MODENA. The Italian men's volleyball team secured its fourth victory in as many matches at the European Championships. De Giorgi's Azzurri came from behind to defeat the Czech Republic 3-1 (25-23, 16-25, 20-25, 25-20) with a strong performance, consolidating their top spot in Group A with 12 points, having mathematically advanced to the round of 16 following their victory against Slovakia.
Today's victory was a substantial one for Giannelli and his teammates, achieved at the end of an intense and hard-fought match that entertained the Modena crowd (a sold-out 4,200 spectators) against a team that finished fourth at the 2025 World Cup. For the match, coach Ferdinando De Giorgi has chosen the starting six of Giannelli-Romanò, Lavia and Bottolo as spikers, Mati and Sanguinetti as centers, with Balaso returning as libero. The final match of the group is scheduled for Thursday 17 September at 9:05 pm against Slovenia, who have so far achieved two wins (Slovakia and Sweden) and one defeat (Greece) and are currently in second place in the standings.
SCORESHEET ITALY-CZECH REPUBLIC 3-1 (23-25, 25-16, 25-20, 25-20)
ITALY: Lavia 15, Mati 9, Giannelli 1, Bottolo 22, Sanguinetti 7, Romanò 24, Balaso (L). Galassi 1. N/A: Laurenzano, Michieletto, Sbertoli, Sani, Rychlicki, Porro. Coach: De Giorgi.
CZECH REPUBLIC: Bartunek, Drahonovsky 4, Klimes 5, Indra 12, Vasina 12, Klajmon 6, Monik (L). Pavlicek, Benda 7, Sotola 5, Roman 1. Ne: Svoboda, Pastrnak, Zajicek. All. Novak.
Set Duration: 27', 24', 28', 28'’
Italy: 14 a, 23 bs, 6 mv, 29 et
Czech Republic: 2 a, 16 bs, 3 mv, 19 et
Spectators: 4487
