Netherlands fight through to edge Slovenia and progress to quarterfinals

On Monday, the Netherlands progressed to the quarterfinals of the CEV Trendyol EuroVolley 2026 Women after securing a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Slovenia – doing so even after failing to capitalise on as many as four opportunities to close the match in four sets. Even though they leave the competition, Slovenia showed again that they are progressively and quickly closing the gap with the continental elite of the sport. They could not provide a special birthday present to their head coach Alessandro Orefice on the day he turned 42 – and yet they will take many positives and useful lessons from this experience. Later in the day, Pool A winners Poland will play underdogs Portugal, who have reached the Round of 16 of the continental championship for the first time in their history. 

The Netherlands vs. Slovenia 3-2 (25-18, 19-25, 25-21, 29-31, 15-9) 

These two teams had previously played each other only once at EuroVolley – in the 2015 edition and more specifically in the pool phase in Apeldoorn, where the Oranjes had stormed to a comprehensive 3-0 victory over a Slovenian team including current captain Sasa Planinšec and setter Eva Pavlović Mori. More recently, in 2017, the Netherlands had beaten Slovenia 3-0 in a World Championship qualifier – but Slovenia’s evolution since then has been so terrific that this time around a closely contested match was to be anticipated. 

Slovenia had impressed during the pool phase contested in Istanbul with three wins in five matches and yet they seemed to struggle to find their rhythm in the early stages of the match. Many of the rallies were extremely long, and the Netherlands had the upper hand most of the time after spectacular defence actions on both sides of the net. Slovenia finally closed in at 13-12 but the Oranjes did not lose their composure and actually broke away again with a very solid overall performance resulting in a 25-18 win sealed by their middle blocker Indy Baijens. 

After reaching the Finals of this year’s Volleyball Nations League, a competition Slovenia will contest for the first time in 2027, the Netherlands were regarded as the favourites of this fixture and yet Slovenia eventually found a way to close long rallies in their favour, thereby setting the pace of the game for most of the second set, as Pavlović Mori made good use of all available options in attack. Slovenia managed to resist any Dutch attempt at mounting a comeback and a net violation by the Netherlands ended the set in their favour (25-19).   

In a rollercoaster of emotions, the Netherlands were back in control for most of the third set, with a five-point advantage more than halfway through (16-11). However, Slovenia continued to fight hard and Felix Koslowski stopped the game as the rivals dangerously closed in at 17-15 following a 4-1 run for Slovenia. The break produced the desired result since the Oranjes – dressed in blue for the day – resumed their march (20-16) and eventually secured a 25-21 win. 

Slovenia were not ready to surrender just yet and fought back after trailing by a number of points early in the fourth set. They completed their comeback and eventually edged ahead for the first time at 17-16. The Netherlands levelled the count at 18-all before Slovenia returned to set the pace courtesy of a Dutch error and an imposing block. The Oranjes showed remarkable spirit and resilience to fight back to 21-all but could not convert any of their four match balls – with Slovenia deservedly earning the right to define the fate of the match via a tiebreaker (31-29). 

Even after such a setback, the Dutch looked undeterred and they resumed their quest for a spot in the quarterfinals with even more determination, practically leaving no chance to their rivals despite staring from an initial 0-2 deficit. Elles Dambrink (24 points) and Lorena Lorber Fijok (22) top scored for the Netherlands and Slovenia in the match, respectively.