Two of the FIVB Volleyball Empowerment supported teams in the men’s Volleyball Nations League 2026 – Slovenia and Ukraine – advanced to next week’s Finals in China. For last year’s VNL rookies Ukraine, it will be the first time to play in the quarterfinals.
Slovenia made a solid finish to their Preliminary Phase campaign, winning all four games and collecting the full 12 points in Belgrade, where they played in competition week three. In their first match, they outlasted Germany to claim a 3-1 (25-17, 25-17, 23-25, 28-26) victory, with a match-high 29 points from 21-year-old striker Nik Mujanovic. Then, Slovenia produced a hard-earned 3-0 (27-25, 25-19, 26-24) shutout of Iran, with star outside hitter Rok Mozic leading the way with a match-high 19 points, including five kill blocks.
With Mujanovic on fire again, with a match-high 27 points, including four aces, Slovenia took a 3-1 (25-22, 20-25, 25-21, 25-23) win over trending Turkiye, before finishing the week with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-22) sweep of their last fixture, against hosts Serbia. Mujanovic topped the chart again, this time with 17 points to his name.
This way, Slovenia came up third in the final Preliminary Phase standings on a 10-2 win-loss record and 26 points, and will take on Turkiye again in their quarterfinal fixture on July 29. Mujanovic, on the other hand, finished third in the best scorers ranking with a total of 227 points, below leader Aleksandar Nikolov of Empowerment supported Bulgaria with 278, and runner-up Ferre Reggers of Empowerment supported Belgium with 268. The three lined up in the same order on top of the best attackers chart as well.
During the week, Slovenia gained some ground in the FIVB World Ranking too, climbing one position up to number five.
Also competing in Belgrade last week, Ukraine registered two wins and two losses, which proved enough for a spot among the top seven in the standings and a historic ticket to the Finals in Ningbo. They started the competition week with a 3-1 (25-22, 25-21, 29-31, 25-19) victory over Iran, but then fell to hosts Serbia in a 3-1 (22-25, 25-17, 25-21, 25-23) four-setter.
Ukraine took a two-set lead in the match against Turkiye, before their opponents managed a heroic turnaround to win the game by 3-2 (25-27, 20-25, 25-23, 25-16, 15-11). On Sunday’s last competition day, the Ukrainians coped with the must-win situation they were in with a 3-1 (25-23, 20-25, 25-22, 26-24) victory over Germany, and then had to wait for the outcome of the game between France and Bulgaria, which proved favorable to them and they kept the seventh place on 7-5 and 23, just above the cut-off for the Finals. In one of the quarterfinals on July 30, Ukraine will challenge defending VNL champions Poland.
Ukraine also gained ground in the World Ranking last week, rising from number 13 to number 11. Their outside hitter Dmytro Yanchuk piled up a total of 21 aces during the Preliminary Phase, sharing the best server honors with Japan’s Ran Takahashi.
The teams of Japan and Poland finished above Slovenia in the standings, in first and second place, respectively. Italy, USA and Turkiye followed in the places from fourth to sixth and also booked their spots in the quarterfinals, along with hosts China.
The Finals in Ningbo will be held from July 29 to August 2.
