2026 VNL June 3: Antropova Debut Outside Hitter, Czechia Upset China

The Volleyball Nations League (VNL) 2026 officially began on June 3, with all 18 teams playing their first match across three pools.

Pool 3 (Nanjing, China)

The competition’s opening match kicked off in Nanjing, where three-time VNL medalist Poland edged Belgium in a nail-biting five set thriller (25-20, 22-25, 25-23, 18-25, 15-13). Despite the loss, Belgian captain Britt Herbots scored an impressive 30 points for the Yellow Tigers.

The second match of the day saw Serbia cruise past Thailand in straight sets (26-24, 25-22, 25-19). Near the end of set 1, Serbia was leading 23‑18, but Thailand scored 6 consecutive points to turn the table around and get the first set point of the match at 23‑24. However, Serbia ultimately finished the set 26‑24 and went on to win the remaining two sets.

The third match of the day saw Czechia stun China 3‑0 (25-20, 25-20, 26-24) in front of the Asian home fans. This resulted in Czechia taking a massive 16.91 World Ranking points from China. After the match, in an interview with Jiangsu Sports News, captain of team China Gong Xiangyu said that there are a lot of youngsters on the field today and this may cause the team to be a bit impatient. She acknowledged that this is normal for a young team but as a whole team, time would not wait for them and they need to quickly fix their form and be ready for the next match.

Pool 1 (Quebec City, Canada)

Over to Pool 1 in Quebec City, the first match saw VNL 2026 debutants Ukraine facing off against three‑time VNL Champion USA. The North American side swept the European side in straight sets (25-16, 25-17, 25-23). In a post‑match interview with VBTV, Ukrainian outside hitter Oleksandra Milenko said that they are very happy to play in the VNL here against the best teams with the best players, and all of them are happy and excited. She also said they need to move on from the loss and continue to prepare for the next game.

The second match in Quebec City saw Japan defeat France 3‑1 (23-25, 25-12, 25-22, 25-13). In a post-match interview by VBTV, when asked about the adjustment following the first set, Japan head coach Ferhat Akbaş said that France was scoring a lot from the middle block and the left side, so for the rest of the match they tried to push all the game to that side and tried to increase their blocking number. He said he is very happy about the blocking and seeing this improvement makes him very happy.

In the final match of day 1 in Pool 1, Germany defeated Canada 3‑1 (28-26, 22-25, 25-18, 25-18). Canadian outside hitter Alexa Grey was the joint top scorer of the match, scoring 24 points with 10 of those coming in set 2, alongside German outside hitter Leana Grozer, who scored the same amount of points.

Pool 2 (Brasilia, Brazil)

Meanwhile, in Pool 2 in Brasilia, the first match of the pool started with Türkiye defeating the Dominican Republic in five sets (17-25, 25-20, 25-16, 23-25, 15-11). Turkish outside hitter Yaprak Erkek, in a post‑match interview with VBTV, credited their victory to their unity as a team and praised the Central American side as a strong team with really good attackers.

In the second match in Brasilia, reigning Olympic and World Champion Italy cruised past Bulgaria in straight sets (25-22, 25-16, 27-25). This match was especially special for Ekaterina Antropova, who, formerly playing as an opposite, debuted in her new position as an outside hitter and even became the top scorer for the match by scoring 14 points in the three‑set match. Antropova spoke to Volleyball World and shared that being an outside hitter gives her a totally different perspective from that of an opposite. She also mentioned that head coach Julio Velasco brought up this idea at the start of the season and she agreed immediately as long as it helps the team.

In the final match in Brasilia, hosts Brazil defeated the Netherlands 3‑1 (25‑17, 25‑15, 25‑27, 25‑23). There was a small incident during set 3. During the Netherlands’ successful challenge to turn the score from 23‑20 to 22‑21, the gymnasium suddenly blacked out. Relying on spotlights to light up the gymnasium, there was a brief pause in the match for around ten minutes before the lights eventually returned and the Netherlands went on to win the third set.

(Featured image source: Volleyball World)

(Written by Boris CHUNG Bok Man)