VNL 2026

Slovenia finally get that VNL bronze!

On their fourth attempt, the Slovenians win the third-place match, beating Japan in four sets

Published 10:40, 02 Aug 2026

Japan (JPN) vs. Slovenia (SLO) - Final 3-4 #117597200

Slovenia finally earned their first men’s Volleyball Nations League medal. In their fourth appearance in a VNL third-place match, they beat Japan in four sets in Ningbo Beilun, China on Sunday to claim the 2026 bronze.

Watch the Volleyball Nations League 2026 on VBTV

Slovenia celebrated this historic success after a 3-1 (25-21, 26-28, 25-22, 25-22) victory over Japan, preventing the opponents from getting their third VNL medal and leaving them in fourth place for the first time. The European team finished fourth in 2021, in 2024 and in 2025.

The first set went very competitive, with multiple changes in the lead, but in the money time of the set, Slovenia managed to edge ahead, especially thanks to their serving performance. The first time the gap went wider than a point was at 20-18 Slovenia’s way. Substitute Klemen Sen aced for the next break point to widen the gap to 22-19. 21-year-old opposite Nik Mujanovic fired another ace to bring in a 24-20 set point, and shortly after, outside hitter and captain Tine Urnaut ended the set at 25-21 with a successful swing.

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Outsides Ran Takahashi and Rok Mozic engaged in a scoring contest during the second set. Japan had the lead for most of the set, but Slovenia managed to wipe out a three-point deficit and even gain the side-out advantage at 21-20, only to hand it back to Japan at set point. It went to overtime and finally Ran produced the 28-26 winner with a powerful hit that reflected from the Slovenian defense way out of bounds.

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After 9-8 Japan’s way in set three, Slovenia broke away with five points in a row on setter Uros Planinsic’s turn to serve. The Asian side gradually managed to catch back up, but never managed to step ahead in the score through the end of the set. The Europeans kept the initiative and, in the end, a surprising first-tempo kill by Urnaut through the middle closed the set at 25-22.

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With their backs against the wall, Japan went for it in set four and opened a four-point gap at 7-3 and 8-4, but Slovenia not only restored the balance at 11-11, but, shortly after, they took control of the scoreboard for good. Mujanovic was on fire on the court again. With two consecutive spike kills in a row, he brought in a quadruple match point. Japan denied it twice, but then opposite Kento Miayura’s serve went long to put an end to the match at 25-22.

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Slovenia made more unforced errors than Japan in the match, 33 against 23, but they more than made up for it in offense by 62-52 in successful swings, in net defense by 10-5 in kill blocks, and in serving by 6-3 in aces. Nik Mujanovic (two kill blocks, one ace) and Rok Mozic (two aces) led the way with 24 and 23 points, respectively. Experienced middle blocker Jan Kozamernik chipped in with 10 points. Ran Takahashi was Japan’s most prolific scorer with 20 points, while opposite Yuji Nishida finished with 10.

“Yesterday, my roommate Jan Kozamernik and I saw that the head-to-head between Japan and Slovenia was 8-3 to them and 7-0 in the last matches, but I had a feeling, because we were really doing something crazy in this VNL. I am so happy! This team deserves it. I said to Tine and Pajenk that they were waiting for a medal for 20 years and it came,” Mozic told VBTV. “We’ve had a lot of fourth places and it was very unlucky. Now we are so happy – it’s like gold for us! I always say, I just want to finish a tournament with a win, and it finally happened and I am really proud of this team. We did something special and it will be remembered forever!”