Vammalan Lentopallo — Valepa is a volleyball team in southwest

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

founded in 1978. It is based in the

Vammala Vammala is a former town and municipality of southwestern Finland, chartered in 1907. On 1 January 2009, Vammala was consolidated with the municipalities of Mouhijärvi and Äetsä, to form a new city named Sastamala. Geography Vammala was locate ...

district of the town of

Sastamala Sastamala () is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the Pirkanmaa region. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water, making it the largest municipality in the Pirkanmaa region in terms of area. The ...

, in the Pirkanmaa Region. Valepa plays in the highest level in Finland.

History

Vammalan Lentopallo was founded 1978, with the club's first season in SM-liiga in 1980-1981. VaLePa is known to be a good place for young players. Many of the club's own juniors have reached professional level and other young talents have made their pro-level debut in the club. Some of the best known of them are Olli-Pekka Ojansivu, Olli Kunnari, Mikko Oivanen and Matti Oivanen. The team's best result to date is the national champion title, which it won twice (in the 2011-2012 and 2013-2014 seasons. In 2012, it also won the Finnish Cup.

European competitions

Valepa played in the

CEV Challenge Cup The CEV Challenge Cup is the third tier official competition for men's volleyball clubs from the whole of Europe. It started in the 1980–81 season under the name CEV Cup. In 2007 it was renamed CEV Challenge Cup. History * CEV Cup (1980– ...

in the 2008-2009 season, where it lost both the home match (1-3) and the return match in

Burgas Burgas ( bg, Бургас, ), sometimes transliterated as ''Bourgas'', is the second largest city on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast in the region of Northern Thrace and the fourth-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia, Plovdiv, and Varna, with a popu ...

(3-0) to the

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

n ''Neftehimik'' team. In 2012-2013 VaLePa played in the

CEV Cup The CEV Cup is the second tier official competition for men's Volleyball clubs of Europe. The competition takes place every year. Until 2000, it was the CEV Cup Winners' Cup. In 2000 it was renamed CEV Top Teams Cup and in 2007 it was renamed CE ...

. The first round was against the Estonian team of Selver Tallinn. VaLePa won through golden set after both teams had won a match (Selver - VaLePa 3-2, VaLePa - Selver 3-0). In the second round, VaLePa faced the Italian Andreoli Latina, which was stronger in the golden set (VaLePa - Latina 3-1, Latina - VaLePa 3-0).

New Arena

Season 2012-2013 was a big change for the club. Old small homeground Sylvää was abandoned for new bigger VexVe Arena. The team sometimes still train in Sylvää and second team also plays there some of their games.

Achievements

* Finland league bronze 1992, 2008,2013 and 2014 * Finland league silver 2011 * Finland league champion 2012 and 2014 * Finnish Cup winner 2012 * Finnish Cup runners-up 2013 and 2014

Team

Season 2018-2019

;Setters *

Mikko Esko Mikko Esko (born 3 September 1978) is a Finnish volleyball player, a member of Finland men's national volleyball team and Finnish club Vammalan Lentopallo. Personal life Esko was born in Vammala, Finland. He is married to Saara (née Loikkanen ...

* Arttu Lehtimäki ;Middle-blockers *

Daniel Jansen Van Doorn Daniel Jansen Van Doorn (born ) is a Canadian male volleyball player. He is a member of the Canada men's national volleyball team and French club Tours VB, a gold medallist at the 2015 Men's NORCECA Volleyball Championship, and a competitor at th ...

(CAN) * Markus Kaurto *

Tommi Siirilä Tommi Siirilä (born 5 August 1993) is a Finnish male volleyball player. He was part of the Finland men's national volleyball team at the 2014 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship The 2014 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship was held ...

* Mikko Karjarinta * Rami Rekomaa ;Wing-spikers *

Olli Kunnari Olli Kunnari (born February 2, 1982) is a Finnish volleyball player. He is one of the key players in the Finnish national volleyball team. During the early years of his career, he played in the Finnish Champion league. In year 2004, he left F ...

* Erik Sundberg * Niko Suihkonen ;Opposite * Arvis Greene (USA) * Urpo Sivula * Aaro Nikula ;Libero * Alan Barbosa Domingos ;Head coach * Radovan Gacic ;Assistant coach * Janne Kangaskokko ;Club chairman * Arto Satonen — also a member of the

Parliament of Finland The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the unicameral and supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, sovereignty belongs to the people, and that power is vested in the Parliament. The ...

References

{{Reflist Volleyball clubs in Finland Sastamala Sport in Pirkanmaa