Slovenia men's national volleyball team

Slovenia
AssociationVolleyball Federation of Slovenia (OZS)
ConfederationCEV
Head coachGheorghe Crețu
FIVB ranking7 (as of 2 December 2023)
Uniforms
Home
Away
Third
World Championship
Appearances2 (First in 2018)
Best resultFourth place (2022)
European Championship
Appearances10 (First in 2001)
Best resultRunners-up (2015, 2019, 2021)
www.odbojka.si (in Slovene)
Honours
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Challenger Cup 1 0 0
European Championship 0 3 1
European League 1 0 2
Total 2 3 3
Medal record
Challenger Cup
Gold medal – first place 2019 Slovenia Team
European Championship
Silver medal – second place 2015 Bulgaria Team
Silver medal – second place 2019 France Team
Silver medal – second place 2021 Poland Team
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Italy Team
European League
Gold medal – first place 2015 Poland
Bronze medal – third place 2011 Slovakia Team
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Team

The Slovenia men's national volleyball team represents Slovenia in international volleyball competitions and friendly matches, and is governed by the Volleyball Federation of Slovenia. The team made its debut at major tournaments in 2001, when it competed at the European Volleyball Championship. Between 2015 and 2021, Slovenia reached the final of the European Championship three times and finished as runners-up on all three occasions after losing to France, Serbia and Italy, respectively.

As of December 2023, Slovenia is ranked 7th in the FIVB World Rankings.

History

The Slovenia national team played its first official match on 24 April 1992, under the leadership of Viktor Krevsel.[1][2] They make their first appearance at the European Volleyball Championship in 2001, where they finished in 12th place.[1]

In March 2015, Andrea Giani was announced as new head coach of the Slovenian national team.[3] In October 2015, Slovenia won its first medal at the 2015 European Volleyball Championships after losing in the final against France (3–0). Tine Urnaut won one of the individual player awards for the best outside spiker.[4]

Slovenian team at the 2022 World Championship, hosted by Slovenia.

In January 2017, Giani resigned as coach,[5] and in March 2017, Slobodan Kovač took over the team.[6] In May 2017, Slovenia qualified for the 2018 edition of the FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship, their first ever World Championship appearance.[7]

In January 2019, the Volleyball Federation of Slovenia and Kovač both agreed to part ways and terminate the contract.[8] He was replaced by Alberto Giuliani.[9] In 2019, Slovenia hosted the 2019 edition of the FIVB Volleyball Men's Challenger Cup at home in Ljubljana. The team reached the final, where they defeated Cuba 3–0 and earned the right to participate in the 2020 Nations League, replacing Portugal; however, the competition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Slovenia qualified for the 2021 edition instead.[10] At their Nations League debut in Rimini, Italy, the team reached the final round as the only challenger team, where they lost 3–0 both to Poland and France in the semifinals and in the third place match, respectively.[11][12]

At the 2019 European Championship, Slovenia was one of the four co-hosts of the tournament.[13] The team reached the final again, where they lost 3–1 to Serbia, clinching their second silver medal in four years.[14] Two years later, at the 2021 European Championship, Slovenia once again reached the final. After defeating hosts Poland in the semifinals, they lost the final 3–2 to Italy to claim their third silver medal.[15] Gregor Ropret was selected in the All Star Team as the best setter through fan votes.[16] Giuliani decided to step down as Slovenia head coach in September 2021,[17] and was replaced by Mark Lebedew from February 2022.[18] After failing to reach the top 8 in the 2022 Nations League, he was sacked and replaced by Gheorghe Crețu in August 2022, just two weeks before the start of the 2022 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship, hosted by Slovenia and Poland.[19][20]

Team

Current squad

The following is Slovenia's roster at the 2023 FIVB Volleyball Olympic Qualification Tournament.

Head coach: Romania Gheorghe Crețu

Competitive record

Key

  Champions    Runners-up    Third place     As host

World Championship

Main article: FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship
World Championship record
Year Round Position GP W L SW SL Squad
2018 Second round 12th place 8 4 4 17 16 Squad
2022 Semifinals 4th place 7 4 3 15 11 Squad
2025 Qualified

European Championship

Main article: Men's European Volleyball Championship
European Championship record
Year Round Position GP W L SW SL Squad
2001 Group stage 12th place 5 0 5 3 15 Squad
2007 Group stage 16th place 3 0 3 2 9 Squad
2009 Group stage 15th place 3 0 3 1 9 Squad
2011 Playoffs 9th place 4 2 2 9 8 Squad
2013 Group stage 13th place 3 1 2 5 7 Squad
2015 Final Silver medalists 7 4 3 14 12 Squad
2017 Quarterfinals 8th place 5 2 3 6 9 Squad
2019 Final Silver medalists 9 6 3 20 13 Squad
2021 Final Silver medalists 9 6 3 21 11 Squad
2023 Semifinals Bronze medalists 9 8 1 25 9 Squad

