Estonia closes group stage with win over hosts Finland, Slovenia gives Italy toughest test

The group stage of the men's European Volleyball Championship has concluded, and Estonia finished it with their second win in as many days. In Tampere, Estonia defeated host Finland in five sets, 22:25, 25:21, 25:22, 20:25, 15:11. The hosts took a comfortable first set, but Estonia responded strongly in the second. In the third set Estonia built an 18:14 lead, only for Finland to close the gap with a three-point run late in the set to level the match. Finland started the fourth set well, but Estonia raced to a 7:3 lead early in the fifth. Finland equalized at 9:9, but Estonia won six of the next eight rallies to seal the match.

Estonia dominated on serve, recording nine aces to Finland's four. Rene Tepan led all scorers with 24 points, including three aces. Aleks Saremaa contributed 15 points along with five of the team's nine blocks. Mert Tammearu and Timo Ander Lemus each scored 16 points. For Finland, star player Luka Martila top-scored with 22 points and three aces, while Jonas Jokela added 19 points.

With the loss, Estonia's tournament is over, while Finland moves on to face Greece in the round of 16 in Turin.

Group standings shift and Slovenia's fight

In the Tampere group, Belgium moved into first place after a 3-0 win over Serbia, led by Ferre Reggers with 16 points and three aces. Serbia will face Slovenia in the round of 16.

Slovenia, meanwhile, gave world champions Italy their toughest challenge of the tournament in a five-set home win for Italy. After losing the first two sets, Slovenia rallied to win the third and fourth, but Italy prevailed 15:9 in the decisive fifth set. Poland-born (Luxembourg-raised) player Kamil Rychlicki, who represented Luxembourg's national team until 2019, scored 13 points for Italy. Niko Mujanovic led Slovenia with 19 points.