Slovenia shut out Brazil to keep them winless in Ljubljana

Brazil, one of the teams that made it through the first competition week of the men’s Volleyball Nations League undefeated, are still struggling to find their first win of the second week. A shutout at the hands of hosts Slovenia on Saturday kept the mighty South Americans winless in three matches played in Ljubljana, and they have not only sunk to ninth place in the current VNL standings, but also lost ground in the FIVB World Ranking, falling two spots down to number six, while Slovenia moved up to number five.

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Playing better than the opponents at the net, Slovenia delighted a home crowd of over five thousand fans in the stands with a 3-0 (27-25, 25-17, 25-20) sweep and moved up to second in the table on a 6-1 win-loss record and 14 points, while pushing Brazil down below the cut-off for the Finals, to ninth place on 4-3 and 11. Opposite Toncek Stern spiked 17 points at a 68% success rate and added two kill blocks towards a match-high total of 19 points. Outside hitters Rok Mozic and 21-year-old Nik Mujanovic contributed another 17 and 11 points, respectively. Opposite Darlan Souza was Brazil’s only player to reach the double digits, with 10 points, including two aces and a kill block.

In three of the six VNL matches played on Saturday, tie-breakers determined the winners.

Earlier in Ljubljana, Bulgaria played their third five-setter in three matches this week. They went back to winning ways with a 3-2 (25-17, 25-22, 21-25, 25-18, 15-11) double comeback against Canada, improving to 4-3 and 11 in 10^th place, slightly below Brazil on set ratios. Meanwhile, the North Americans dropped to 1-6 and 7 in 15^th. 22-year-old Bulgarian outside hitter Aleksandar Nikolov was the usual suspect as the best scorer of the match. Despite making an unusually high number of mistakes in attack, he put away a match-high 25 points, including two aces. Opposite Asparuh Asparuhov added 12 points, including two aces, while sub-in outside Denislav Bardarov and middle blocker and captain Aleks Grozdanov finished with 11 points apiece. 19-year-old setter Simeon Nikolov shined from the serving line with five aces towards an 8-point tally. Opposite Sharone Vernon-Evans (Sho) led Canada with 18 points.

Turkiye played their second back-to-back five-setter in Gliwice, but this time emerged with a nail-biting 3-2 (19-25, 21-25, 25-21, 25-18, 18-16) reverse sweep of their game with Argentina to climb to eighth place on 4-3 and 11 and a slightly better set ratio than those of Brazil and Bulgaria. The South Americans are in 14^th place on 2-5 and 7. Turkish middle blocker Bedirhan Bulbul shined in net defense with six kill blocks and spiked another 12 in offense to top the match chart with a total of 18 points, followed by 21-year-old outside Gokcen Yuksel with 17 and sub-in opposite Kaan Gurbuz with 16, including three aces and two blocks. Middle and captain Agustin Loser with five kill blocks and opposite German Gomez led Argentina’s scoring effort with 16 points apiece.

In a top-end five-setter, between table leaders Japan and one of their main rivals in this year’s VNL, the United States, the Asian team persevered through two one-set deficits to win the match and stay undefeated on 7-0 and 18, leaving the Americans in third place on 5-2 and 16.

In the day’s opener in Gliwice, defending champions Poland finally put an end to a streak of five five-setters by beating Germany in four sets, rising to fifth place on 5-2 and 14. Germany are in 13^th place on 3-4 and 9. With nearly 12 thousand cheering from the stands and opposite Bartlomiej Boladz leading the way with a match-high 21 points, including four aces, the home team produced a 3-1 (23-25, 25-16, 25-17, 25-15) victory. Poland’s Cuban-born star outside hitter Wilfredo Leon decorated his first appearance in play during VNL 2026 with 17 points. His counterpart Erik Rohrs was Germany’s most prolific scorer with 15 points.

In the day’s closing match in Orleans, France pleased the six thousand home fans in the stands with a 3-0 (25-23, 25-16, 25-22) shutout of Serbia, rising to 11^th place on 4-3 and 9. Serbia are still in the quarterfinal zone, in seventh place on 4-3 and 12. 21-year-old outside Mathis Henno was the top scorer of the match with 12 points, including two aces and a block. Opposite Stephen Boyer chipped in with another 10 points, while Serbia’s leading scorer – 18-year-old outside Vuk Kulpinac – finished with nine.

A day with a full set of nine matches is coming up. All 18 teams will be in action on Sunday, with China against Germany, Belgium against Turkiye and Poland against Argentina in Gliwice, Bulgaria against Ukraine, Canada against Brazil and Slovenia against Italy in Ljubljana, and Iran against Cuba, France against Japan and Serbia against USA in Orleans. Action serves off at 14:00 local time (12:00 UTC).

VNL 2026 schedule and results
VNL 2026 ticket information

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