World League

Main article: FIVB Volleyball World League
World League record
Year Round Position GP W L SW SL
2016 G3 Final 25th place 8 7 1 22 6
2017 G2 Final 13th place 11 10 1 32 10

Nations League

Main article: FIVB Volleyball Men's Nations League
Nations League record
Year Round Position GP W L SW SL Squad
2021 Semifinals 4th place 17 12 5 40 24 Squad
2022 Preliminary round 10th place 12 5 7 18 24 Squad
2023 Quarterfinals 7th place 13 8 5 27 20 Squad

Challenger Cup

Main article: FIVB Volleyball Men's Challenger Cup
Challenger Cup record
Year Round Position GP W L SW SL
2019 Final Champions 4 4 0 12 2

European League

Main article: Men's European Volleyball League
European League record
Year Round Position GP W L SW SL
2007 Semifinals 4th place 14 9 5 34 25
2011 Semifinals Bronze medalists 14 10 4 33 19
2014 Semifinals Bronze medalists 10 8 2 26 9
2015 Final Champions 12 12 0 36 5
2018 Pool stage 12th place 6 1 5 5 17

Head coaches

List of Slovenia's national team head coaches
Name[21] C From To Achievements
Viktor Krevsel Slovenia 1992
Luka Lobnik Slovenia
Viktor Krevsel Slovenia 1993 1996
Vladimir Janković Croatia 1996 1997
Gregor Hribar Slovenia 1997 2005
Iztok Kšela Slovenia 2005 2008
Gregor Hribar Slovenia 2008 2010
Veselin Vuković Montenegro 2010 2012
Luka Slabe Slovenia 2012 2015
Andrea Giani Italy 2015 2017 Silver 2015 EC
Slobodan Kovač Serbia 2017 2019
Alberto Giuliani Italy 2019 2021 Gold 2019 CC
Silver 2019 EC
Silver 2021 EC
Mark Lebedew Australia 2022
Gheorghe Crețu Romania 2022 Bronze 2023 EC

References

  1. ^ a b "O reprezentanci". odbojka.si (in Slovenian). Volleyball Federation of Slovenia. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  2. ^ "Poznate zanimiva dejstva o zgodovini in statistiki odbojke?" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. 23 September 2019. Retrieved 12 July 2022. Slovenska moška odbojkarska reprezentanca je prvo uradno tekmo odigrala 24. aprila 1992.
  3. ^ "Andrea Giani został trenerem reprezentacji Słowenii siatkarzy". Onet Sport (in Polish). 16 March 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  4. ^ "France celebrate historic European crown, Slovenia happy with silver". CEV. 18 October 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  5. ^ T. J. (26 January 2017). "Andrea Giani ne bo več vodil slovenske reprezentance" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
  6. ^ Sportal (2 March 2017). "Novi slovenski selektor je Slobodan Kovač" (in Slovenian). Siol. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  7. ^ T. J. (28 May 2017). "Odbojkarji so si priigrali premierni nastop na svetovnem prvenstvu" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  8. ^ "SLO M: Kovac is no longer head coach of Slovenia". worldofvolley.com. WoV. 26 January 2019. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  9. ^ "Alberto Giuliani to coach Slovenia". volleyballworld.com. 24 February 2019. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  10. ^ "Year in review: Slovenia men, Canada women join VNL elite". volleyballworld.com. 18 December 2019. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  11. ^ "Poland resist Slovenia challenge, advance to Men's VNL final". volleyballworld.com. 26 June 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  12. ^ "Solid France snatch bronze from Slovenia in Men's VNL for second podium appearance". volleyballworld.com. 27 June 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  13. ^ D. S. (9 September 2019). "Domači EP za Slovence dodaten motiv, želijo si polne Stožice" (in Slovenian). Ljubljana: RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  14. ^ Okorn, Tomaž (29 September 2019). "Srebrne junake v finalu ustavila Srbija: srce je hotelo, telo ni dalo" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  15. ^ "Italija strla slovenski odpor, zmagala s 3:2 in postala evropski prvak v odbojki, Sloveniji srebro!". Dnevnik (in Slovenian). 19 September 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  16. ^ "Fans clear on EuroVolley men All Star team". CEV. 23 September 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  17. ^ "SLO M: Giuliani steps down as Slovenia head coach". worldofvolley.com. WoV. 22 September 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  18. ^ "Mark Lebedew takes charge of Slovenia". volleyballworld.com. 18 February 2022. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  19. ^ "Slovenske odbojkarje bo na svetovnem prvenstvu vodil Cretu" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. 8 August 2022. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
  20. ^ "Lebedew ni več selektor moške reprezentance" (in Slovenian). Volleyball Federation of Slovenia. 8 August 2022. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
  21. ^ "Selektorji moške reprezentance". odbojka.si (in Slovenian). Volleyball Federation of Slovenia. Retrieved 17 September 2022.

External links