LINYI, China, June 10 (Xinhua) -- Host China squandered a 2-1 lead before taking a 3-2 defeat to world No. 6 Slovenia in its opening match of the 2026 FIVB Men's Volleyball Nations League (VNL) here on Wednesday.
Having lost 3-1 to Slovenia in both of their previous meetings in 2022 and 2023, world No. 28 China looked on course for a major upset in front of home fans, but eventually fell short in a tense deciding set.
Slovenia dominated the opening set with strong attacking play to win 25-17. China responded in the second set with improved defense and transition play, leveling the match with a 25-20 victory.
China's double blocks repeatedly frustrated Slovenia's hitters in the third set, while captain Yu Yuantai energized the crowd with two aces as China claimed the set 25-20.
The fourth set turned into a fierce battle, with both sides exchanging leads throughout. Opposite hitter Wen Zihua produced a series of powerful spikes to maintain China's narrow advantage. But after the score was tied at 22-22, Slovenia reeled off consecutive block points to take the set 25-23.
China struggled in reception early in the deciding set, and a string of unforced errors proved costly as Slovenia pulled away for a 15-10 victory to complete the comeback.
Slovenia's Rok Mozic led all scorers with 25 points, while Wen finished with 23 for China.
China's head coach Vital Heynen expressed frustration after the match, saying his squad lost composure at key moments.
"You will think that we made a big step forward because we played amazingly. First set that was not good, then we played well, good in serve, block, defense, spiking, so many good things," Heynen said. "If you don't learn to win, it will not help."
"I think that is the biggest step to make. My guys, they are great guys, I know they are too nice. That's the problem. When it's really difficult, they say 'Oh, maybe not today,' because if you play so well, you have to win."
"I think nobody in the world expected China to push Slovenia to five sets. But the '3' ended up on the wrong side. It should have been 3-2 for us," he added. "We have to learn from matches like this today. If we always say we will learn tomorrow, and at the end, the year is over."
"The team still has plenty of room for improvement, both technically and mentally in key moments," Yu said. "That's the gap between stronger teams and us."
"We obviously had a good start, but then China started fighting back really well," said Slovenia's Nik Mujanovic. "I think we showed great motivation, and in the end we managed to maintain it until the end of the match."
Also on Wednesday, top seed Poland swept Cuba 3-0, while Japan eased past Ukraine 3-0. China will next face Ukraine on Thursday.
