Players, teams, coaches of the year 2024 awarded in Latvia

This past Saturday, the Latvian Volleyball Federation (LVF) organised a special ceremony to celebrate and award the country’s best Volleyball and Beach Volleyball players, teams, and coaches of 2024 at the Splendid Palace in Riga. The ceremony was hosted by sports journalist Uģis Joksts and actress Lelde Dreimane, with musical accompaniment provided by Elizabete Gaile and surprise guests – the popular band Olas. Awards were presented across as many as 12 categories plus for lifetime achievements, as well as tokens of appreciation for partners and promoters. 

Newly elected LVF President Arnis Tunte presented the awards to the male and female Volleyball players of the year. Deniss Petrovs, a member of the Latvian men’s national team and of Ukrainian club Barkom Kazhany LVIV, received the accolade for Male Player of the Year. He is currently playing for the team led by Uģis Krastiņš in the Polish Super League (PlusLiga) for a second season. This past summer the experienced Petrovs helped the Latvian national team win two out of two CEV EuroVolley 2026 qualifying matches. Renārs Pauls Jansons, Edvīns Skrūders, and Kristaps Šmits were also nominated for this award.

In turn, the Latvian national team’s top scorer, Marta Kamēlija Levinska, received the Female Player of the Year award for the second year in a row. She heavily contributed to the Latvian national team’s victories in the European Silver League in the summer of 2024 and helped the national team secure a win in their first EuroVolley 2026 qualifying game by scoring as many as 33 points. She has also successfully started the season in the German Bundesliga where she is playing for current leaders DRESDNER SC. Megija Dambrehte, Elvita Dolotova, and Anija Jurdža were the other nominees for the same prize.

Superstars Tina Graudiņa and Anastasija Samoilova were recognised as the Beach Volleyball Team of the Year for the fourth year in a row, after finishing in fifth place at the Paris Olympic Games and at EuroBeachVolley 2024 as well. They also became the world’s no. 1 team according to the FIVB ranking for the first time in history. They placed third at the Beach Volleyball Pro Tour Finals held in Doha, as well as at the Elite 16 tournaments in Ostrava and Gstaad. Their 2024 campaign includes a gold medal from the Challenger tournament held in the Brazilian city of Recife too. The award was presented by the President of the Latvian Olympic Committee, Mr Raimonds Lazdiņš. The players responsible for the so-called “miracle in the sand”, 2024 European champions Mārtiņš Pļaviņš and Kristiāns Fokerots were also nominated for the same award.

Long-time Latvian hockey team captain and player Kaspars Daugaviņš presented the award to the volleyball team of the year, RSU/MSĢ. SK Jēkabpils Lūši were nominated too – earlier this season they became the first team from Latvia to compete in the early rounds of the elite CEV Champions League.

The Chief of the State Border Guard, General Guntis Pujāts, presented the award to the Rising Star of the Year, Kārlis Jaundžeikars, who together with Matīs Šalkovskis won silver at the World U19 Beach Volleyball Championship. Last year, he was crowned Latvian U20 champion on the sand as well. Indoors, he qualified for the final stage of #EuroVolleyU20M and became Latvian national champion while playing for SK Jēkabpils Lūši. The other nominees were his ‘partner in crime’ Matīss Šalkovskis and Gustavs Auziņš.

Jurmala’s Deputy Rita Sproģe presented the award to the Volleyball Coach of the Year, Mārcis Obrumanis, who helped Latvia finish 13th at the last edition of #EuroVolleyU20M held in Serbia and Greece. As the head coach of SK Jēkabpils Luši, he won the Baltic League bronze medal and the Latvian national league title – as well as the 2024 Optibet Super Cup. Sproģe presented the award for the best Beach Volleyball coach of the year to reigning European champion, Mārtiņš Pļaviņš. 

Ghetto Games leader Raimonds Elbakjans presented Alvis Kokins with the prize for the best youth coach of the year. He has also worked for the men’s senior national team and as a statistician for several youth teams as well as for Graudiņa/Samoilova. 

The award for the best Beach Volleyball referee was presented to Egils Tišanovs by Kaspars Gorkšs, while the prize for the best Volleyball referee was received by Iļja Miņins.

The award for the best sports school of the year was presented by Aleksandrs Samoilovs, Director of the Sports Department of the Ministry of Education and Science, to Daugavpils Sports School.

LVF Council Member Egils Lapsalis announced the winner of the award for Sitting Volleyball, which was presented to Uldis Ektermanis, whose talent, work, and perseverance have proven that boundaries exist only in a person’s mind. He began his journey in Sitting Volleyball at the young age of 15 and has already played more than 500 games for the Latvian national team. As the team captain for more than 20 years, he has been a real leader and source of inspiration for all both on and off the court.

Speaker of the Saeima, Latvia’s Parliament, Daiga Mieriņa congratulated the two recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award – Natālija Deveikus and Guntis Grigalis.

Deveikus started working as a Volleyball coach at the Riga Volleyball School in 1976, since then nurturing the talent of countless youth and senior national team members who have also successfully played in foreign clubs. In training, she has always distinguished herself for her high demands and discipline, for which the girls have later been happy and grateful. 

Guntis Grigalis has been the Volleyball coach of Jēkabpils Sports School since 1989. He is described as a very erudite person with one hundred percent dedication to work and high authority among his students. These include members of the Latvian national teams, long-time players of SK Jēkabpils Lūši, and he himself has repeatedly received the LVF award for the best youth coach in Latvia. 

Special tokens of appreciation were provided for the partners of the federation by LVF Secretary General Arturs Vitkovskis, thereby noting the contribution of SIA Fracht to the country’s Volleyball family.