A clear-cut winner in a stacked Pool B
Analysis
Pool B was arguably the toughest pool of the tournament, with three of the world’s top-ranked volleyball national teams in Italy, Slovenia, & Bulgaria being drawn. Young up-and-coming Belarus & the hometown Czech team in the pool as well meant that there would be few easy matches for any of these players. Let’s look back and see how it all shook out.
#1 Italy: 5-0 | 12 pts
Seeing Italy at the top of a pool standings in a European Championships is not a surprise; they have been a volleyball powerhouse for longer than most of us have been alive. What is surprising however, is that they are playing this well during a rebuilding phase of the program. With 10 players on the roster age 22 or younger, many expected there to be some growing pains involved in this edition of EuroVolley. However, due to the mature play of the prospects and the leadership of Simon Giannelli, they are ahead of schedule and are a medal threat.
#2: Slovenia: 3-2 | 9 pts
Things started off shakily for the 4th place Volleyball Nations League squad with an unexpected loss against the home team Czechia. They brushed off that defeat quickly though, winning three in a row in convincing fashion. The offense is less centred around star outside hitter Klemen Cebulj than their last few tournaments, with more of a balance for the wing spikers. A 0-3 loss against Italy to end their pool matches means they will have to return to form to make another deep EuroVolley run.
#3 Bulgaria: 3-2 | 8 pts
Although they finished 3rd place in the pool, it took until the very last match for Bulgaria to qualify to the playoffs. Part of that can be blamed on their difficult pool, but the communication & coordination on Bulgaria hasn’t looked as cohesive as it has in the past. However Tsvetan Sokolov has finally looked like he has warmed up to his usual elite self, while outside hitters Martin Atanasov & Todor Skrimov are some of the tournament’s best blockers & servers respectively. If they can shore up some of their reception issues, they will be a difficult matchup in the eighth finals.
#4: Czech Republic: 2-3 | 7 pts
Despite the home arena advantage, Czechia was no guarantee to make it out of the pool phase due to the difficulty of the group. Their chances improved dramatically however with the opening day stunner against Slovenia. The biggest story for Czechia has been the outstanding play of Lukas Vasina, who has rejunivated this team and scored 4.07 points per set on 36% spiking efficiency. Their reward for playoff qualification is a steep uphill battle against Olympic champions France, but with the crowd’s momentum behind them a sliver of a chance remains.
#5: Belarus: 2-3 | 6 pts
Even though they didn’t achieve their goal of the eighth finals, Belarus can’t be upset with their play during this tournament. The two stars of this team, Vladislav Davyskiba & Vladislav Babkevich, were born after the year 2000, and their youth showed itself at times. There were some bright spots of the tournament, including a win over the Czech Republic & a 13 for 22 attacking performance for Babkevich in the finale. This group is only at the beginning of their EuroVolley journey and will be a rising force in European Volleyball over the next decade.
#6 Montenegro: 0-5 | 0 pts
With the competition level as high as it is at EuroVolley, there are bound to be teams that struggle. In Pool B, that was Montenegro, who didn’t manage to win any points against the tough group. That is not to say that there weren’t any good moments however. Tight sets against Czechia and Italy proved that this team can play at the highest level in spurts. However, they will need to improve their ball control and attacking if they want to win consistently at the next level.
