Two more quarter-final pairs at the European Women's Volleyball Championship became known after Monday's round of 16 matches. Poland will face the Netherlands, and world and Olympic champion Italy will play against Sweden. The tournament is held in Turkey, Czech Republic, Azerbaijan, and Sweden.
Netherlands – Slovenia 3:2 (25:18, 19:25, 25:21, 29:31, 15:9)
The most dramatic match of the day was offered by the Netherlands and Slovenia in Istanbul. The "Tulips" had to go through five sets after missing four opportunities to close out the match in the fourth set.
The Netherlands took a 2:1 lead in sets, but the Slovenians saved four match points and snatched the dramatic fourth set with a 31:29 score.
The missed opportunities did not discourage the Dutch. They started the tie-break trailing 0:2, but then took control. At the change of ends, they were already leading 8:5, reached 12:6, and closed out the match with 15:9. The match lasted 149 minutes.
Els Dambrink was the top scorer for the Netherlands with 24 points, while Lorena Lorber Fijok scored 22 for Slovenia.
Poland – Portugal 3:0 (25:18, 25:17, 25:23)
Poland advanced to the quarter-finals after a clean victory over Portugal, who reached the knockout stage of a European Championship for the first time in their history.
The Portuguese created significantly more problems than the final score suggests. They led 8:3 in the second set, but Poland equalized at 13:13 and then took 12 of the next 16 points for a 25:17 win.
The challenge in the third set was even more serious. Portugal started with a 5:0 lead, later led 13:10, and then 20:16. Four consecutive points for the Polish team, ending with an ace by Maja Koput, restored parity. In the decisive moments, Poland showed more class and closed out the match at 25:23.
Magdalena Stysiak finished with 20 points, and Julita Piasecka added 11. Alice Clemente and Julia Kavalenka were the top scorers for Portugal with 10 points each.
In the quarter-finals, Poland will face the Netherlands.
Italy – Bulgaria 3:0 (25:18, 25:13, 25:13)
Bulgaria's participation in EuroVolley 2026 ended against world and Olympic champion Italy in Brno.
The "Lionesses" offered the most serious resistance in the first set. Bulgaria even led 8:7 at the first technical timeout, before Italy turned it around to 16:14 and 21:17 and closed the set 25:18.
In the second set, the Italians already established clear superiority – 8:5, 16:7, and 21:11 on their way to 25:13. The third set developed similarly. Italy led 8:3 and 16:10, and at 25:13, they ended the match after only 67 minutes of play.
Ekaterina Antropova was the big figure for Italy with 18 points, including 6 aces and 2 blocks. Paola Egonu added 14, and Alexandra Milanova was the top scorer for Bulgaria with 12 points.
Czech Republic – Sweden 0:3 (19:25, 23:25, 21:25)
Sweden eliminated hosts Czech Republic in the last round of 16 match in Brno and qualified among the top eight at EuroVolley 2026, with Isabelle Haak being the key player in the match.
The Czechs started strongly and led 8:5 in the first set, but then their game fell apart. The hosts experienced serious problems in reception and attack, where they finished the first set with only 29% efficiency. Sweden turned the score around, opened a seven-point lead at 21:14, and calmly reached 25:19.
The second set also seemed under the control of the Scandinavians, who, after strong block play, took a 19:14 lead. However, Czechia did not give up and managed to equalize at 22:22. Then Haak took over again. The Swedish star scored three points in the final phase, including the one for 25:23.
The hosts got another opportunity to bring intrigue back into the third set. Czechia led 11:8, and then reached 19:16. However, their own errors allowed Sweden to come back. At 21:21, everything was open again, but the Scandinavians won the next four rallies and finished the match with 25:21.
Isabelle Haak finished with an impressive 31 points in just three sets.She received 53 balls in attack and recorded nearly 60% success rate. Even more impressively, Haak alone scored more points than all her other teammates combined.
Monika Brancuska was the top scorer for Czechia with 16 points. Anna Hellvig added 10 for Sweden, Michaela Mlejnkova finished with 9 for the hosts, and Anna Haak scored 8 for the winners. The match was played in front of 5021 spectators in a full hall in Brno.
In the quarterfinals, Sweden will face Italy. The two teams already played against each other in Group D of EuroVolley 2026, when the Italians won 3:0.

photo:cev.eu