VNL 2026: Ukraine down Pool 3 hosts China, Slovenia beat Poland at tie break with 37 points from Mujanovic!

If you wish to publish an Italian translation of this article, any of our other articles, or any part of them, please cite the original source. Plagiarism is illegal!
Article wrote by Ivan from China for Volleytimes, please respect his job.

2026 Volleyball Nations League continued today with two games in China, Canada and Brazil.
With 8 aces, 13 winning blocks and 21 points from Vasyl Tupchii (64% in attack, 1 block and 2 aces), Ukraine celebrated first win recording a 1-3 (17:25, 25:21, 20:25, 22:25) win over hosts China.

In a major upset of the day Slovenia, after struggling more than expected in their debut yesterday against China, down super favorite Poland also at tie break, 3-2 (27:25, 23:25, 26:24, 21:25, 19:17), with as many as 37 points from Nik Mujanovic (50% in attack, 2 aces and 1 block)!
In what was absolutely the best game so far, Slovenia performed a dramatic upset of defending champions Poland and, unlike the match against China on the day before, Mujanovic played as an opposite against Poland and showed a remarkable performance.
That tally falls among the all-time top four for most points scored by one player in a single VNL match, with Dutch star Nimir Abdel-Aziz the only player to have done better than that (three times).

“Thanks to Uros (Planinsic) for giving me like 80 balls! That definitely helped,” Mujanovic said after the game.
“It’s nice to be back home – I’ll put it this way. I like playing outside, but this is still the position I am most comfortable with, and I think it showed a bit today. There is definitely room for improvement, but yes, I am very proud of myself.”

The Slovenian opposite also put the finishing touch to Slovenia’s victory, putting down the ball of 19-17 score in the fifth set with a short serve that made the rivals just watch the ball drop on their side of the court without being able to react.

“I went back to the service line and I saw that they were kind of far in the back, but I decided not to do something stupid at this score,” added. “I tossed the ball horribly and I figured, I might as well try it, because I am not making a good serve either way. I’m speechless! I’m glad it went in…”

“The energy we showed today was incredible. There are very few games that I have experienced that had this much hype and heart put into it. We all fought so damn well. I am so proud of all of us to have been able to make this comeback!”

On a team level, Slovenia outplayed Poland mostly in attack, with 75 successful spikes, against 65 for the rivals, while other three Slovenian players left the court in double digits: outside hitters Klemen Sen with 16 points and Rok Bracko with 11, as well as experienced middle blocker Jan Kozamernik with 12.

“It was an amazing match!” Slovenia’s Italian expert Fabio Soli said.
“At the beginning of this VNL we had a dream that was quite far from us. Yesterday we didn’t play at our level, but we had a meeting in the evening and we said that if we wanted to catch our dream, we had to start playing with heart and with all our energy, while yesterday I saw in the faces of our players something that I didn’t like. Today, I saw something different. Thanks to the guys, because they gave to all of us something that we want to see every time on the court: suffering, fighting… Nik did an amazing job. He is a special player. He hadn’t played as an opposite for a month and a half, but he did an amazing job… The team! The team did an amazing job! Each one of us gave everything to try to win this match… Congratulations also to the Polish team!”

The Polish team dominated the other scoring elements, outplaying Slovenia by 11-7 in blocks, by 8-6 in aces and by 28-32 in unforced errors, with opposite Bartosz Gomulka and outside hitter Bartosz Firszt scored a team-high 19 points each.
Middle blocker Szymon Jakubiszak added 18, including five blocks.
Outside Michal Gierzot and middle Bartlomiej Lemanski also reached the double digits with 14 and 10 points, respectively.

“The positive was that we fought. They took risks and we played safe with very good defense, and that’s it! We lost 3-2,” Gomulka said.
“You need experience in a game like this. We came here as a young team to get this experience. Today’s match was a great experience for us. We can take a lot from this game.”

“Obviously, I am speaking after a loss, where we had leads in both the third set and the tie-breaker,” Poland’s Serbian head coach Nikola Grbic stated.
“Of course, when the other team plays amazing, they defend amazing, they spike with the heart and with courage, and they succeed, then I love it and I can only applaud. But when my guys are not even close to their best, then I am a little bit NOT satisfied. I know that these guys are young, so hopefully, this experience will be important for them. Tomorrow we have another important match against Japan, who is obviously one of the best teams in the world, so I hope we will be able to rest and reset, and go back to fight again from 0-0.”

__________________

🏐| FIVB Volleyball Nations League 2026 | Games of the day

— Thursday | June 11, 2026 —

👉🏼 Pool 3 – Week 1 – Linyi 🇨🇳
• 16.30 (Local Time) | China – Ukraine 1-3 (17:25, 25:21, 20:25, 22:25)
• 20.00 (Local Time) | Slovenia – Poland 3-2 (27:25, 23:25, 26:24, 21:25, 19:17)

| Pool 1 – Week 1 – Ottawa 🇨🇦
• 16.00 (Local Time) | Germany – Italy 1-3 (20:25, 25:20, 21:25, 31:33)
• 19.30 (Local Time) | Canada – France 3-1 (25:20, 25:18, 21:25, 27:25)

| Pool 2 – Week 1 – Brasilia 🇧🇷
• 16.30 (Local Time) | Bulgaria – Iran 3-0 (25:23, 25:19, 25:21)
• 20.00 (Local Time) | Brazil – Belgium 3-1 (25:19, 23:25, 25:15, 25:20)

__________________

🏐| STANDINGS (updated on this day)
1. Brazil 6
2. Slovenia 4
3. Poland 4
4. Italy 4
5. Canada 4
6. Japan 3
7. Serbia 3
8. USA 3
9. Belgium 3
10. Bulgaria 3
11. Ukraine 3
12. France 2
13. Germany 2
14. China 1
15. Türkiye 0
16. Argentina 0
17. Cuba 0
18. Iran 0

__________________

🏐| NEXT GAMES

— Friday | June 12, 2026 —

| Pool 3 – Week 1 – Linyi 🇨🇳
• 16.30 (Local Time) | Ukraine – Cuba
• 20.00 (Local Time) | Japan – Poland

| Pool 2 – Week 1 – Brasilia 🇧🇷
• 16.30 (Local Time) | Belgium – Serbia
• 20.00 (Local Time) | Iran – Argentina

| Pool 1 – Week 1 – Ottawa 🇨🇦
• 16.00 (Local Time) | Germany – USA
• 19.30 (Local Time) | Türkiye – France

__________

Quick Links:
• AGENDA📝
• All international news
• FIVB Volleyball Nations League 2026 – Calendar
• VNL 2026 – All News
• Multimedia
• Facebook
• Instagram

__________