体坛英语新闻：Slovakia, Germany edge closer to European Volleyball C'ship knockouts

BRATISLAVA, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- After beating Spain in their Womens' European Volleyball Championship opener, Slovakia also won their second Group D match, triumphing over Switzerland 3-0 (25-20, 25-16, 25-22) on Saturday.

Slovakia entered the clash as favorites and never relinquished their lead. Coach Marco Fenoglio decided to start Karin Palgutova and she rewarded him by scoring six points in the first set, with Switzerland never seriously threatening. The result means Slovakia are close to advancing to the European Volleyball Championship playoff round for the first time in their history.

In the second Group D match of the day, Germany triumphed over Spain 3-1 (15-25, 25-19, 31-29, 25-18) and also took a huge step towards claiming a spot in the playoffs, though they had to rally after losing the first set due to their passive attitude and a strong performance by team. The key to Germany's success proved to be their win in the third set that turned into a 31-29 nailbiter. Jennifer Geerties led Germany's scoring with 16 points.

Following is the group D standings after Day 2

W L P SW SL MPW MPL

Slovakia 2 0 6 6 0 155 127

Germany 2 0 6 6 1 171 147

Russia 1 0 3 3 0 76 62

Spain 0 2 0 1 6 160 176

Belarus 0 1 0 0 3 62 76

Switzerland 0 2 0 0 6 114 150

Note: W-Wins, L-Losses, P- Points, SW-Sets won, SL-Sets lost, MPW-Match points won, MPL-Match points lost.