Azerbaijan book eighthfinal spot with third win, Netherlands shift gears with convincing shutout of Portugal

Hosts Azerbaijan became the first Pool C team to reserve its spot in the eighthfinals of CEV Trendyol EuroVolley 2026. In a hard-fought five-setter against Romania on Monday in Baku, they celebrated their third win in three matches played, while their opponents had to settle for their second tie-breaker loss. Earlier in the day, the Netherlands achieved a convincing win in their second game in Baku. After a five-set victory over Romania in their first match on Saturday, they managed a straight-set win over Portugal on Monday, leaving the opponents winless in three matches played.

Pool C: Netherlands v Portugal 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-23)

The first set offered a competitive battle with the gap swinging from three points Portugal’s way to two points the Netherlands’ way until it was all level at 21-21. After that, however, the Dutch scored four points in a row, with sub-in outside hitter Marrit Jasper behind the serving line. That series was crowned with a kill block by another outside – Laura Jansen – for the 25-21 set winner.

In the second set, once again the lead went back and forth, but after 12-10 Portugal’s way, the Netherlands produced an eight-point series on middle blocker Indy Baijens’s turn to serve and broke away with an 18-12 advantage. Opposite Nicole van de Vosse continued to show a prolific performance in attack. A first-tempo hit by Baijens delivered set point at 24-17. A moment later, Van de Vosse closed the set with a successful swing for 25-18.

After an even first part of set three, the Dutch broke away again, running off with 17-10 lead, with Van de Vosse continuing to excel on all scoring counts. Portugal, however, were not ready to fold just yet. They battled their way back to a 21-21 tie to prompt an interesting epilog. But the Netherlands remained more focused in the money time. After a double substitution, sub-in opposite Elles Dambrink scored a drop shot for a 24-22 match point, which she converted herself with a powerful block-out kill for 25-23.

In only three sets of play, Van de Vosse piled up a match-high 25 points towards the victory. She raised four kill blocks, fired two aces and registered a 59% success rate in attack. Her Portuguese counterpart Amanda Cavalcanti was the only other player to reach the double digits in the game with a total of 11 points, also including four stuffs.

Pool C: Azerbaijan v Romania 3-2 (25-21, 25-23, 15-25, 22-25, 15-8)

After 7-7 in the first set, Azerbaijan broke away with four points in a row and never allowed Romania to catch up through the end of the set. Playing as an opposite, Azerbaijani star Polina Rahimova, spearheaded the offense. Towards the end of the set, she fired two aces in a row for 23-18. Middle blocker and captain Ayshan Abdulazimova brought in set point at 24-20, converted to a 25-21 close with an unforced error from Romania.

Romania reacted by taking control early into the second set. With sub-in opposite Didona Zadorojnai now among the starters and leading the attack, they managed to open a gap as wide as six points. But after 12-17, the home team produced an impressive series of eight points in a row on outside hitter Margarita Stepanenko’s serving turn, while her cross-court teammate Yelizaveta Ruban was spectacularly taking care of things at the net, to flip the score to a 20-17 lead, a blow the Romanians could not recover from. Ruban delivered set point with a successful swing for 24-22, while Rahimova closed the set at 25-23 to double her team’s lead in the match.

Romania stormed the third set on a 6-1 run, and this time, they did not allow the opponents to come back. Azerbaijan made too many unforced errors, while the Romanian serve started bringing in some direct points. The set point came with a monster block by Zadorojnai for 24-15 and middle blocker Andreea Cimpu turned it into a 25-15 set win with her third ace of the match.

In a nip-and-tuck fourth set, the lead went back and forth until it was 22-22 in the money time. Opposite Ioana Baciu, who was now back on the court, nailed the next point with a powerful hit. Then, outside hitter Rodica Buterez put Romania at set point with a successful swing, and finally, sub-in Carolina Radu aced for 25-22 to prompt a tie-breaker. 

Inspired by the fantastic support of the well over four thousand fans in the stands, Azerbaijan came back for the fifth set in full force, swiftly took control of the scoreboard and never let go again. Rahimova shined in attack to lead the team to victory. She scored six spike points in the tie-breaker alone, including the one that put her team at a 14-7 match point and the one that converted it to a 15-8 match win.

Polina Rahimova fired three aces and raised four kill blocks towards a match-high 26 points. Yelizaveta Ruban piled up 24, including two stuffs. Didona Zadorojnai, who was a starter for Romania only in the middle three sets, led the team’s scorers with 19 points (two aces, two blocks). Rodica Buterez added another 18 (three stuffs, one ace).

Tuesday’s fifth competition day in Pool C will feature Romania against Belgium at 15:30 local time, and the Netherlands against Spain at 18:30.