Italy finished top of Pool A after surviving a five-set battle with Slovenia in Modena, while Greece secured third place with a convincing victory over Slovakia.
With all four teams advancing from the pool already determined, Thursday’s matches settled the final standings and confirmed the eighthfinal matchups in Torino. Italy will face Denmark, Slovenia take on Serbia, Greece meet Finland and Czechia play Belgium.
Greece completed their Pool A campaign with a third consecutive victory, defeating Slovakia in four sets. Markou finished as the match’s leading scorer with 21 points, including 20 kills at 69% attacking efficiency. Pitakoudis contributed 17 points, while Erik Gulak and Julius Firkal scored 14 apiece for Slovakia.
The final match of the pool produced considerably more drama as Italy overcame Slovenia in five sets to preserve their unbeaten record.
Italy took control by winning the opening two sets, with Daniele Lavia and Yuri Romano prominent in attack and from the serve line. Slovenia, despite fielding a changed lineup, refused to surrender.
The visitors saved match points in an absorbing third set before Klemen Šen’s block completed a 29-27 win. Slovenia carried that momentum into the fourth, taking it 25-19 to force a tiebreak.
Italy responded strongly in the decider, racing into an early advantage and capitalising on Slovenian service errors. Pardo Mati added an important ace before Kamil Rychlicki delivered the final attack to seal the victory.
Rychlicki led Italy with 13 points despite entering in the third set, while Lavia scored 12 and Romano added 11. Nik Mujanović was Slovenia’s leading scorer with 19 points, followed by Šen with 16.
The result left Italy as the only unbeaten team in Pool A and confirmed the hosts as group winners ahead of the knockout phase in Torino.
Results
Slovakia – Greece 1-3 (17-25, 25-21, 22-25, 17-25)
Italy – Slovenia 3-2 (25-19, 25-22, 27-29, 19-25, 15-9)