Rookies Czechia beat Türkiye in an incredible match in Apeldoorn

Czechia secured the most sensational victory of their Volleyball Nations League rookie campaign on Friday in Apeldoorn, and it couldn’t have happened in a better moment for them as their triumph over Türkiye has kept the Europeans alive in the race to qualify for the tournament’s Finals.

Beating the reigning European champions, who entered the match in third place in the FIVB World Rankings, alone would already have been a massive feat for the Czechs, but the fact that they did it after going down 25-4 in a record-setting third set made it even more incredible – they ended up triumphing 3-1 (25-22, 25-21, 4-25, 25-20) at the Omnisport Apeldoorn, starring in arguably the biggest upset of this year’s edition of the tournament.

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Ranked 13^th in the world, Czechia had their backs against the wall against the Turkish as they needed a victory to keep their hopes of qualifying for the Finals. With the three points earned, they are now the first team outside the qualification zone in the VNL standings, ranking ninth, with five wins and 13 points, and two more matches to play. Türkiye are fifth with eight wins and 22 points, and are already qualified.

After playing with tremendous consistency and poise in the first two sets, the Czechs struggled mightily in the third set. They allowed their opponents to score the first nine points of the set and never found their rhythm, going down 16-1 and 20-3 before the Turkish confirmed their 25-4 victory, establishing the largest set win in a VNL match.

Opposite Monika Brancuská was the main figure of Czechia’s fantastic victory, leading the team offensively with a 21-point performance, built with 19 kills, one block and one ace.

“It was an incredible match, I don’t even know what to say,” Brancuská reacted. “I’m full of emotions because we didn’t really expect this. We fought for every ball and I’m really happy that we made it. This team is amazing, and I’m really happy to be a part of it.”

Middle blocker Magdaléna Jehlářová, who registered 13 points with seven kills and six blocks, and team captain and outside hitter Michaela Mlejnková got 12, with ten kills and two blocks, were also important pieces in the unexpected result.

Türkiye had opposite Melissa Vargas and Ebrar Karakurt contributing 15 points each. Outside hitter Saliha Şahin also got to double digits, tallying 11 points, with nine kills and two blocks.

“We made a lot of mistakes today and we could never recover from it,” middle blocker Sinead Jack-Kısal, who played her first match with the Turkish national team, said. “And it’s never easy to play against a team that defends so well. We have to learn from this, but we have two more matches ahead of us and we have to continue to fight.”

Serbia sweep Belgium and continue to rise

The first match of the day in Apeldoorn saw reigning world champions Serbia get another victory in the tournament, sweeping Belgium 3-0 (26-24, 25-19, 25-16) and getting more separation from the bottom of the standings.

Volleyball Nations League 2025: full schedule and results

On Saturday, Czechia and the Netherlands will meet in the first match of the day, at 15:00 local time (13:00 GMT), with Türkiye and Italy following at 19:00 (17:00 GMT).

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