Weekend Recap: EuroVolley and the AVC Continental Championship Both Get Off the Ground Right on Script

Volleyball fans had two continents' worth of action to track this weekend, and for the most part, the results lined up with what the form charts predicted. Pool play opened at EuroVolley 2026 across four European cities, while the AVC Women's Continental Championship got underway in Tianjin with the usual mix of straight-set statements and a few tighter finishes. Here's what actually happened over the opening two rounds.

Turkey and Poland Set the Early Pace in Pool A

The host nation did exactly what a defending champion is supposed to do on opening night. Turkey swept Latvia 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-16) in front of a packed Sinan Erdem crowd, needing just over an hour to put the result beyond doubt. It was the kind of businesslike win that doesn't make headlines on its own, but it kept Turkey's title defense exactly on track.

Poland made its own statement a day later, handling Hungary without dropping a set. Combined with Slovenia's comfortable win over Germany, the early picture in Pool A looks a lot like the preseason expectation: Turkey and Poland are the two teams to beat, and everyone else is jockeying for the remaining spots in the top four.

Serbia Opens with Authority, Czechia Keeps Pace at Home

Pool B in Brno delivered one of the weekend's cleaner statements. Serbia dismantled Austria 3-0, dropping Austria to 0-2 to start the tournament after the co-hosts followed up their opening loss with another straight-set defeat, this time 3-0 to Czechia on Saturday. For a Serbian program that's spent much of 2025 in a rebuilding phase, the opening scoreline was a reminder of why oddsmakers still list them among the tournament's genuine contenders, whatever the current world ranking says.

Elsewhere in the group, Bulgaria opened with a straight-set win over Ukraine, and Greece bounced back from an opening loss to Czechia with a comeback win over Ukraine on day two. Six teams, two rounds in, and the group is starting to sort itself the way most pundits expected, Serbia and Czechia out front, with Bulgaria and Ukraine fighting for the next tier down.

Netherlands Survive a Scare, Belgium Gets Off the Mark

Pool C in Baku produced the weekend's most nervy finish. The Netherlands needed a full five sets to get past Romania, a result that's a reminder that "favorite" doesn't mean "comfortable" in a pool this tightly packed. Belgium, the team we flagged as the group's likeliest dark horse, opened its campaign with a win, exactly the kind of start it needed if it's serious about finishing ahead of the Dutch when pool play wraps.