BRATISLAVA, Sept. 18 -- Slovakian men's team lost to Germany 3-0 in their final Pool B match at the European Volleyball Championship in Belgium on Wednesday.

The Slovaks started strong and built a 10-6 lead in the first set but Germany's coach Andrea Giani took a time-out before his squad managed to rally back and take the set 25-23.

The second set was balanced with both teams taking turns to lead, but Slovakia passed on four set-points and allowed the Germans to prevail 30-38.

The Slovaks did not find the strength to mount a comeback in the third set, losing 25-19 to surrender their Pool B match.

Fourth-ranked Slovakia now leads Spain by two points and has to hope for the Spaniards to lose their final match against Germany on Thursday. That would enable the Slovaks to advance to the play-off stage together with Belgium, Serbia, and Germany. If Spain win, they will be the ones to advance.