The Ukrainian national team finished its preparation for EuroVolley 2026 with a dramatic 2:3 (25:20, 25:20, 35:37, 25:27, 13:15) loss to Estonia at the friendly tournament in Tallinn. Raul Lozano's team took a 2:0 lead but allowed a complete comeback in their last test before the European Championship.
The Ukrainians started confidently and controlled the first two sets, which they won with an identical score of 25:20.
The third set turned into a real marathon. Both teams repeatedly had opportunities to close it, but in the end, Estonia dramatically snatched it 37:35 and reduced their deficit to 1:2.
The fourth set also saw an evenly matched battle. Ukraine maintained a minimal lead for a long time, but the hosts were again more accurate in the decisive rallies and reached 27:25, sending the match into a tie-break.
In the decisive fifth set, the Ukrainians failed to regain the initiative from the beginning of the match. Estonia won 15:13 and completed the full comeback for a 3:2 victory.
A detailed protocol with the lineups and individual statistics from the match has not been published, so it cannot be said to what extent Lozano rotated the squad during the game. However, Ukraine arrived in Tallinn with almost all of its leading volleyball players, including Oleh Plotnytskyi, Yurii Semeniuk, Vasyl Tupchii, Dmytro Yanchuk, Maksym Drozd, and Yurii Synytsia. The big absence is Illia Kovalov, who will miss EuroVolley due to injury.
Thus, Ukraine finished the tournament in Tallinn with two wins and one loss. In their first friendly match, Raul Lozano's team defeated Latvia 3:1 (25:18, 22:25, 25:18, 25:23), and in the second, they prevailed over Slovakia 3:0 (25:18, 25:23, 25:19).
The tournament in Tallinn was the final stage of Ukraine's preparation before EuroVolley 2026. The "Blue and Yellows" are one of Bulgaria's opponents in Group B, whose matches will be played in Sofia.
Bulgaria and Ukraine will meet on September 12 at 7:00 PM in "Arena 8888" in Sofia.

photo: Nikolay Varadinov