The defending champion Poland won 3:0 (25:16, 25:19, 25:17) against Slovenia and qualified for the final of the Volleyball Nations League for men, which ends in Ningbo, China. The 2025 and 2023 champions will face the USA for the title, which won 3:2 (25:19, 23:25, 20:25, 25:19, 15:13) against Japan, BTA reported.
The Poles, led by Wilfredo Leon, who scored six aces, had no competition in the first game and won it in 16. The picture was repeated in the second and the champions led 3:0, but this time their rivals found the strength to respond and equalized. However, this was a temporary obstacle for the Poles, who received five game points and realized the first with a block by Bartolomej Lemanski.
Poland started the third game with a series of four points, two of which were on Leon's serve, and the dominance also went through two consecutive blocks by Artur Szalpuk for match point. It was realized on Lemanski's attack and the set ended 25:17.
Poland outscored Slovenia in all indicators - 9-3 points on service, 12-6 on blocks, 35-25 on attacks and 18-19 on unforced errors. To his six aces, Leon added eight points on attacks and two on blocks to become the most productive in the match with 16 points. Bartek Boladz added 15, including two blocks and an ace. Only 40-year-old Alen Payenk had double-digit assets for the Slovenians, who made two blocks and two aces, to which he added five points on attacks.
"You don't often win 3:0 in a semifinal. We dominated every game, but it's not easy to play like this every day. "I hope to score more aces in the final," Leon told VBTV after the match.
The second semifinal was evenly matched and ended in a tiebreak, in which the Americans received two match points at 14:12. Ethan Champlin sent a serve into the net on the first attempt, but the second was realized by Matthew Anderson and the USA qualified for the fourth time in the final. The previous three were lost, including to Poland in 2023.