Poland indulged Bulgaria to an absolute 5-set classic, while Denmark couldn’t handle the Serbian hard-hitters and lost in straight sets. It’s down to the final eight of the 2013 Men’s European Volleyball Championships and both host nations Poland and Denmark are booted out of competition.

Despite the homecourt advantage, the Poles and Danes couldn’t get over the hump, although the former had a very good chance to advance to the quarterfinals but had a monumental collapse.

Poland took the first two sets with the same 25-22 scores to put Bulgaria on the brink of elimination.

However, the Bulgarians fought back and gutted out a hard-earned victory by winning the final three sets. The last two sets ended via tiebreakers in what could very well be the match of the tournament thus far.

The final score was at 22-25, 22-25, 25-20, 26-24, 18-16 for Bulgaria, which took advantage of their opponents’ 36 errors. Tsvetan Sokolov led the winners with 35 points, 30 of which are off attacks.

Co-host Denmark couldn’t get their game going against the powerhouse Serbian team, which blanked the Danes three sets to none (25-17, 25-17, 25-22). It was a balanced attack for Serbia as no less than four players scored 7 points or more led by Marko Podrascanin who finished with nine points.

Meanwhile, Russia also dominated Slovakia, 25-20, 25-14, 25-21, while Italy needed four sets to dispatch the fighting The Netherlands squad, 24-26, 25-18, 25-21, 25-18

2013 Men’s European Volleyball Championships Scores
Playoffs – Sept 24, 2013 (Tuesday)
Venues: NR Gi Arena (Aarhus, Denmark) and Hala Ergo Arena (Gdańsk/Sopot, Poland)

Italy def. Netherlands, 24-26, 25-18, 25-21, 25-18
Russia def. Slovakia, 25-20, 25-14, 25-21
Bulgaria def. Poland, 22-25, 22-25, 25-20, 26-24, 18-16
Serbia def. Denmark, 25-17, 25-17, 25-22