Slovenia started its participation in the Volleyball Nations League 2026 with a difficult win. The team, ranked sixth in the world, defeated host China 3:2 (25:17, 20:25, 20:25, 25:23, 15:10) in a match from the first week of the tournament in Linyi, China.
Vital Heynen's protégés were very close to one of the biggest surprises on the opening day. The Chinese not only took a 2:1 lead in sets but also had a 22:20 advantage in the fourth set. It was then that the Slovenians showed more class and composure, turning the tide of the set to 25:23 and forcing the match into a decisive fifth set.
In the tie-break, the Europeans allowed no further hesitation and closed the match at 15:10, securing their first success in this year's VNL edition.

Team Statistics

Slovenia won thanks to its slight advantage in all key elements except for serving. The Europeans scored more points in attack (63 vs. 60), made more successful blocks (13 vs. 11), and capitalized on more errors from the Chinese (27 vs. 25). China compensated with better serves, but this was not enough for the final success.

The statistics here show how evenly matched the game was. China even has a slight advantage in reception and setting, while Slovenia has just one more saved ball in defense. This confirms the impression that the match was decided by a few key rallies at the end of the fourth game and in the tie-break.
The top scorer for the winners was Rok Možič with 25 points, while Nik Mujanović added 18 points. For China, Wen Z. H. finished with 23 points, and Yu Y.T. scored 18 points.
The success brought Slovenia a minimal increase of 0.01 points for the world ranking, while China lost only 0.01 points. Despite the victory, the Slovenians showed that they still have a lot of work to do if they want to fight for places in the final tournament, as they needed five games against the 28th-ranked Chinese team in the world.

photo: volleyballworld.com