Latvia's volleyball team falls to Germany at European Championship

Latvia's men's national volleyball team suffered a defeat in their second Group D match at the European Championship, losing 0-3 (20:25, 20:25, 16:25) to Germany on Friday in Cluj-Napoca.

Germany started the first set strongly, but a block from captain Kristaps Šmits helped Latvia level the score, and a point from Jānis Eduards Medenis briefly put the Latvians ahead. Germany dominated the second half of the set to take it. In the second set Latvia again led early before Germany equalized and pulled away at the end. Germany opened the third set with a dominant run and won comfortably, though Latvia's reserve players managed to narrow the gap somewhat before losing the set.

Setter Markuss Vensbergs made his tournament debut in the match, while young player Tomass Silavs, who had debuted for the national team on Wednesday against Romania, scored his first point of the tournament in the third set.

In both previous European Championship meetings between the two teams, in 1995 and 2021, Latvia lost to Germany in four sets.

On Wednesday Latvia won their opening Group D match against Romania 3-1, while Germany beat Turkey 3-1 on Thursday. Latvia currently ranks 46th in the world rankings, compared to Germany's 11th place.

Latvia will continue Group D play against Olympic champions France on Sunday, Switzerland on Tuesday, and Turkey on Wednesday. The top four teams in the group advance to the round of 16.

The European Championship is being held from September 9 to 26 across four countries - Bulgaria, Romania, Finland and Italy. Latvia's group stage matches take place in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, under head coach Uģis Krastiņš.