Turkiye back from two sets down against Ukraine in one of Friday’s big VNL battles

Friday’s program in the men’s Volleyball Nations League offered a number of exciting results and not many answers. In one of two five-setters, Turkiye reverse-swept their encounter with one of their main contenders for the spots in the Finals, Ukraine. In the other, Cuba scored a vital win over Argentina for a breath of air in the struggle for salvation in the VNL. In the mighty clash between Poland and Brazil, the Europeans took a straight-set win to push the South Americans further away from qualifying for the quarterfinals.

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Turkiye and Ukraine split the domination in the match they played in Belgrade, while Turkiye’s opposite Adis Lagumdzija and Ukraine’s outside hitter Illa Kovalov split the match top scorer honors with 18 points each towards shaping up a 3-2 (25-27, 20-25, 25-23, 25-16, 15-11) Turkish victory, which propelled the winners to fifth place in the current VNL standings on a 7-3 win-loss record and 19 points, well within the qualifying spots for the Finals. Ukraine dropped right to the edge of the qualifying zone – seventh place on 6-5 and 20.

In another match, very relevant to the race for the spots in the Finals, defending champions Poland produced a 3-0 (25-22, 28-26, 25-19) shutout of Brazil in Chicago and moved to within a set won from qualifying for the Finals, now in third place on 8-2 and 23. The South Americans, on the other hand, are well below the cut-off line. With just one match left to play, they are in ninth place on 6-5 and 16. Outside hitter Tomasz Fornal fired four aces towards Poland’s success and shared the top scorer honors with cross-court teammate Kamil Semeniuk with 13 points apiece. Opposite Darlan Souza and outside and captain Ricardo Lucarelli led Brazil with 12 points each.

On 8-2 and 20, Slovenia are right below Poland in the table, in fourth place, after a 3-0 (27-25, 25-19, 26-24) sweep of their game against Iran in Belgrade, leaving the Asian team in 13^th place on 3-8 and 11. Slovenian outside Rok Mozic was on fire, leading the team with a match-high 19 points, including five kill blocks and an ace. Opposite Ali Hajipour (Haji) was Iran’s best scorer with 11 points.

Bulgaria got back on the winning track with a 3-1 (22-25, 25-14, 25-20, 25-20) come-from-behind victory over Finals hosts China in Chicago. The European team is right below the red line for qualifying to the quarterfinals, in eighth place on 6-4 and 17, while the Asian squad trails bottom, in 18^th place on 1-10 and 4. Back in shape, Bulgaria’s 22-year-old star outside Aleksandar Nikolov hammered a match-high 28 points, including four aces and a kill block, towards his team’s victory. Opposite Wen Zihua led China’s scorers with 13 points.

In a very important move towards survival in the VNL, Cuba scored their second consecutive win in Osaka, this time after a five-set battle with Argentina, 3-2 (17-25, 25-19, 22-25, 25-21, 15-12), with a match-high 28 points from outside Marlon Yant, including four blocks and three aces, while opposite Jose Israel Masso nailed as many as five aces towards the win. Outside Manuel Armoa put away four aces and two blocks towards a team-high 21 points for Argentina. With this win, Cuba surpassed Canada in the standings, leaving the North Americans in the red-hot relegation spot. The Caribbean squad is now in 16^th place on 2-8 and 7, while Canada are 17^th on 1-9 and 10. Argentina are not completely safe either. They are 14^th on 3-7 and 10.

Japan remained unbeaten in 11 matches played and secured a first-place finish of the Preliminary Phase, but scored only their second straight-set victory since the start of the season, a 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-16) shutout of Belgium in front of well over seven thousand fans in Osaka, with a team-high 18 points from 22-year-old outside Masato Kai. Opposite Ferre Reggers delivered a match-high 20 points for Belgium. The VNL rookies from Europe are now on a five-game losing streak, standing 15^th on 3-8 and 9, also still under the threat of relegation.

Saturday’s VNL program serves off shortly, at 04:00 UTC, and offers matches between Canada and Cuba and between Argentina and Italy in Osaka, between Turkiye and Slovenia and between Serbia and Germany in Belgrade, and between France and Poland and between USA and Bulgaria in Chicago.

VNL 2026 schedule and results
VNL 2026 ticket information

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