Ukraine deliver one more shocker, shut out Italy!

For a second day in a row, Ukraine stole the show in the men’s Volleyball Nations League 2026 and delivered a huge upset. After beating Brazil in four sets on Wednesday, they hammered out a stunning win over reigning world champions Italy on Thursday, this time in an emphatic straight-setter. Meanwhile, Belgian opposite Ferre Reggers put away 38 points against China, the most any player has scored in a single match this VNL and all-time second highest in the history of the competition.

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In the day’s opening game in Ljubljana, last year’s VNL rookies Ukraine mastered a 3-0 (25-23, 25-19, 25-16) shutout of mighty Italy and improved to a 4-2 win-loss record and 13 points, leaping all the way up to fourth place in the current VNL standings. The world champs, who lost their second consecutive match, after falling to Bulgaria on Wednesday, dropped to 3-3 and 10 in seventh place, right above the cut-off line for the Finals.

Ukraine completely outperformed their opponents on the court and had control of the scoreboard for most of the game. They prevailed in offense by 45-36 in successful swings, in serving by 5-1 in aces and in net defense by 8-3 in kill blocks. Opposite Vasyl Tupchii registered a 67% success rate in attack and put away two stuffs and an ace towards a match-high 15 points, sharing the top scorer honors with outside hitter Oleh Plotnytskyi, who tallied three aces and one kill block, and spiked at a 52% success rate. His cross-court teammate Dmytro Yanchuk added another 14 points, including two blocks and an ace.

“We have to be really happy, because we are writing history. We are thankful to the fans and to all Ukrainian people,” Ukraine’s setter Yurii Synytsia told VBTV. “It’s all about our preparation for this competition. We trained hard to be able to face any team successfully.”

Italy did slightly better that Ukraine in the unforced errors, committing 17 of those, one fewer that the Ukrainians. Outside hitter Mattia Bottolo was their leading scorer with 11 points.

“This is a great lesson for us. You can lose against every team and that shows how strong the teams really are,” said Bottolo. “We have to step up. We have to improve. We cannot just play at an average level, but chase the desire to win and to show how powerful Italy is now. We have to wear the Italian jersey with pride and start playing as we normally do.”

This year’s newcomers Belgium continued their excellent rookie season with a 3-1 (26-28, 25-21, 25-20, 25-20) win over China in Gliwice. Their 22-year-old opposite Ferre Reggers was on fire again, this time erupting with a 38-point match high. Only Netherlands’ Nimir Abdel-Aziz has ever scored more or as many points in a single match in the history of the men’s VNL. Reggers nailed 36 in attack at a 62% success rate and raised two kill blocks. China’s outside Wang Bin signed off with a team-high 20 points. This win lifted Belgium to 3-3 and 9 in 11^th place, while China are in 16^th on 1-5 and 4.

With unbeaten Japan off on Thursday, the United States took the opportunity to take over the top of the table on 5-1 and 15 after a convincing 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 31-29) sweep of their game against Iran in Orleans. 39-year-old outside Matthew Anderson and 20-year-old opposite Cole Hartke topped the match chart jointly on 18 points apiece. 21-year-old outside Ali Haghparast was Iran’s leading scorer with 16 points. The Asian team occupy 15^th place on 1-5 and 5.

The late matches at all three venues were pushed to five sets, with the home teams celebrating the victories. Slovenia delighted the fans in Ljubljana with a 3-2 (19-25, 25-21, 17-25, 26-24, 15-6) win over Bulgaria. 21-year-old outside Nik Mujanovic led the winners with 17 points, including two kill blocks, while his 22-year-old counterpart Aleksandar Nikolov hammered an impressive five aces towards a match-high 28 points for Bulgaria. At the end of the day, Slovenia are in third place on 5-1 and 11, while Bulgaria stand in 10^th on 3-3 and 9.

Over in Orleans, reigning Olympic champions France persevered through a five-set drama against winless Cuba to celebrate a 3-2 (25-22, 21-25, 25-27, 25-20, 15-13) victory and keep the opponents winless in the relegation spot at the bottom of the table, now on 0-6 and 2. France are now in a safer place, 12^th in the table on 3-3 and 6. Outside Trevor Clevenot was the best scorer of the match with 20 points for France. His counterpart Miguel Lopez was Cuba’s most prolific player with 19.

In Gliwice, defending champions Poland played their fifth consecutive five-setter in the VNL, this time against Turkiye, and scored their third win in a row.

Friday’s VNL program serves off at 16:30 local time (14:30 UTC) again and offers another two matches at each of the three venues. In Gliwice, China will meet Argentina and Belgium will challenge Germany. In Ljubljana, Ukraine will take on Canada while Italy and Brazil try to recover in a gigantic clash against each other, and in Orleans, Iran will face Japan and Serbia will lock horns with Cuba.

VNL 2026 schedule and results
VNL 2026 ticket information

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