Italy march into EuroVolley quarterfinals

The race for the final two quarterfinal tickets at the CEV Trendyol EuroVolley 2026 Women in Brno continued on Monday. Italy, powered by an outstanding performance from Ekaterina Antropova, showed no mercy to Bulgaria, who tried to challenge the world champions. Their efforts were not enough, however, as Italy delivered an almost flawless performance, with Antropova tallying an impressive 18 points, including six aces. Later on Monday at the Brno Exhibition Centre, the two co-hosts of this edition - Czechia and Sweden - will lock horns for the final quarterfinal spot available in Brno.

Italy vs Bulgaria 3-0 (25-18, 25-13, 25-13)

The unbeaten winners of Pool D, Italy opened their campaign in Brno against Bulgaria, who had finished fourth in their pool. Despite the difference in their pool-stage results, Bulgaria started the match bravely, with successful attacks from Aleksandra Milanova and Tsvetelina Ilieva sending a clear message that they would not make things easy for the world champions. Italy responded quickly, but initially struggled to create a significant gap. Their first two-point advantage came after an ace from Ekaterina Antropova, before the Italians gradually began to take control. With Sarah Fahr on the service line and Paola Egonu, who scored 7 points in the set, delivering powerful attacks, Italy extended their lead to 19-14. Bulgaria, however, refused to give up. Led by Milanova, who also contributed 7 points in the opener, they fought back to reduce the gap to 19-17. Coach Julio Velasco immediately reacted with a time-out, and the move proved decisive as Italy quickly regained control of the set. Antropova (7 points, including 3 aces) sealed it with another ace for a 25-18 victory.

Although Bulgaria continued to fight, Italy took control early in the second set, racing to a commanding 12-5 lead during a strong service run from Sarah Fahr. Ekaterina Antropova (5 points) and Paola Egonu (4 points) helped their team extend the advantage further to 16-7. With Italy firmly in control of the match, coach Julio Velasco decided to rotate his squad. Merit Adigwe made the most of her opportunity, recording a perfect 100% success rate in attack while contributing 4 points. Antropova eventually sealed the set with a spike for a convincing 25-13 win.

Italy carried their momentum into the third set, opening the decisive part of the match in convincing fashion to race to an 8-3 lead. Bulgaria coach Marcello Abbondanza tried to stop the Italian run with a time-out, but the world champions continued to extend their advantage to 13-5. Bulgaria refused to give up, however, and fought back to reduce the gap to 14-10. The brief comeback proved to be a wake-up call for Italy, who immediately regained control. With Ekaterina Antropova on the service line, including two aces in the run, the Italians raced away again to an 18-10 advantage and confidently marched towards their ticket to the quarterfinals, eventually sealing the match with a 25-13 set win.

Ekaterina Antropova topped the scorers’ chart with an impressive 18 points, including six aces, two blocks and 10 kills at a 48% success rate. Paola Egonu added 14 points, while Aleksandra Milanova led Bulgaria with 12.