Eurovolley2023: Serbia and Poland last quarterfinalists! Czech Republic and Belgium ko

In a Round of 16 match held in Bari, Italy, also Serbia, after hosts Italy and The Netherlands, who played yesterday, secured their spot in the EuroVolley 2023 quarterfinals by defeating Czech Republic with a clean sweep of 3-0. Partially it wad 25:21, 26:24, and 25:21 after 85 minutes of play.
The first set saw Serbia dominated the rivals by a slight margin. However, as it progressed, Serbia managed to break Czech Republic’s resistance, establishing a six-point lead, 16-10, a lead that proved sufficient to secure the set at 25-21.
The second set was very similar.
Despite Serbia holding a slight advantage for most of the set, the Czech Republic managed to equalize the score in the final moments, 21-21 but, undeterred, Serbia was better in key moments, eventually winning the set 26-24.
The determination of Igor Kolaković’s team to finish the match in three sets was evident and, in the third set, Serbia took the lead from the very beginning, securing a well-deserved spot in the quarterfinals after close it 25-21.
The most effective players for the winners were Aleksandar Atanasijević with 14 points through 65% in attack and Pavle Perić with 12 (69% in attack). They were the only players in double digit and, on the other side of the net, Jan Galabov and Marek Sotola scored 9 points.

| PHOTOGALLERY OF THE MATCH

Serbia will face Poland in the quarterfinals of the European Championship on Tuesday, September 12th.
In fact, in the second game of the day and the last one of Round of 16, Poland’s dominant performance over Belgium culminated in a four sets victory (25:16, 25:17, 23:25, 25:22), securing their spot in the quarterfinals too.
Poland dominated the first two sets, above all in blocking (11 points from this element only in first two sets), literally sweeping the rivals. A dominance that saw them close the first two sets with scores of 25-16 and 25-17.
However, the third set things changed. Poland, saw a dip in their quality, while Belgium capitalized, resulting in a tight 25-23 victory for Emanuele Zanini’s players.
The fourth set was a battle with both teams showcasing their skill and determination, and with the score tied on multiple occasions.
But thanks to Poland’s resilience, and blocks again (5 points), the team coached by Nikola Grbic managed to close 25-22.
Aleksander Sliwka and Łukasz Kaczmarek led the scoring for Poland with 16 points each, while Norbert Huber also contributed with 12 points.
For Belgium, Mathijs Desmet ended the game with 15 points, closely followed by Ferre Reggers with 14.
However, to make the difference was the block, with 18 points from this element for Poland against rivals’ only 6!

| PHOTOGALLERY OF THE MATCH

Other quarterfinal matchups are Slovenia vs. Ukraine, France vs. Romania (both scheduled tomorrow in Varna, Bulgaria) and Italy vs. the Netherlands.

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🏐| CEV EUROVOLLEY 2023 | All results of September 10

ROUND OF 16 | Palaflorio | Bari 🇮🇹

• 18.00 (Local Time) | Serbia (2A) – Czech Republic (3C) 3-0 (25:21, 26:24, 25:21)
| PHOTOGALLERY OF THE MATCH