Italy stop Ukraine and prevail in five-set battle in Ljubljana

Volleyball Nations League rookies Ukraine were very close to causing an upset in the second day of matches of the third week of the tournament’s Preliminary Phase, but saw what would have been a fantastic comeback against reigning world champions Italy in Ljubljana come up short on Thursday.

The Italians dominated the first two sets at the Arena Stožice, but saw the Ukrainians get back into the match and push them to the tie-breaker. In the end, the world champions controlled the fifth set and secured a dramatic 3-2 (25-15, 25-20, 16-25, 23-25, 15-10) victory in the Slovenian capital.

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Outside hitter Alessandro Michieletto had a strong start to the match, registering 14 points in the first two sets, and ended it with a team-high 20 points (15 kills, three blocks, two aces).

“It was a very tough match and Ukraine played very well,” Michieletto reacted. “They improved a lot after the second set and got us in some difficult situations, but in the VNL, the most important thing is to win, and we’re happy that we did it. Every team here is very strong, and we always need to play at our 100% to win.”

The Italians had to use their depth to win and saw as many as ten of their 14 players fill the box score. Among them were captain Simone Giannelli, who produced an impressive six points (one kill, three blocks, two aces) at the setter position, and 21-year-old opposite Alessandro Bovolenta, who contributed seven, four of them in the tie-breaker, which made of him the most productive player on the court in the fifth and decisive set.

On the Ukrainian side, outside hitter Dmytro Yanchuk, who topped all scorers with 25 points (21 kills, four aces), and opposite Vasyl Tupchii, who added 16 (13 kills, three blocks), were key figures in the team’s strong push.

With both teams taking points from the match, Italy are now second in the VNL 2025 standings, with eight wins and 22 points, while Ukraine appear in sixth place, with six victories and 18 points.

The Netherlands and Slovenia play in the second match of the day in Ljubljana, starting at 20:30 local time (18:30 GMT).

Iran triumph in the Asian Derby and enter the qualification zone

In Gdańsk, the day started with the Asian Derby between Iran and China and had the Iranians coming out on top after their produced a comfortable 3-0 (28-26, 25-21, 25-16) victory at the Ergo Arena.

The result has gotten the Iranians inside the qualification zone for the VNL Finals as they moved up to seventh place with five victories and 16 points. China are 16^th with two wins and seven points, but are guaranteed in the Finals as the host country.

Outside hitters Morteza Sharifi and Amirhossein Esfandiar led the Iranian offense, with the former tallying 15 points and the latter adding 12. Star opposite Amin Esmaeilnezhad also got to double digits in scoring, registering ten points.

“This match was very important for us,” Esfandiar reflected. “Before the match, our coach told us that we had three finals to play because we want to qualify for the Finals. We won the first one, now there are two more to come and we’ll use the day off tomorrow to prepare for them.”

China had team captain and opposite Jiang Chuan as their leading scorer with 11 points, one more than middle blocker Li Yongzhen.

Volleyball Nations League 2025: full schedule and results

Later on Thursday, Poland and Cuba meet at 20:00 local time (18:00 GMT) in the second and last match of the day in Gdańsk.

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