Možič pushes Slovenia to the Finals with 24-point performance

It came down to their last match in the Preliminary Phase, but Slovenia counted on the support of over 7,000 fans and a tremendous performance from star outside hitter Rok Možič to beat Serbia 3-2 (25-21, 23-25, 23-25, 25-18, 17-15) at the Arena Stožice, in Ljubljana, on Sunday, and claim the last spot in the Volleyball Nations League 2025 Finals.

With Slovenia getting the last spot in the Finals, the quarterfinals have been determined, with first-placed Brazil facing hosts China, second-placed Italy playing seventh-placed Cuba, third-placed France meeting the sixth-placed Slovenians and fourth-placed Japan battling fifth-placed Poland in the first round of the decisive stage of the VNL, which is going to be held in Ningbo, China, from July 30 – August 3.

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After Iran scored a surprising victory over Bulgaria earlier on Sunday in Gdańsk, Slovenia had to win in order to get to seven victories and knock the Asians out of the qualification zone for the Finals and take their place. After a promising start, they dropped two sets and saw the risk of ending their campaign on Sunday increase, but delivered when it mattered to get the result they needed and advance.

“It was such a thriller,” head coach Fabio Soli commented. “We were ready for a match like this, but when you’re going through a match like this, you suffer a lot. But if we want to achieve important goals, we need to enjoy situations like this. We got the job done, not with 100% of the quality of the team, but we came back when we were about to give up, and I’m proud of the team.”

One of the faces of the team following its Olympic debut in Paris last year, Možič stepped up in the most important match of the season so far for the Slovenians, producing an impressive 24 points (22 kills, one block, one ace) against the Serbians, who were in great form and secured two of their three VNL 2025 victories this week in Ljubljana.

Opposite Nik Mujanović played a great match off the bench, contributing 15 points (12 kills, two blocks, one ace), three more than outside hitter Žiga Štern. The festive night in Ljubljana was completed with the international retirement of longtime national team setter Dejan Vinčić, who was on the bench during the match and was cheered on by the fans after the final point.

Serbia, which made multiple changes in their lineup after avoiding relegation but continued to play well on Sunday, had 18-year-old outside hitter Nikola Brborić as their leading scorer with 17 points, followed by team captain Marko Ivović (16) and opposite Dusan Nikolić (15).

Volleyball Nations League 2025: full schedule and results

Earlier on Sunday, Canada defeated Ukraine 3-1 (25-21, 25-27, 31-29, 25-21) and Italy downed the Netherlands 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-16) in the other matches held in Ljubljana.

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