to 20 July 2008.
For the first time Great Britain joined the competition and it will also enter it as a unified team as a result of a FIVB decision which allows the United Kingdom to play as a unified team in order to prepare for the next 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Austria and Belarus also joined the European League for the first time.
The tournament was won by Slovakia, defeating the Netherlands by 3–1 in the finals.

## Competing nations

* Austria
* Belarus
* Germany
* Great Britain
* Greece
* Netherlands
* Portugal
* Slovakia
* Turkey

## League round
### Pool A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | Pts | SW | SL | SR | SPW | SPL | SPR | Qualification |
| 1 | Netherlands | 12 | 12 | 0 | 24 | 36 | 11 | 3.273 | 1096 | 951 | 1.152 | Final Four |
| 2 | Slovakia | 12 | 8 | 4 | 20 | 29 | 16 | 1.813 | 1025 | 936 | 1.095 | Final Four |
| 3 | Greece | 12 | 4 | 8 | 16 | 21 | 25 | 0.840 | 1019 | 1029 | 0.990 | |
| 4 | Portugal | 12 | 4 | 8 | 16 | 18 | 26 | 0.692 | 954 | 1003 | 0.951 | |
| 5 | Great Britain | 12 | 2 | 10 | 14 | 7 | 33 | 0.212 | 796 | 971 | 0.820 | |

### Pool B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | Pts | SW | SL | SR | SPW | SPL | SPR | Qualification |
| 1 | Germany | 12 | 8 | 4 | 20 | 27 | 18 | 1.500 | 1059 | 970 | 1.092 | Final Four |
| 2 | Turkey (H) | 12 | 6 | 6 | 18 | 24 | 24 | 1.000 | 1055 | 1070 | 0.986 | Final Four |
| 3 | Belarus | 12 | 6 | 6 | 18 | 22 | 25 | 0.880 | 1059 | 1093 | 0.969 | |
| 4 | Austria | 12 | 4 | 8 | 16 | 19 | 25 | 0.760 | 993 | 1033 | 0.961 | |
* ↑ Qualified as hosts

## Final four

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 2008-07-19 – Bursa | 2008-07-19 – Bursa |
| Slovakia | 3 |
| Slovakia | 3 | 2008-07-20 – Bursa | 2008-07-20 – Bursa |
| Germany | 2 | 2008-07-20 – Bursa | 2008-07-20 – Bursa |
| Germany | 2 | Slovakia | 3 |
| 2008-07-19 – Bursa | 2008-07-19 – Bursa | | Slovakia | 3 |
| 2008-07-19 – Bursa | 2008-07-19 – Bursa | Netherlands | 1 |
| Netherlands | 3 | Netherlands | 1 |
| Turkey | 1 | | |
| Turkey | 1 | 3rd place | 3rd place |
| | | 2008-07-20 – Bursa | 2008-07-20 – Bursa |
| | | Germany | 2 |
| | | Turkey | 3 |

### Semi-finals

| Date | Time | | Score | | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Total | Report |
| 19 Jul | 17:00 | Slovakia | 3–2 | Germany | 27–25 | 25–21 | 13–25 | 17–25 | 19–17 | 101–113 | Report |
| 19 Jul | 19:30 | Netherlands | 3–1 | Turkey | 25–21 | 25–19 | 31–33 | 25–16 | | 106–89 | Report |

### 3rd place match

| Date | Time | | Score | | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Total | Report |
| 20 Jul | 17:00 | Germany | 2–3 | Turkey | 25–23 | 25–23 | 16–25 | 22–25 | 13–15 | 101–111 | Report |

### Final

| Date | Time | | Score | | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Total | Report |
| 20 Jul | 19:30 | Slovakia | 3–1 | Netherlands | 25–21 | 25–18 | 20–25 | 25–23 | | 95–87 | Report |

## Final standing

| Rank | Team |
| | Slovakia |
| | Netherlands |
| | Turkey |
| 4 | Germany |
| 5 | Belarus |
| 6 | Greece |
| 7 | Austria |
| 8 | Portugal |
| 9 | Great Britain |
* 2008 European League champions
* Slovakia 1st title
* 12-man Roster for Final Round
* Milan Bencz, Miroslav Jakubov, Peter Janusek, Jakub Joscak, Tomas Kmet, Emanuel Kohut, Michal Masny, Martin Nemec, Lubos Ochodnicky, Roman Ondrusek, Martin Sopko, Juraj Zatko
* Head coach

## Awards

* Most valuable player
    Martin Sopko
* Best scorer
    György Grozer
* Best spiker
    Volkan Güç
* Best blocker
    Tomas Kmet
* Best server
    Martin Sopko
* Best setter
    Yannick van Harskamp
* Best receiver
    Ferdinand Tille
* Best libero
    Jelte Maan