Alan Nine
Italy continued their perfect EuroVolley campaign with a commanding round-of-16 victory over Bulgaria and will now face Sweden for a place in the semi-finals.
Italian beach volleyball also celebrated victories in both tournaments at the Beach Pro Tour Futures in Modena, while Poland completed an unbeaten campaign at the Hubert Jerzy Wagner Memorial on home soil.
Women’s EuroVolley
Italy defeated Bulgaria 3-0 in Brno to record their sixth consecutive victory at the CEV Trendyol Women’s EuroVolley 2026.
Julio Velasco’s team won 25-18, 25-13 and 25-13, taking control with sustained pressure from the service line after a competitive start to the match.
Ekaterina Antropova led Italy with 18 points, while Paola Egonu contributed 14.
Italy finished with 12 aces and eight blocks, compared with just one ace and one block for Bulgaria, and completed the victory in 67 minutes.
The result sets up a quarter-final rematch with Sweden at the BVV Exhibition Centre in Brno on Wednesday, September 2 at 19:00.
Italy defeated Sweden 3-0 during the pool stage in Gothenburg, but Wednesday’s match will decide which team advances to the semi-finals in Istanbul.
Sweden secured their place in the last eight with a 3-0 victory over co-hosts the Czech Republic, winning 25-19, 25-23 and 25-21.
Isabelle Haak scored 31 points, all from attacks, as Sweden reached the European Championship quarter-finals for only the second time in their history.
The Swedish team recovered from deficits in both the second and third sets before completing the victory in straight sets.
Elsewhere, the Netherlands came through a five-set contest against Slovenia, winning 25-18, 19-25, 25-21, 29-31 and 15-9.
Poland defeated Portugal 3-0, winning 25-18, 25-17 and 25-23, and will now face the Netherlands in the quarter-finals.
The winners of that match will meet either Italy or Sweden in the semi-finals.
Beach Volleyball
Italian teams won both titles at the Beach Pro Tour Futures in Modena.
In the women’s final, Valentina Gottardi and Reka Orsi Toth defeated Dutch pair Van Vegten and De Groot 2-0, winning 21-11 and 21-12 to complete a dominant tournament in Piazza Roma.
Tiziano Andreatta and Raoul Acerbi claimed the men’s title with a 2-0 victory over fellow Italians Marco Di Felice and Davide Borraccino, winning 21-17 and 21-15.
Pelloia and Mancinelli took bronze in the women’s competition, while Ulisse and Spadoni finished third in the men’s tournament.
International
Poland won the Hubert Jerzy Wagner Memorial for the 12th time after completing the four-team tournament in Krakow with three victories from three matches.
The hosts recovered from losing the opening set to defeat France 3-1, winning 22-25, 25-17, 25-15 and 25-20 in their final match.
Poland had previously beaten Slovenia 3-2 and the United States 3-1.
France finished second, followed by the United States in third and Slovenia in fourth.
Bartosz Bołądź was named the tournament’s most valuable player and also received the award for best attacker.
Men’s EuroVolley
A further 700 tickets have been made available for the opening match of the CEV Enel Men’s EuroVolley 2026 between Italy and Sweden.
The match will be played in Piazza del Plebiscito in Naples on Thursday, September 10 at 21:05.
Tickets are also still available for matches in the other Italian host cities.
Modena will stage pool matches, Turin will host fixtures in the round of 16 and quarter-finals, while the Unipol Forum in Assago will stage the semi-finals and medal matches on September 25 and 26.
