Daily Volleyball News - August 23: Italy stay perfect in Gothenburg

Italy maintained their perfect start to the CEV Trendyol Women’s EuroVolley 2026, while Sweden claimed another dramatic home victory in front of a record crowd.

Saturday’s other main stories included a significant injury update ahead of the Men’s European Championship, the start of preseason for Cucine Lube Civitanova and Italy’s bid for promotion at the Sitting Volleyball European Championship Division B.

Women’s EuroVolley

Italy recorded their second consecutive straight-sets victory in Pool D, defeating Montenegro 3-0 at the Scandinavium in Gothenburg.

Julio Velasco’s team won 25-13, 25-20 and 25-19, finishing the match with nine aces, five blocks and a 56% attacking efficiency.

Ekaterina Antropova led the scoring with 13 points, while Paola Egonu contributed 11 and Stella Nervini added 10.

The Azzurre dominated the opening set, responded effectively when Montenegro briefly moved ahead in the second and made full use of their squad to complete the victory in 68 minutes.

Italy remain top of the group with maximum points, having also defeated Croatia in straight sets in their opening match.

The match against Croatia attracted an average audience of 865,000 viewers and a 10.4% share on Rai 2. Sky Sport recorded an average of 156,000 viewers, with the audience approaching 300,000 during the closing stages of the third set.

Italy will next face hosts Sweden on Sunday, August 23 at 18:00. The match will be broadcast in Italy on Rai 2, Sky Sport Arena and DAZN.

Sweden prepared for the meeting by defeating Slovakia 3-2, despite allowing a two-set advantage to slip away.

A crowd of 6,220 spectators at the Scandinavium set a new Swedish attendance record for a volleyball match. Isabelle Haak scored 38 points and Anna Haak added 17 as the hosts regained control in the tie-break, winning it 15-6.

Elsewhere, Greece recovered from a 2-1 deficit to defeat Ukraine in five sets, inspired by Martha Anthouli’s 28 points.

Belgium beat Spain 3-2, while the Netherlands overcame Romania by the same score. The Czech Republic, Slovenia and Poland all recorded straight-sets victories against Austria, Germany and Hungary respectively.

Fatoumatta Sillah scored 24 points in Slovenia’s 3-0 win, while Magdalena Stysiak led Poland with 15.

Men’s EuroVolley

Turkey will be without outside hitter Ramazan Efe Mandıracı at the European Championship.

The Turkish Volleyball Federation announced that further medical examinations had shown that his right shoulder had not recovered as expected and that partial muscle damage was still present.

Mandıracı is expected to require approximately six more weeks of recovery and will continue his treatment and rehabilitation with his club.

SuperLega

Cucine Lube Civitanova will begin preparations for the 2026/27 season on Monday, August 24 at the Eurosuole Forum.

The club have planned an eight-week preseason programme, which will include joint training sessions and friendly matches against Italian and international opposition.

Five first-team players are expected to be available from the opening day: Francesco Bisotto, Davide Gardini, Giovanni Gargiulo, Alberto Polo and Davide Zoppellari. Players from the club’s academy will complete the initial training group.

Sporting director Marko Podraščanin said the immediate objective is to begin with the right mentality and lay the foundations for a season in which Lube intend to play a leading role.

Sitting Volleyball

Italy’s men’s sitting volleyball team have arrived in Brno for the European Championship Division B, which will take place from August 23 to 26.

Seven national teams will compete: Italy, the Czech Republic, France, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovenia.

The 12-player Italian squad, coached by Marcello Marchesi, are aiming to secure promotion to Division A after winning the Nerulum Cup in Potenza.

Italy will begin their campaign on Sunday with two matches, facing Latvia at 11:45 and the Czech Republic at 16:45.