The Czech Republic kicked off the European Volleyball Championship with a hard-fought victory

The Czech men’s national volleyball team secured a convincing victory in a group stage match of the 2026 European Championship. In a Group A match held in Modena, Italy, the Czech team defeated Greece 3-1 in four sets.

The Czech team got off to a strong start, taking the first two sets. In the first set, the Czechs maintained the upper hand thanks to effective play in the final stages of their attacks—25–21—and in the second set, they dominated their opponent with high accuracy at the net—25–17. In the third set, the Greek volleyball players seized the initiative toward the end of the set and narrowed the gap—23–25. However, the Greeks were unable to build on that success: in a tense fourth set, Jiří Novak’s team regained control of the match and closed it out—25–23.

The statistics confirmed the Czech team’s advantage at the net (7–4) and on serves, where the Czechs recorded 15 aces to their opponents’ 5. At the same time, the Greek team was slightly more effective in attack—58–53.

Marek Šotola was the top scorer for the winners, racking up 18 points. Lukáš Vašina added another 16 points for the Czech team. For the Greek national team, Alexandros Raptis scored 16 points.

2026 European Championship, Men. Group A. Modena (Italy)

Czech Republic – Greece – 3:1 (25:21, 25:17, 23:25, 25:23)