Rok Bracko takes the opportunity to shine
Slovenia commenced their second week of the men`s Volleyball Nations League campaign with a dominant performance, securing a clean 3-0 sweep against Turkiye in Burgas. This decisive victory elevated Slovenia to second place in the current VNL standings, holding a 4-1 win-loss record and 11 points, positioned directly below undefeated Poland. In contrast, Turkiye dropped to 17th place, second from the bottom, with a 1-4 record and 3 points.
Slovenia held the advantage over their opponents in several key scoring metrics, except for blocking. They registered 40 attack points compared to Turkiye`s 32 and served five aces versus two. However, the most significant disparity was in unforced errors; Turkiye committed 25 errors, while the winners made only 16. Fittingly, the match point for Slovenia came from a Turkiye serve that landed in the net.
Opposite hitter Toncek Stern was Slovenia`s leading scorer with a match-high 14 points, which included two aces and two kill blocks. Star outside hitter Rok Mozic contributed another 12 points. His 21-year-old teammate on the opposite side of the court, Rok Bracko, also scored 12 points. Notably, this was only Bracko`s second game appearance of the season. He showcased an excellent 65% success rate in attack and added a serving ace to his performance. For Turkiye, Efe Mandiraci was the highest scorer with 12 points, including two blocks and one ace.
Speaking after the match, Rok Bracko commented: “We did not come into this tournament in full force as some guys stayed at home, so we need to show to ourselves that we are still a very good team. So we are very happy to have played the type of volleyball that we like to play. We did everything the coach said and we are happy for this victory. When they need me, I try to do everything for the team. I think I played well today, so I hope that I can do the same in the next game. Against Bulgaria it will be a super physical game. They have a lot of players, who are really well prepared physically and jump a lot, so we need to play our game and do what we do. We expect a lot of people in the hall and I think that’s really good. We’ll do our best…”
Wednesday`s VNL schedule on the Balkans continues with two more matches: Bulgaria will face Japan in Burgas, and Serbia will play Iran in Belgrade. Meanwhile, the VNL pool in Chicago is set to begin with a match between Italy and Poland.
Jasper Thornfield 
Oliver Wrenwick