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Czechia stayed unbeaten throughout their campaign in women’s EuroVolley 2021 qualification Pool F. Without key players like Michaela Mlejnkova, Andrea Kossanyiova or Magdalena Jeharova on the court on Sunday in Zenica, they mastered a 3-0 (25-18, 26-24, 25-20) victory over Latvia to leave the opponents winless.

Early into the first set, Czechia opened a four-point lead, but quickly lost it to a Latvian comeback for 7-7. That was the last time in the set the score was level. The Czechs broke away again and cruised on until Barbora Purchartova’s kill block fixed the convincing 25-18 win. Stepping up their efforts on all fronts, Latvia had the early lead in set two. Even after Czechia regained control, the Latvians managed to trail close behind and even pushed the set into overtime before eventually succumbing at 26-24. Latvia kept battling on in the next set, but the Czechs were just too strong for them and had the upper hand, with Eva Hodanova hammering the overpass to put the ball on the floor for the winning point at 25-20.

Latvia’s Marta Levinska was the best scorer of the match on 12 points. Pavlina Simanova tallied six kill blocks towards a total of 11 points for Czechia and was honoured with the MVP award.

Ioannis Athanasopoulos, Czech Republic coach: “I am very pleased with this match. We gave a chance to the players who have played less so far in the tournament. We did a great job against Latvia.”

Pavel Selivanovs, coach of Latvia: “I think this was our best match in the qualifiers. At times, it looked extremely good.”