The Italian national team concluded the second week of the Volleyball Nations League with a valuable 3:1 (23:25, 25:19, 25:18, 25:20) victory over host Slovenia in the last match of the tournament in Ljubljana. After losing the first set, Ferdinando De Giorgi's proteges staged a complete comeback against one of their direct competitors for the top positions. The win left the "Azzurri" in 6th place in the VNL provisional standings, while the Slovenians, despite the defeat, are in third position.
The hosts started more confidently and capitalized on Italy's many errors, especially from service, to win the first set 25:23. Fabio Soli's team was more stable in the key rallies and managed to hold onto their lead until the end.
From the second set onwards, the picture on the court changed. Mattia Bovolenta led the team with powerful attacks and a series of excellent serves, and Italy gradually took control of the match. The "Azzurri" equalized after a 25:19 win, and then dominated the third set, which they won convincingly 25:18.
The fourth set was the most contested. Slovenia took the lead in the middle of it and seemed close to forcing a tie-break, but a strong run by Italy, aided by excellent serves and solid blocking, turned the tide. In the decisive points, the Italians showed more composure and closed out the match 25:20.
Bovolenta was the top scorer for the winners with 21 points, and Mattia Bottolo added 16. For Slovenia, Rok Možič was the best scorer with 19 points, while Tonček Štern finished with 13.
| Team | Attack | Block | Service | Points from opponent's errors | Total points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slovenia | 42 | 3 | 5 | 32 | 82 |
| Italy | 52 | 6 | 9 | 31 | 98 |
The statistics clearly show Italy's superiority. The "Azzurri" scored 10 more points in attack, recorded twice as many successful blocks (6 against 3), and made 9 aces against 5 for the hosts. Slovenia's only advantage was one additional point from opponent's errors (32:31), but this proved insufficient to compensate for the deficit in other elements. Italy demonstrated an excellent reaction after losing the first set, significantly reduced their own errors, and gradually asserted dominance in all game components. The victory also earned the world champions 5.4 points for the world ranking, while Slovenia lost the same amount. This did not cause any change in the world rankings, where Italy is second and Slovenia is 5th.
photo:volleyballworld.com
