VNL 2026

Nedeljkovic puts up his 100th kill block in VNL, while Serbia shut out by Turkiye

Statement win brings the Turks closer to the Finals in China

Published 07:42, 15 Jul 2026

Serbia (SRB) vs. Türkiye (TUR) - Pool 7 - Preliminary Phase #114724117

Nedeljkovic in the middle of a three-man Serbian block against Turkiye’s Mirza Lagumdzija

Serbian middle blocker Aleksandar Nedeljkovic reached an important milestone during his team’s match against Turkiye in Belgrade on Wednesday, the opening day of the third competition week of the men’s Volleyball Nations League 2026. During the third set of the three-set match, he raised his 100^th career kill block in the VNL, while also emerging as his team’s best scorer of the game. Turkiye, however, made a statement sweep in straight sets, a solid back-up to their intentions to reach the VNL Finals for the first time in history.

Watch the Volleyball Nations League 2026 on VBTV

Turkiye dominated on the court in Belgrade to disappoint the home crowd with a convincing 3-0 (25-23, 15-19, 25-18) victory over Serbia. With that result, Turkiye improved to a 6-3 win-loss record and 17 points in sixth place, keeping their spot in the qualifying zone of the current standings for now. Serbia stand 11^th on 4-5 and 12.

Turkiye outplayed their opponents on all counts, especially in serving with five aces against none. Three of those were authored by the top scorer of the match – opposite Adis Lagumdzija, who finished with a total of 18 points. His younger brother, outside hitter Mirza Lagumdzija, added another 13, as the two siblings put up two kill blocks each.

“It was incredible to win here against Serbia on their home court. We had a great game, both as a team and individually,” Mirza Lagumdzija told VBTV. “It’s wonderful to play here. We have three more games left. We are hoping to win at least two and we are hoping to make the final eight. Since we had a new coach last year, he installed in us a mentality to go for the win in every game, no matter whom we play against. So, big thanks to him!”

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Aleksandar Nedeljkovic led Serbia with 11 points, including the coveted one kill block that put him right on the 100 VNL stuffs mark. He became the second Serbian player in history to reach that milestone, after the legendary Marko Podrascanin, who has 102 VNL blocking points under his belt. Nedeljkovic had a brilliant game in offense, registering an impressive 91% success rate in spiking. Outside hitter Veljko Masulovic also reached the double digits, with 10 points, all in swings.

“We started well, but after they won the first set, we played badly in the second and third,” Masulovic commented. “I don’t know why. We made a lot of mistakes today, but of course, tomorrow is the next game. We will be focused on that. This is sports! We’ll try our best tomorrow.”

In the first match of the day in Belgrade, with a combined 55 points from 21-year-old opposite Nik Mujanovic and outside hitter Rok Mozic, Slovenia achieved a hard-fought 3-1 (25-17, 25-17, 23-25, 28-26) win over Germany. They spiked 22 points each; Mujanovic had three aces and four kill blocks, while Mozic added two of each. Germany’s leading scorer, outside Erik Rohrs, finished with 22 points, all in swings. Slovenia stayed well on track to qualifying for the Finals. They are now in third place on 7-2 and 17. Germany are 10^th on 4-5 and 12.

In the second match in the Serbian capital, outside hitter Illa Kovalov spearheaded Ukraine towards a 3-2 (25-22, 25-21, 29-31, 25-19) victory over Iran. He contributed a team-high 22 points. Opposite Ali Hajipour (Haji) was the best scorer of the match with 24 points for Iran, including five kill blocks and two aces. This result brought the European team closer to qualifying for the Finals. They stand fifth on 6-3 and 19, while Iran are in 15^th place on 2-7 and 9.