Puerto Rico (PUR) vs. Greece (GRE) women - Pool C #56449193

Greece achieved their first FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship victory in 23 years. They managed to defeat Puerto Rico in four sets in a Pool C game in Chiang Mai on Sunday.

  • Watch the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship on VBTV

21-year-old opposite Martha Evdokia Anthouli spearheaded Grece to a 3-1 (25-19, 25-13, 23-25, 25-14) win, their first of the 2025 edition, in which the southern European team marks its second ever appearance at the World Championships, after their debut in 2002. Anthouli hammered out a match-high 27 points, leading her team on all three counts, with 22 spike kills, three kill blocks and two aces.

Outside hitters Olga Strantzali and Effrosyni Bakodimou added another 14 and 12 points, respectively. 21-year-old middle blocker Kyriaki Terzoglou also reached the double digits with 11 points.

“I think that Puerto Rico just didn’t play that well in the first two sets. They came back and played amazingly in the third. So, we had to push more in the fourth set. It was a difficult game, but we were very focused throughout the match,” Greece’s captain Strantzali told VBTV. “I am very happy! It was our first win at the World Championships after so many years. We definitely deserve to be here. I am so proud of my team. We came here as the last seed, but we proved to everyone that we are not the last here and we can do something big. Now we hope to advance. I am excited about the next match. We have a very important game against France. It is going to be difficult, for sure, but I believe in my team.”

Outside hitter Valeria Vazquez was Puerto Rico’s most prolific player with 14 points, while 15-year-old opposite Decelise Champion delivered 12.

In the next Pool C match, Brazil will take on France at 19:30 local time (12:30 UTC).