Germany book quarter-final spot with victory over Hungary at Women's European Volleyball Championship

Germany reached the last eight of the Women's European Volleyball Championships with victory over Hungary ©CEV

Defending silver medallists Germany booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Women's European Volleyball Championship with a comfortable straight-sets win over Hungary in Antwerp, Belgium.

The German side signalled their intention from the outset as they began to dominate proceedings, eventually proving too strong for the 2015 Volleyball European League champions with a 25-18, 25-17, 25-14 success.

After two closely-contested opening sets, the Hungarians seemed to collapse in the third as Germany demonstrated their attacking prowess, setting up a meeting with Turkey in the last eight.

“Our middle-blockers were better than the Hungarians and even though I saw some problems in defence and offence, we managed to do what we had to do, which is to beat Hungary,” Germany coach Luciano Pedullà said.

“From now on we can think of the game against Turkey.

“In order to have a chance against them, our defence must work at a high level and our serves must even be better than today.

“Our aim is to reach the semi-finals.”

In the other match to take place in the Belgian city, the host nation saw off the challenge of the Czech Republic by claiming victory in four-sets.

Belgium started the better of the two sides and clinched the first set, before the Czechs hit back to level proceedings by taking the second.

Hosts Belgium are also through to the next round after they overcame Czech Republic in Antwerp ©CEV

But the home side regained their composure to secure their passage into the next round thanks to a 25-12, 23-25, 25-21, 25-9 scoreline.

Over in Rotterdam, Italy sealed a surprise victory over Croatia, making light work of their opponents on their way to a resounding 25-22, 25-21, 25-20 triumph.

They will now go on to face defending champions Russia in the quarter-finals.

Poland are also through to the next round after they fought back from two sets down to beat Belarus in a five-set thriller in the Dutch city.

Having dropped the opening two sets, the Polish team looked to be heading out of the competition before they recovered valiantly as they claimed a 17-25, 13-25, 25-22, 25-20, 12-15 win to book their last eight berth, where they will entertain hosts The Netherlands.