Slovenia aiming high in VNL debut

The men’s national team of Slovenia is ready for their first-ever VNL campaign after dominating the 2019 FIVB Volleyball Challenger Cup hosted in their capital Ljubljana. In their first match, they will face Serbia in a repeat of the CEV EuroVolley 2019 gold medal game.

One of the most experienced men on the squad, Alen Pajenk, assures that the team’s focus is solely on the competition. “We do not bother with life in a bubble. We are used to doing our thing, try to make the most of the circumstances and turn everything to our advantage. We are impatiently waiting for the VNL to start because we know how hard the preparations can be and the rhythm imposed by playing three matches in a row will be very demanding. But I believe that it is easier to play than to train,” said the 35-year-old middle blocker after the first practices in Rimini.

The team captain, Tine Urnaut, shares the opinion that it is not going to be easy:

“In this new competition format, when you play three days in a row followed by three days off, the teams with the longer bench will have an advantage. It will be really tough physically on all the teams and we are happy that we can finally play for the first time in the VNL and we will try to do our best.”

Slovenia sharpened their form through a preparation tournament held in Ljubljana, playing six friendly matches before travelling to Rimini. In three of them, they played against Serbia, their first VNL opponent. “I think that for such short preparation period and after such hard seasons as those behind us, the level of the game we showed is very satisfying. Of course, we made some mistakes, but so did our opponents as well. We are doing quite well in reception, while in the block-defence game, we are considered as one of the best national teams. On the other hand, we need to push hard with strong serving, since this is the element where we have the most room for improvement. Personally, I am very optimistic about the first matches. Having a long bench can certainly be our trump card,” commented Jan Kozamernik.

The 25-year-old middle blocker is very keen on being able to play in the VNL:

“It feels really good to be here. We see that we belong here, among the best, and that we want to be here. We have a strong team and I think we will be an equal competitor to all the other national teams. However, it will be necessary to play smart, as we have many matches ahead of us. I am looking forward to the first matches and I cannot wait to start.”

News:
CEV – European Volleyball
OZS – Volleyball Federation of Slovenia