The teams of the Czech Republic and Belarus clashed in the last match of the Golden European League 2021 in Prague. Due to the great physical workload of the players, for whom this match was already a sixth game in seven days, Giannis Athanasopoulos decided to give the Czech team substitutes a chance to gain national team experience. The Belarusians were giving the hosts a hard time from the beginning of the match. However, the Czech volleyball national team came back and levelled the match at 2-2. The hosts ran out of strength in the fifth set and the Belarusians claimed the victory. The result keeps Belarus in the third position at the end of competition in Pool C.

• Belarus led throughout first two sets, when Czech Republic tied the score leading up to a tie-break

• Lucie Nova scored whooping 29 points for Czech Republic, becoming the best scorer in the women’s competition today

• Hanna Davyskiba scored 19 points for Belarus

• Both teams performed well in block, with Belarus scoring 13 points and Czech Republic securing 16 points in this element

• Belarus performed great at the service line, scoring 12 aces collectively

Giannis Athanasopoulos, coach of Czech Republic: „Today I decided to give a chance to players who have not been involved in the games so far. At first they were nervous, but I'm proud of how they fought and led the match to the fifth set. The result could have been happier, but the girls showed me that I can count on them in the upcoming matches.“

Yuliya Miniuk, middle blocker of Belarus: „I think it was good for the last match. The spectators had to like the five sets and we are glad we are finishing this tournament with a win.“