# 2023 FIVB Women's Volleyball Challenger Cup

The 2023 FIVB Women's Volleyball Challenger Cup was the fourth edition of the FIVB Volleyball Women's Challenger Cup, an annual women's international volleyball tournament contested by eight national teams that acts as a qualifier for the FIVB Women's Volleyball Nations League. The tournament was held at Espace Mayenne in Laval, France, between 27 and 30 July 2023.
Five teams made their first appearance in the women's Challenger Cup in this edition: Kenya, Mexico, Sweden, Ukraine and Vietnam.
The host France won the title, defeating Sweden in the final, and earned the right to participate in the 2024 Nations League replacing Croatia, the last placed challenger team in the 2023 edition. Colombia defeated Ukraine in the 3rd place match.

## Qualification

A total of 8 teams qualified for the tournament.
| Country | Confederation | Qualified as | Qualified on | Previous appearances | Previous appearances | Previous appearances | Previous best performance |
| Country | Confederation | Qualified as | Qualified on | Total | First | Last | Previous best performance |
| Kenya | CAVB | Highest ranked in CAVB | — | 0 | None | None | None |
| Colombia | CSV | Highest ranked in CSV | — | 2 | 2018 | 2022 | Runners-up (2018) |
| France | CEV | Host country | 1 June 2023 | 1 | 2022 | 2022 | 5th place (2022) |
| Mexico | NORCECA | 2022 NORCECA International League Final Four champions | 19 June 2022 | 0 | None | None | None |
| Vietnam | AVC | 2023 Asian Challenge Cup champions | 25 June 2023 | 0 | None | None | None |
| Ukraine | CEV | 2023 European Golden League champions | 28 June 2023 | 0 | None | None | None |
| Sweden | CEV | 2023 European Golden League runners-up | 28 June 2023 | 0 | None | None | None |
| Croatia | CEV | 2023 Nations League last placed challenger team | 2 July 2023 | 2 | 2019 | 2022 | Champions (2022) |

## Format

The tournament will compete in the knock-out format (quarterfinals, semifinals, and final) with the host country (France) playing its quarterfinal match against the lowest ranked team. The remaining six teams are placed from 2nd to 7th positions as per the FIVB World Ranking as of 10 July 2023. Rankings are shown in brackets except the host.
| Match | Top ranker | Bottom ranker |
| Quarterfinal 1 | France (Hosts) | Vietnam (47) |
| Quarterfinal 2 | Colombia (17) | Kenya (29) |
| Quarterfinal 3 | Mexico (19) | Sweden (28) |
| Quarterfinal 4 | Ukraine (20) | Croatia (25) |

## Venue

* All matches
* Laval, France
* Espace Mayenne
* Capacity: 4,500

## Knockout stage

* All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+02:00).
| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | | Final | Final |
| 27 July | 27 July | | | |
| France | 3 | | | |
| France | 3 | 29 July | 29 July | | |
| Vietnam | 0 | 29 July | 29 July | |
| Vietnam | 0 | France | 3 | |
| 27 July | 27 July | | France | 3 | |
| 27 July | 27 July | Ukraine | 0 | |
| Ukraine | 3 | Ukraine | 0 | |
| Ukraine | 3 | | | | 30 July | 30 July |
| Croatia | 1 | | | | 30 July | 30 July |
| Croatia | 1 | | | | France | 3 |
| 28 July | 28 July | | | | | France | 3 |
| 28 July | 28 July | | | | Sweden | 1 |
| Colombia | 3 | | | | Sweden | 1 |
| Colombia | 3 | 29 July | 29 July | | | |
| Kenya | 1 | 29 July | 29 July | | | |
| Kenya | 1 | Colombia | 1 | | | |
| 28 July | 28 July | | Colombia | 1 | | | |
| 28 July | 28 July | Sweden | 3 | | 3rd place match | 3rd place match |
| Mexico | 2 | Sweden | 3 | | 3rd place match | 3rd place match |
| Mexico | 2 | | | | 30 July | 30 July |
| Sweden | 3 | | | | 30 July | 30 July |
| Sweden | 3 | | | | Ukraine | 1 |
| | | | | | Colombia | 3 |

### Quarterfinals

| Date | Time | | Score | | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Total | Report |
| 27 Jul | 17:00 | France | 3–0 | Vietnam | 25–20 | 25–16 | 25–17 | | | 75–53 | P2 Report |
| 27 Jul | 20:30 | Ukraine | 3–1 | Croatia | 25–15 | 25–15 | 18–25 | 25–19 | | 93–74 | P2 Report |
| 28 Jul | 17:00 | Mexico | 2–3 | Sweden | 25–20 | 25–19 | 20–25 | 22–25 | 5–15 | 97–104 | P2 Report |
| 28 Jul | 20:30 | Colombia | 3–1 | Kenya | 25–22 | 21–25 | 25–23 | 25–19 | | 96–89 | P2 Report |

### Semifinals

| Date | Time | | Score | | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Total | Report |
| 29 Jul | 17:00 | France | 3–0 | Ukraine | 25–10 | 25–20 | 25–22 | | | 75–52 | P2 Report |
| 29 Jul | 20:30 | Sweden | 3–1 | Colombia | 25–17 | 25–17 | 22–25 | 25–17 | | 97–76 | P2 Report |

### 3rd place match

| Date | Time | | Score | | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Total | Report |
| 30 Jul | 13:30 | Ukraine | 1–3 | Colombia | 23–25 | 25–12 | 24–26 | 22–25 | | 94–88 | P2 Report |

### Final

| Date | Time | | Score | | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Total | Report |
| 30 Jul | 17:00 | France | 3–1 | Sweden | 25–21 | 25–16 | 22–25 | 25–15 | | 97–77 | P2 Report |

## Final standing

| Rank | Team |
| | France |
| | Sweden |
| | Colombia |
| 4 | Ukraine |
| 5 | Mexico |
| 6 | Kenya |
| 7 | Croatia |
| 8 | Vietnam |
* Qualified for the 2024 Nations League
* 2023 Women's Challenger Cup champions
* France First title
* 14–woman Roster
* Héléna Cazaute (c), Amandine Giardino, Christina Bauer, Nina Stojiljković, Lucille Gicquel, Amandha Marine Sylves, Eva Brooklyn Elouga, Léandra Olinga-Andela, Émilie Respaut, Guewe Diouf, Amélie Rotar, Halimatou Bah, Sabine Haewegene, Juliette Gelin
* Head coach
* Émile Rousseaux