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A derby between neighbours opened the fourth day of EuroVolley action at Modena’s Palapanini, but there was little doubt about who would leave happier.
Czechia produced one of their most convincing performances of the tournament to sweep cousins Slovakia 3–0 (25:21, 25:14, 25:20), collecting their third victory and, with it, a place in the knockout stage alongside hosts Italy. Slovakia, meanwhile, will have to wait for their next opportunity after failing to build on the encouraging performance against Italy on Sunday.
The two neighbours know each other well. They had already met twice in friendly matches earlier this summer, adding another layer to a derby in which both sides arrived with plenty of motivation.
The opening set initially lived up to the occasion. Slovakia moved two points clear at 14–12 through Daniel Sellong, but Czechia quickly restored parity before Antonín Klímens changed the momentum from the service line. His run began with an ace and helped the Czechs move 22–18 ahead.
Slovakia tried to stay in the set, but Lukas Vašina was simply outstanding. The Czech outside hitter scored nine points in the opening set alone, attacking at an extraordinary 89% success rate. His contribution ultimately proved decisive as Czechia closed out the set 25–21.
If the first set was a battle, the second was anything but.
Matouš Drahonovský opened the Czech assault with back-to-back aces for an immediate 3–0 lead. Vašina then took over from the service line as Czechia extended the advantage to 11–3, leaving Slovakia struggling to cope with the precision and power coming from the other side of the net.
The gap continued to grow, reaching 16–5, and the statistics reflected Czechia’s dominance. They finished the set attacking at an astonishing 79%, while five aces kept Slovakia under constant pressure. The result was never in doubt: 25–14, and Czechia were one set away from the knockout stage.
Slovakia showed more resistance in the third, but Czechia never surrendered control. Indra, Vašina and Klímens continued to provide the firepower as the Czechs opened 9–4 and then 13–7.
Erik Gulak refused to let the derby disappear quietly. Six kills from the Slovak opposite, supported by Andrej Billich, helped Slovakia reduce the deficit to 20–17. But once again, Czechia were stronger when the pressure increased.
They closed the set 25–20 and completed the sweep.
Indra finished as the match’s leading scorer with 18 points, including 16 kills, one ace and one block, while attacking at an outstanding 84%. Vašina added 13 points, with 12 kills at 80% efficiency. For Slovakia, Gulak was the leading scorer with 13 points.
The victory also carried particular significance for Indra, who had been dealing with health problems during the previous two weeks.
“It’s a very important win for us. It gives us our place in the next round, but the most important thing for us was that we changed our approach in the third set. In the previous matches, the third set was really bad, so I’m happy that we kept our focus in the third set and earned this straight-set win. I’m very satisfied with my performance, and I’m also really happy that I could play this game because my health hasn’t been so good over the last two weeks. So I’m happy that I played and that we won, but now we need to focus on the next games.”
For Slovakia captain Jakub Ihnat, the turning point came after a first set in which his team had been within touching distance.
“The end of the first set was very tough for us. It was quite even, but in the end we lost, and I think that after this first set we locked down. We really turned off. The key word for our team should be ‘brave’ – we need to be brave and play bravely, but that didn’t really happen in the second and third sets. This is very disappointing for us because, as I said before, we have no star in the team and we have to play as a team. Today, it seemed like we had no energy, or I don’t know what happened. We have to take a look at this match and improve for the next games, which will be decisive.”
Czechia now have the luxury of looking beyond qualification. Their next challenge will be to turn this impressive performance into something even more valuable when the knockout stage arrives.
MORE TO FOLLOW
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🏐| CEV Enel EuroVolley 2026 | Monday, September 14, 2026
👉🏼POOL A📍PalaPanini Modena
• 16.00 (Local Time) | Slovakia – Czech Republic 0-3 (21:25, 14:25, 20:25)
• 21.00 (Local Time) | Slovenia – Greece 1-3 (18:25, 25:19, 23:25, 19:25)
🏐| POOL A STANDINGS (updated on this day)
1. Italy 9
2. Czech Republic 8
3. Slovenia 6
4. Greece 3
5. Sweden 1
6. Slovakia 0
POOL B📍Arena 8888 Sofia
• 16.00 (Local Time) | Ukraine – Portugal 3-0 (25:18, 25:18, 25:19)
📸| PHOTOGALLERY OF THE MATCH
• 19.00 (Local Time) | Bulgaria – Israel 3-1 (23:25, 25:22, 25:15, 25:20)
📸| PHOTOGALLERY OF THE MATCH
🏐| POOL B STANDINGS (updated on this day)
1. Ukraine 12
2. Poland 9
3. Bulgaria 9
4. Israel 2
5. Portugal 1
6. North Macedonia 0
POOL C📍Nokia Arena Tampere
• 17.00 (Local Time) | Serbia – The Netherlands 3-2 (20:25, 23:25, 30:28, 25:15, 17:15)
• 20.00 (Local Time) | Estonia – Belgium 1-3 (17:25, 25:18, 21:25, 14:25)
🏐| POOL C STANDINGS (updated on this day)
1. Finland 8
2. Belgium 7
3. Denmark 6
4. Serbia 5
5. Netherlands 0
6. Estonia 0
POOL D📍 BT Arena Cluj Napoca
• 17.00 (Local Time) | Germany – Switzerland 3-1 (25:19, 25:17, 22:25, 25:21)
• 20.00 (Local Time) | Romania – Türkiye 3-1 (25:19, 25:21, 20:25, 25:18)
🏐| POOL D STANDINGS (updated on this day)
1. Germany 11
2. France 9
3. Romania 7
4. Latvia 3
5. Türkiye 3
6. Switzerland 0
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NEXT GAMES: Tuesday, September 15, 2026
POOL A📍PalaPanini Modena
• 16.00 (Local Time) | Greece – Sweden
• 21.05 (Local Time) | Czech Republic – Italy
POOL B📍Arena 8888 Sofia
• 16.00 (Local Time) | North Macedonia – Portugal
• 19.00 (Local Time) | Poland – Ukraine
POOL C📍Nokia Arena Tampere
• 17.00 (Local Time) | Belgium – Denmark
• 20.00 (Local Time) | The Netherlands – Finland
POOL D📍 BT Arena Cluj Napoca
• 17.00 (Local Time) | Latvia – Switzerland
• 20.00 (Local Time) | France – Germany
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