# 1997 Men's European Volleyball Championship

The 1997 Men's European Volleyball Championship was the 20th edition of the event, organized by Europe's governing volleyball body, the Confédération Européenne de Volleyball. It was hosted from September 6 to September 14 in two cities in the Netherlands – Den Bosch and Eindhoven –.

## Qualification

The top four placed teams from the 1995 edition of the Men's European Volleyball Championship — Italy, Yugoslavia, Netherlands (also host) and Bulgaria — were automatically qualified for the 1997 edition. The other teams had to qualify in 1996.

## Teams
### Group A – Den Bosch

* Germany
* Greece
* Italy
* Russia
* Slovakia
* Yugoslavia

### Group B – Eindhoven

* Bulgaria
* Czech Republic
* Finland
* France
* Netherlands
* Ukraine

## Preliminary round
### Group A

| | Team | Points | G | W | L | PW | PL | Ratio | SW | SL | Ratio |
| 1. | Yugoslavia | 9 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 233 | 154 | 1.513 | 12 | 4 | 3.000 |
| 2. | Italy | 9 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 220 | 161 | 1.366 | 12 | 4 | 3.000 |
| 3. | Slovakia | 8 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 230 | 263 | 0.875 | 10 | 10 | 1.000 |
| 4. | Russia | 7 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 248 | 227 | 1.093 | 10 | 9 | 1.111 |
| 5. | Germany | 7 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 208 | 259 | 0.803 | 7 | 12 | 0.583 |
| 6. | Greece | 5 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 176 | 251 | 0.701 | 3 | 15 | 0.200 |
* Saturday September 6
| Italy | 3 – 0 | Greece | 16-14 15- 4 15-03 |
| Slovakia | 3 – 1 | Germany | 13-15 15-12 15-09 15-10 |
| Russia | 3 – 0 | Yugoslavia | 16-14 15-11 15-13 |
* Sunday September 7
| Germany | 3 – 1 | Greece | 17-15 15-09 07-15 15-08 |
| Slovakia | 3 – 2 | Russia | 06-15 15-10 16-14 10-15 15-12 |
| Yugoslavia | 3 – 0 | Italy | 15-13 15-09 15-05 |
* Monday September 8
| Germany | 3 – 2 | Russia | 15-09 15-10 06-15 04-15 16-14 |
| Italy | 3 – 1 | Slovakia | 15-13 12-15 15-11 15-05 |
| Yugoslavia | 3 – 1 | Greece | 15-05 14-16 15-06 15-06 |
* Wednesday September 10
| Italy | 3 – 0 | Germany | 15-10 15-09 15-04 |
| Russia | 3 – 0 | Greece | 15-05 15-09 15-12 |
| Yugoslavia | 3 – 0 | Slovakia | 15-07 15-04 15-08 |
* Thursday September 11
| Italy | 3 – 0 | Russia | 15-06 15-10 15-12 |
| Slovakia | 3 – 1 | Greece | 15-10 15-11 02-15 15-13 |
| Yugoslavia | 3 – 0 | Germany | 15-08 16-14 15-07 |

### Group B

| | Team | Points | G | W | L | PW | PL | Ratio | SW | SL | Ratio |
| 1. | Netherlands | 10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 226 | 91 | 2.484 | 15 | 0 | MAX |
| 2. | France | 8 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 224 | 219 | 1.023 | 10 | 8 | 1.250 |
| 3. | Ukraine | 8 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 260 | 251 | 1.036 | 11 | 10 | 1.100 |
| 4. | Czech Republic | 7 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 260 | 276 | 0.942 | 10 | 12 | 0.833 |
| 5. | Bulgaria | 7 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 219 | 263 | 0.833 | 8 | 12 | 0.666 |
| 6. | Finland | 5 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 167 | 256 | 0.652 | 3 | 15 | 0.200 |
* Saturday September 6
| Netherlands | 3 – 0 | Finland | 15-03 15-07 15-02 |
| Czech Republic | 3 – 1 | France | 16-14 07-15 15-01 15-12 |
| Ukraine | 3 – 2 | Bulgaria | 08-15 15-07 11-15 15-10 15-09 |
* Sunday September 7
| France | 3 – 0 | Finland | 15-05 15-13 15-07 |
| Netherlands | 3 – 0 | Ukraine | 15-06 15-10 15-01 |
| Bulgaria | 3 – 2 | Czech Republic | 05-15 15-10 15-11 10-15 15-11 |
* Monday September 8
| Ukraine | 3 – 0 | Finland | 15-12 15-01 15-09 |
| France | 3 – 0 | Bulgaria | 15-10 17-15 15-02 |
| Netherlands | 3 – 0 | Czech Republic | 15-07 15-02 15-06 |
* Wednesday September 10
| Bulgaria | 3 – 1 | Finland | 15-12 09-15 15-07 15-11 |
| Ukraine | 3 – 2 | Czech Republic | 11-15 15-09 10-15 15-13 15-11 |
| Netherlands | 3 – 0 | France | 16-14 15-06 15-05 |
* Thursday September 11
| Czech Republic | 3 – 2 | Finland | 12-15 15-11 15-11 10-15 15-11 |
| France | 3 – 2 | Ukraine | 15-13 15-08 13-15 03-15 19-17 |
| Netherlands | 3 – 0 | Bulgaria | 15-03 15-09 15-10 |

