Olympic champions Italy had a dominant performance against Cuba in the first match of the day in Phuket, triumphing 3-0 (25-9, 25-8, 25-16). With that, Belgians and Italians got to six points and claimed the two Pool B spots in the Round of 16, leaving Slovakia and Cuba, which are yet to win sets in the tournament, with no chances of progressing.
Star outside hitter Britt Herbots led the Belgian offense against the Slovakians, contributing 21 points (18 kills, two aces, one block) in their positive result. Middle blocker Silke Van Avermaet tallied 12, with eight kills, three blocks and one ace.
“This was a really important match for us as we needed to win to qualify for the next round,” outside hitter Nel Demeyer remarked. “We have this challenging goal of getting into the top eight and we’ll fight for it. We’re working very hard and trying to use our strengths to got as far as we can.”