For a country of just over 2 million people, Slovenia really punches above its weight when it comes to sports. Between all-nba guard Luka Doncic & Olympic Gold medalist climber Janja Garnbret, Slovenian athletes are household names in many demographics around the world. But perhaps the most consistently great of their teams is men’s volleyball. In both 2015 & 2019, Slovenia won silver in the European Championship, beating volleyball powerhouses like Poland, Russia, & Italy along the way. Earlier this summer, they battled with the world’s best and won 4th place at Volleyball Nations League. The three medalists? Brazil, Poland, & France. We won’t know how Slovenia would have fared at the Olympics, as the future gold medalists France knocked them out in the continental qualifiers, but their resume makes it clear: They are one of the strongest volleyball teams in the world.
So what is the secret recipe to success for a small country that wants to make it big in volleyball? For Slovenia, the answer is not that straightforward. Despite the core of players largely remaining the same over this run, the strategies that coaches Andrea Giani & Alberto Giuliani have used to be successful has adapted to each tournament they have taken part in. In 2015, the offense was balanced with Tine Urnaut leading the charge. In 2019, forcing the middles with the opposite as the outlet was the gameplan. In the 2021 VNL, outside hitter Klemen Cebulj was the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd option, and ended up as one of the top scorers of the whole tournament. Changing the way you play like this is difficult and requires lots of training and coordination, but the potential scouting advantage is massive and Slovenia have made it work.
We have to do things differently; we have to evolve our service & reception. I think if you do that, its going to be easier on ourselves., and we’ll get the results we want.
Jan Kozamernik
Middle blocker for Slovenia
It’s too early to tell for EuroVolley 2021 what Giuliani has up his sleeve, but given the track record, it should be both effective & entertaining. 6 years into their reign, Slovenia can no longer count on shocking the traditional European powers expecting a pedestrian opponent. They’ll need to count on the passing of EuroVolley 2019 best libero Jani Kovacic, the serving of veteran middle Alen Pajenk, and elite prospect Rok Mozic to fill in during a long, exhausting tournament. They need everyone to be playing their best volleyball, because for Slovenia the bar is now set at that elusive gold medal.