## Final round

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 1997-09-13 | 1997-09-13 |
| France | 0 |
| France | 0 | 1997-09-14 – Eindhoven | 1997-09-14 – Eindhoven |
| Yugoslavia | 3 | 1997-09-14 – Eindhoven | 1997-09-14 – Eindhoven |
| Yugoslavia | 3 | Netherlands | 3 |
| 1997-09-13 | 1997-09-13 | | Netherlands | 3 |
| 1997-09-13 | 1997-09-13 | Yugoslavia | 1 |
| Netherlands | 3 | Yugoslavia | 1 |
| Italy | 0 | | |
| Italy | 0 | 3rd place | 3rd place |
| | | 1997-09-14 | 1997-09-14 |
| | | Italy | 3 |
| | | France | 1 |
* Friday September 13 — Semi-finals
| Yugoslavia | 3 – 0 | France | 15-06 17-15 15-11 |
| Netherlands | 3 – 0 | Italy | 15-09 15-06 15-13 |
* Saturday September 14 — Bronze Medal Match
| Italy | 3 – 1 | France | 15-02 15-06 10-15 15-08 |
* Saturday September 14 — Gold Medal Match
| Netherlands | 3 – 1 | Yugoslavia | 15-11 10-15 15-10 15-09 |
| 5-8th place | 5-8th place | 5th place | 5th place |
| 1997-09-13 | 1997-09-13 |
| Slovakia | 0 |
| Slovakia | 0 | 1997-09-14 | 1997-09-14 |
| Czech Republic | 3 | 1997-09-14 | 1997-09-14 |
| Czech Republic | 3 | Czech Republic | 0 |
| 1997-09-13 | 1997-09-13 | | Czech Republic | 0 |
| 1997-09-13 | 1997-09-13 | Russia | 3 |
| Russia | 3 | Russia | 3 |
| Ukraine | 0 | | |
| Ukraine | 0 | 7th place | 7th place |
| | | 1997-09-14 | 1997-09-14 |
| | | Ukraine | 3 |
| | | Slovakia | 0 |
* Friday September 13 — Classification Matches
| Czech Republic | 3 – 0 | Slovakia | 15-10 15-11 15-11 |
| Russia | 3 – 0 | Ukraine | 15-10 15-04 15-12 |
* Saturday September 14 — Seventh Place Match
| Slovakia | 3 – 0 | Ukraine | 15-03 15-13 15-03 |
* Saturday September 14 — Fifth Place Match
| Russia | 3 – 0 | Czech Republic | 15-10 15-09 15-09 |

## Final ranking

| Place | Team |
| | Netherlands |
| | Yugoslavia |
| | Italy |
| 4. | France |
| 5. | Russia |
| 6. | Czech Republic |
| 7. | Ukraine |
| 8. | Slovakia |
| 9. | Bulgaria |
| 9. | Germany |
| 11. | Finland |
| 11. | Greece |
* 1997 Men's European champions
* Netherlands First title
Team Roster :
* Peter Blangé, Guido Görtzen, Henk-Jan Held, Albert Cristina, Reinder Nummerdor, Richard Schuil, Bas van de Goor, Mike van de Goor, Jochem de Gruijter, Misha Latuhihin, Olof van der Meulen, and Robert van Es. Head coach: Toon Gerbrands.