Unstoppable Slovenia defeat world champions Italy

Slovenia continue to enjoy a memorable week of Volleyball Nations League action in the country’s capital Ljubljana as three days after securing a historic qualification for the Paris Olympics, their men’s national team swept world champions Italy on Saturday and moved up to second place in the FIVB World Rankings.

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Playing in front of 11,000 home fans in a packed Stožice Arena, the Slovenians celebrated their third-straight victory this week, overcoming Italy 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-19) to remain at the top of the VNL standings. Sitting in first place as the only team with ten victories (26 points), the Europeans are very close to entering next week’s VNL Finals as the top-seeded team. They also collected 11.12 FIVB World Ranking points, moving two spots up to second place.

Against the Italians, opposite Tonček Štern, who’s VNL’s second-best scorer, had a strong performance, leaving the court with 21 points (16 kills, three blocks, two aces). He was the only Slovenian player to get to double digits in scoring, with outside hitter Klemen Čebulj adding another nine points.

“To play in a stadium like this, this is what we live for,” middle blocker Jan Kozamernik said. “These fans are incredible, we love to play here. They give us a lot of energy and we try to give them back. We knew that Italy would have to take risks from the service line. They were struggling a little bit with their passing, so we tried to keep the pressure on and avoid making errors.”

Mattia Bottolo led the Italian offense with 11 points (ten kills, one ace), followed by fellow outside hitter Luca Porro, who registered eight, all in kills.

Poland beat Serbia in five

Before the encounter between Slovenians and Italians, FIVB World Ranking leaders Poland topped Serbia 3-2 (25-21, 21-25, 25-18, 22-25, 15-11), denying their opponents a potential opportunity of qualifying for the Paris Olympics before the deadline.

Polish opposite Bartlomiej Boładź was the match’s top scorer with 25 points (20 kills, five aces). The team’s outside hitters Kamil Semeniuk and Aleksander Śliwka also had solid displays, with 18 and 15 points, respectively. Outside hitter Marko Ivović led the Serbians with 14 points, all in kills.

Because they took the match to five sets, Serbia dropped just 0.01 FIVB World Ranking points with their defeat and saw their difference to Cuba remain basically unchanged (260.07 to 251.69) ahead of the last day of the Preliminary Phase. The two teams are fighting for the last spot at the Paris Olympics and the race will have its outcome on Sunday, when the Cubans face Poland at 13:00 local time (11:00 GMT) and the Serbians battle Slovenia at 20:30 local time (18:30 GMT).

Volleyball Nations League 2024: schedule and results

On Wednesday, with the 12 national teams set to compete at the Games already confirmed, the Drawing of Lots for the Paris Olympics will take place. The event will be held in Łódź, Poland, the host city of the VNL Finals, at 18:00 local time (16:00 GMT) – click here to watch it live.

In the other match of the day, Argentina topped Bulgaria 3-0 (25-22, 25-17, 25-20) with 14 points from opposite Bruno Lima and outside hitter Luciano Vicentin.

The Argentineans are currently in eighth place with six wins (18 points) and the decision about the last teams qualified for the VNL Finals and the matchups will happen on Sunday, when the Preliminary Phase comes to an end.

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