Italy beats Slovakia 3-1 and qualifies for the round of 16 of the men's European volleyball championships

Italy achieved their third consecutive victory at the men's European Volleyball Championships, beating Slovakia 3-1 (partials 25-17, 25-27, 25-10, 25-19) at the PalaPanini in Modena. After the double 3-0 against Sweden and Greece, a slightly more painful victory arrived, but which mathematically qualifies them for the round of 16 which they will play in Turin. After a first set won quite easily, some difficulties emerged in the second, when serving errors multiplied, a fundamental that had been a certainty in the first two matches. Italy also suffered a bit at the block, ending up losing the first set of the tournament. "It was a tiring match, but we did well to bring it home on - commented Juri Romanò - In the second we played very badly, both at bat and emotionally. Then we found our concentration again and started again". In fact, the reaction was immediate. Italy took command of the operations and continued to put down important balls and at 18-8 Alessandro Michieletto scored the 22-10 point with a winning block. The set then ended 25-10.

In the quarter, Porro replaced Lavia and the Azzurri were ahead with Slovakia in their wake (7-6, 8-7). In the central phase the Azzurri managed to shake off their opponents with Bottolo scoring the score with an ace (14-8). At this point the Azzurri flew towards the activated victory at 25-19. Tomorrow is a day of rest from the matches for Italy, who will take the field again at the PalaPanini in Modena on Tuesday 15 September (at 9.05pm) against the Czech Republic. The Czech team has so far achieved a record of 2 victories in as many matches played.