The Yellow Tigers also convincingly won their third pool match at the European Championship in Baku. Belgium delivered a strong and composed performance against Romania to secure a straight-sets victory. The set scores were 25-21, 25-20 and 25-17. With three consecutive wins, Belgium are already assured of a place in the round of 16. On Wednesday, the Tigers will face hosts Azerbaijan at 16:30.

For the third match in a row, head coach Kris Vansnick selected the same starting seven. He could once again rely on a fully fit 14-player squad. As in their previous matches, the Tigers experienced an evenly balanced start. Romania remained close until 5-5.

The Tigers made a strong attacking impression. Thanks to solid first contacts, Lara Nagels was able to involve all her attackers. Pauline Martin, Britt Herbots and Tea Radovic converted their opportunities efficiently and helped Belgium establish a 13-9 lead. Romania, who had already demonstrated their resilience in their opening two matches of the tournament, fought back to level the score at 16-16. The two teams remained evenly matched after that. At 19-18, Herbots took the initiative. Belgium kept their composure, stepped up their level at the decisive moment and claimed the opening set 25-21.

Belgium began the second set with plenty of courage and confidence. Britt Fransen dominated at the net and helped the Tigers establish an early 7-3 lead. Belgium’s defensive organisation was also impressive. The Tigers delivered plenty of balls perfectly to Nagels, allowing her to put all her attackers in strong scoring positions. With consistent pressure from the service line, Belgium extended their advantage to 14-10. Herbots continued to score freely and forced the Romanian head coach to call his second time-out of the set at 16-11. Romania then increased their service pressure and reduced the deficit from 20-15 to 20-17, prompting Vansnick to call his first time-out of the match. The intervention had an immediate effect, as the Tigers quickly moved ahead again at 22-17. Radovic took responsibility in attack and gave Belgium five set points at 24-19. The double substitution once again paid off, with Liese Verhelst coming off the bench to score the final point of the second set: 25-20.

With two defeats and a 2-0 deficit, Romania had their backs against the wall. They made the better start to the third set and took a 1-3 lead, but Belgium quickly erased that deficit. Herbots once again led her team from the front as the Tigers moved ahead at 8-5. Belgium were playing at a higher level and extended their advantage to 11-6 and 14-8. The Tigers managed to maintain their high standard and continued to increase the gap. At 20-13, the difference had become decisive. Nathalie Lemmens produced a clever finish to give Belgium eight match points at 24-16. Romania saved the first, but moments later Lemmens struck again to complete the victory: 25-17.

Reaction after the match

Lara Nagels: “This was our goal from the start of the tournament. There are no weak teams at a European Championship, so you have to fight hard for every victory. We are therefore very happy to have already secured our third win and qualified for the round of 16. We started the match with a lot of focus and knew that Romania were a strong team. They played five sets in each of their first two matches and showed their quality. We prepared well, started with the right focus and managed to maintain our high level throughout the entire match. That made the difference today.”

Played for Belgium

Britt Herbots (17), Nathalie Lemmens (6), Tea Radovic (11), Lara Nagels (2), Pauline Martin (18), Britt Fransen (8) and Britt Rampelberg.

Came on

Elise Van Sas, Nel Demeyer, Liese Verhelst (2) and Pauline Luyten.