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Portugal celebrated their first on-the-court win in women’s EuroVolley 2021 qualification Pool B on Friday in Tbilisi to stay in contention for the top two spots in the pool. They mastered a 3-0 (25-19, 25-15, 25-16) shutout of hosts Georgia, who skipped the first round-robin tournament in Matosihnos to lose all three of their games by forfeit. Losing the first match of the second tournament in straight sets also meant they lost all mathematical chances to qualify.

The match started well for Georgia and they took an early 4-1 lead. It did not last long. Portugal quickly caught up, gained control, and pushing strongly in offence, cruised on to a convincing win. Julia Kavalenka’s off-the-block hit closed the first set at 25-19. Portugal stormed into the second set on a 4-0 run. The home team got back to within one at 9-10, but never quite managed to catch up. Portugal broke away again to open a wide gap. A first-tempo attack by Aline Rodrigues put an end to the set at an emphatic 25-15. With Rodrigues delivering three aces, the third set offered no change in the balance of powers on the court. The Portuguese blockers also chipped in substantially towards another landslide, 25-16 with sub-in Ines Pereira putting away the winner with a spike.

Portugal’s Julia Kavalenka and Amanda Cavalcanti scored 14 apiece to top the charts of the match.