Poland defend VNL title, outlasting USA in spectacular five-set final

Poland defended the men’s Volleyball Nations League crown, lifting the trophy for the third time, after 2023 and 2025. They also have one silver and three bronze medals in the competition. In a thrilling five-set showdown in Ningbo Beilun, China on Sunday, they outlasted the United States, leaving them with their fourth silver in four VNL finals played, in addition to one bronze. Earlier in the day at the VNL Finals in Ningbo, Slovenia grabbed their first bronze.

Polish outside hitter Tomasz Fornal was honored as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the men’s VNL 2026.

• Watch Volleyball Nations League 2026 replays on VBTV

Almost six thousand fans in the stands at the Ningbo Beilun Sports and Arts Center witnessed a spectacular five-set final that went 3-2 (25-21, 23-25, 25-27, 25-23, 15-10) Poland’s way.

The first half of the first set was quite even, but in the second, Poland gradually took control of the scoreboard. Poland’s outside hitter Wilfredo Leon shined with two aces and five kills in attack towards the final 25-21 that came on a long attack by his counterpart Cooper Robinson.

After a very competitive first half of the second set, the Americans managed to break away with a 17-13 lead, but the Poles quickly caught up and even stepped in front with a 21-20 lead. With some strong serving from opposite Jake Hanes, USA reacted with three in a row. Hanes himself brought in set point with a successful swing for 24-22. Tomasz Fornal, who otherwise played a great set, errored on the serve to hand it to the opponents at 25-23.

Hanes was at an immaculate 100% success rate in attack during the third set, but Poland were in the lead for most of the set. However, after 23-22, the Americans finally flipped the score to reach set point at 24-23. The set was pushed to overtime. USA’s middle blocker Taylor Averill delivered the third set point for his team with a powerful kill for 26-25 and converted it himself with another one for 27-25.

The fierce battle continued into set four. Poland maintained a slight advantage for most of the set, but the gap never exceeded two points. In the money time, the Americans leveled it up at 23-23 with two points in a row, but a successful first-tempo spike by middle Szymon Jakubiszak put Poland at set point, immediately converted to a 25-23 close with a monster block by Leon.

The tie-breaker was competitive only through 6-6. Five points in a row on setter Marcin Komenda’s turn to serve gave the defending champions a wide 13-7 lead. A block-out swing by Leon, who started the fifth set in the opposite position, brought in championship point at 14-9 and the match finished on a hit by Hanes that went wide for 15-10.

Poland made 29 unforced errors during the match, fewer than USA’s 34. They also outperformed the opponents in net defense by 12-8 in kill blocks and in serving by 8-4 in aces. As many as five of those aces were authored by VNL 2026 MVP Tomasz Fornal, who finished the final with 15 points. With two aces and three kill blocks to his name, Wilfredo Leon also finished with 15 points, while the Polish scorers were led by sub-in outside Kamil Semeniuk with 17 points, including three blocks and one ace. Middle Bartlomiej Lemanski led the blockers with four stuffs towards an 11-point tally. Two more Polish players reached the double digits - Szymon Jakubiszak with 11 and opposite Bartlomiej Boladz with 10.

USA outdid Poland in offense by 65-59 in spike kills. Jake Hanes (three aces) and outside Matthew Anderson (one ace, one block) were the best scorers of the match with 21 and 20 points, respectively. Middle Merrick McHenry added another 14, including three stuffs, for the American team.

“It’s difficult to describe... There is a lot of emotion… I think, when we get back to Poland, we will feel what we did. Tonight – a great game, a great victory! Everybody put something on the court, so we should be proud of our national team,” Semeniuk told VBTV. “It was a pleasure to be here, on the court. To play with these fans in the tribunes was really nice, but maybe next time the final should be a little bit closer to Poland.”

VNL 2026 all results

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