The Yellow Tigers were unable to win their second match of the Volleyball Nations League in Nanjing. Against a strong and well organised Czech side, Belgium were forced to chase the score for almost the entire match. Czechia eventually claimed a 0-3 win: 20-25, 22-25 and 15-25.

Belgium had a difficult start and immediately found themselves 1-6 down in the opening set. The Tigers struggled to find solutions against the Czech organisation and repeatedly ran into a solid block. Czechia recorded six kill blocks in the first set alone and stayed in control through 6-12, 9-16 and 12-19. Belgium fought back in the closing stages and reduced the gap to 20-23, but the comeback came too late. Czechia took the first set 20-25.

Czechia also made the better start in the second set. At 1-4, head coach Kris Vansnick reacted quickly and brought Janne Deleu and Lara Nagels onto the court. The Yellow Tigers kept fighting and gradually worked their way back into the set. At 15-15, everything seemed possible again, but Czechia immediately responded and moved ahead to 15-19. Substitute Britt Fransen brought Belgium back to 18-19 with a block, but the Tigers were unable to take control of the set. Czechia held on to their lead and doubled their advantage with a 22-25 set win.

Fransen, Deleu and Nagels remained on court at the start of the third set. This time Belgium started well and took a 3-2 lead, but Czechia quickly took over again. Through 4-10 and 7-14, the Czechs once again pushed the Tigers into a chasing role. Belgium tried to turn the tide with substitutions, including Van Sas and Demeyer, but Czechia remained the stronger team in every aspect of the game. The third set went convincingly to Czechia, 15-25.

The Yellow Tigers had to acknowledge the superiority of a team that was better organised and more efficient today. There is little time to dwell on the defeat, as Thailand awaits tomorrow. That match starts at 9:00.

Charlotte Krenicky remained sidelined today with a foot injury. No risks will be taken this week and she will be further examined in Belgium.

Head coach Kris Vansnick: “We have to take the right lessons from this kind of match. It is true that we are currently dealing with some physical issues and that we lacked some solutions today, but that cannot be an excuse. This is also the reality of the VNL. Every team has to deal with this. We have to keep working and find our Belgian spirit and Tiger DNA again, because we need that to stay in the VNL. What disappointed me most today was our defence. There were moments where we could have picked up the ball in defence and then played the counter attack. At the same time, credit to Czechia as well. They played a very strong match, were well prepared and brought a lot of experience. This is an important lesson for us. We should not only look at the positive points, but especially at the working points. Tomorrow is another day.”

Pauline Martin: “Czechia played a very strong match and brought exactly what we expected. We were basically chasing the score the whole time and we did not manage to really come back. Today, we could not show what we showed in our first match. There are still many things we have to work on, but tomorrow we get another chance.”

Played for Belgium: Herbots (14), Martin (9), Lemmens (2), Demeyer (5), Koulberg (2), Van Sas (4), libero: Rampelberg.

Substitutes: Fransen (3), Nagels (1), Deleu (2) and Debouck.