Ukraine select squad for VNL debut

Set to make their first-ever appearance in the Volleyball Nations League in less than two months, Ukraine men’s national team will have 34 players in their squad for the 2025 international season.

The European side, which is ranked 14^th in the FIVB World Rankings, will play in another major tournament this season as they qualified for the FIVB Volleyball World Championship.

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Starting his second season at the helm of the Ukrainian national team, veteran head coach Raúl Lozano decided to begin the preparations with 34 players available. The choices made by the Argentinean indicate continuity as only one of the 14 players who represented the country at last year’s FIVB Volleyball Challenger Cup was not included – outside hitter Tymur Tsmokalo.

The list is heavily made of players who compete at either the Ukrainian domestic league or the Polish Plus Liga, with 28 of the 34 athletes selected currently playing for clubs from one of the two countries. In the squad, there are also players linked with teams in Bulgaria, Czechia, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Romania.

The Ukrainians will, however, make their historic VNL debut without their main star for the most part of the last decade and arguably the country’s best-ever player after 27-year-old outside hitter Oleh Plotnytskyi announced his international retirement less than a month ago. Without him, outside hitter Yevhenii Kisiliuk, the MVP in the Ukrainian victory at last year’s CEV European Golden League and the team captain, and middle blockers Yuriy Semenyuk and Maksym Drozd should become the protagonists in the team.

Historic VNL debut in Brazil

Ukraine’s historic VNL debut will happen in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where they will play the United States on June 11. The Europeans will also face Cuba, the host country and Iran before June 15.

Their participation at the World Championship, which will be held in the Philippines, from September 12-28, will begin against Italy, Belgium and Algeria in Pool F.

Ukraine men’s national team roster (subject to eligibility check to be conducted by the FIVB):

Setters: Andriy Stebletskyy, Dmytro Dolgopolov, Serhii Yevstratov, Vitaliy Shchytkov, Vladislav Didenko, Yurii Synytsia
Opposites: Danylo Uryvkin, Dmytro Shapoval, Maksym Tonkonoh, Oleksandr Buzdugan, Vasyl Tupchii, Viktor Shapoval, Volodymyr Tevkun
Оutside hitters: Dmytro Yanchuk, Eduard Shteryk, Illia Kovalov, Mykyta Luban, Oleksandr Nalozhnyi, Tymofiy Poluyan, Yevhenii Kisiliuk
Middle blockers: Andrii Rohozhyn, Andriy Chelenyak, Denys Veletskyi, Maksym Drozd, Mykola Kuts, Oleksandr Koval, Ruslan Chervatyuk, Valerii Todua, Vladyslav Shchurov, Yuriy Semenyuk
Liberos: Andriy Zhukov, Mykola Dzhul, Oleksandr Boyko, Yaroslav Pampushko

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