Slovenia to face three-time gold winners United States in Olympic qualifier

Slovenia are embarking on their Olympic quest with a lot of promise, but to achieve that goal of playing in their first Olympic Games, they would have to beat tough opponents in Tokyo at the Volleyball Olympic Qualifying Tournament from September 30 to October 8.

Their first four opponents are African and European squads Tunisia, Egypt, Türkiye and Finland. Their fifth rivals are the United States – three-time Olympic champions. This battle with Team USA on October 6 at 16:00 local time (07:00 UTC) is a key matchup in Pool B to test an emerging team against a traditional power.

USA have participated in 12 editions of the Olympics, tallying two bronze medals and three gold medals. Their last gold medal win was at Beijing 2008 and their last medal victory was the bronze medal finish at Rio 2016.

• Watch all the matches of Volleyball Olympic Qualifying Tournament on VBTV starting September 16.

USA and Slovenia did not meet at this year’s VNL, where the former finished with a silver medal, but they faced each other in the 2022 season. The North Americans won their matchup in straight sets.

John Speraw will rely on his veterans Matt Anderson, Aaron Russell and TJ Defalco to lead the offense and Max Holt and Erik Shoji to take care of the team’s net and floor defense. And with Micah Christenson in charge of running the offense, expect him to be key in involving his other teammates deliver the win.

In the last few years, Slovenia have established a premiere volleyball program. After years of playing in the biggest volleyball leagues around the world, their athletes have become household names and helped legitimize their own brand of play. Tine Urnaut, Klemen Cebulj, Gregor Ropret and Rok Mozic are some of the few athletes that have a global fanbase.

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Volleyball Olympic Qualifying Tournament
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