Ukraine make a splash and beat USA for first VNL victory

Ukraine made of their first-ever match in the Volleyball Nations League, on Wednesday, in Rio de Janeiro, an even more special occasion for the country’s men’s national team, making a mark in the 2025 edition of the tournament with a huge opening-match victory over Paris Olympic medalists the United States.

Supported by the Brazilian fans at the iconic Marcacanãzinho stadium, the Europeans dominated the first two sets and came back in the third to produce an emphatic 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-23) win and claim their first three points in the tournament.

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Using their powerful serves to create problems for the Americans, the team coached by experienced Argentinean Raúl Lozano caused a big upset, claiming their first victory in Pool 2. The unexpected result also sent waves in the FIVB World Rankings, with the Ukrainians adding 17.64 points to their total and moving one spot up to 13^th place and the Americans dropping the same amount and losing the third place to Slovenia.

“We were super honored to be here and just tried to play good volleyball, so we were very focused on our game,” setter Vitalii Shchytkov said. “It’s a big win for us against such a strong team as the United States. We tried to bring our best serving, and I think it helped us get this result.”

Left-handed opposite Vasyl Tupchii played a big role in the Ukrainian victory, producing a match-high 16 points, with 12 kills, three aces and one block. Outside hitters Dmytro Yanchuk and Illia Kovalov also had solid shifts, adding 12 and ten points, respectively.

Using a young team, which has middle blocker Jeff Jendryk as the only Paris Olympic medalist, the United States had opposite Gabi Garcia and outside hitter Cooper Robinson as their leading scorers, with 13 points each.

The upset also prevented the legendary Karch Kiraly from starting his journey at the helm of his country’s men’s national team with a victory.

“I think one of their biggest strengths was their serving,” American libero and captain Kyle Dagostino said. “They put a lot of pressure on us, and, with their size, when they serve like that, it makes blocking and defending a lot easier. The third set was our best, and it’s not easy to find some more fight when you’re two sets down, but we were able to do that.”

VNL 2025 – Match Schedule & Results

Two more matches will be played in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday, with hosts Brazil facing Iran at 17:30 local time (20:30 GMT) and Slovenia meeting Cuba at 21:00 (00:00 GMT, Thursday).

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