A thrilling five-set battle made the fans of both sides bite their nails all through an extended tiebreak before those who cheered for Slovakia could celebrate with a sweet victory over Spain. The two teams are considered by many as head-to-head rivals in the race for the eighthfinal spots.

Slovakia came back from a five-set deficit to narrowly win the first set. After several lead switches in the second, it was once again Slovakia that came out on top with a 25-23 hand. Coach Fernando Muñoz Benitez made a couple of changes to his starting line-up for the following sets to help change the course of the match. Five points in a row gave Spain the control of the third set. Riding on the momentum, they crushed their opponents in the fourth to level the score and prompt a deciding set. Slovakia’s Peter Ondrovic scored one ace and one blocking point in the tiebreak and that was what made the difference in the otherwise completely even stat sheet between the two sides.

Opposites Andres Jesus Villena and Peter Michalovic engaged in a spectacular scoring race throughout the match, with the Spaniard emerging way ahead with a fantastic 34 points to his name against “only” 26 for the Slovak.