Urnaut and Pajenk set EuroVolley record: “I hope this one will be the best one yet”

Some records are made to be broken. Others are built over decades of dedication, resilience and an enduring love for the game. When Slovenia stepped onto the court for their opening match at the CEV Enel EuroVolley 2026 Men, Tine Urnaut and Alen Pajenk made history by becoming the first men’s players to compete at 10 editions of the European Championship.

Their journey began together on the EuroVolley stage in 2007, and since then Tine Urnaut and Alen Pajenk have helped shape the remarkable rise of their national team. Slovenia are now competing at their 10th consecutive EuroVolley and 11th edition overall, with Urnaut and Pajenk having been there for every step of this extraordinary journey. And there is still plenty they want to achieve.

This summer, the two veterans were part of another historic chapter as Slovenia claimed their first-ever medal at global level, winning bronze in the VNL in Ningbo. Now, they have their sights set even higher at EuroVolley, hoping to add the one medal missing from their impressive collection - gold. Slovenia have already claimed three silver medals, in 2015, 2019 and 2021, and bronze in 2023.

For 40-year-old Pajenk and 38-year-old Urnaut, the latest milestone was something they had not spent much time thinking about. Before their arrival in Modena, they had been joined by three other players - Slovenia’s Dejan Vinčić, Serbia’s Marko Podraščanin and Germany’s György Grozer - in sharing the previous record of nine EuroVolley appearances. Now, the Slovenian duo stand alone at the top.

For Pajenk, reaching a 10th European Championship was something he could hardly have imagined when his international journey began.

“When we started, all these older players were finishing at around 34 years old, so it was not really on my mind. But as we went on, we felt good. The young players who come in give us - and still give us - a boost to play, to feel younger and to just go for more and more.”

For Urnaut, sharing such a long journey with his teammate makes the achievement even more special.

“It’s something special, for sure, because it’s a very, very long journey. I’m happy that we made it this far, that we are healthy, that we can play Volleyball, and this is very special. I’m not looking - or we are not looking - at what we have achieved so far. A few days ago, I saw a post with some stats. I’m very happy about this, but I just want our team to play the best possible Volleyball and to play even better than we can.”

While neither player is particularly interested in looking back, their record at EuroVolley is impossible to ignore. Since Slovenia claimed their first medal in 2015, they have become one of the most consistent teams in European Volleyball, reaching the podium at four of the last five editions.

For Pajenk, that first medal remains particularly meaningful. “I would say the first medal, for sure. Because it was the first, of course, and this was our step to grow, a big step for us as a nation - to play better Volleyball and compete at a very high level. I remember one of the matches from the group phase very well. We played really badly and lost the match, and our head coach Andrea Giani was so angry with us. We didn’t even finish the last ball, we were still in the middle of the court, and he was just screaming and yelling at us. I think that was the click in our heads, because he believed in us and knew what we were capable of. We just needed to show it on the court. I think that was the push for us to start.”

Urnaut, meanwhile, sees something special in every medal Slovenia have won, with the bronze from 2023 carrying an especially emotional memory. “Each medal is very special in its own way. If you go back to the last one, it is very special because Dejan Vinčić was not with us. He arrived after the semifinal and, the next day, he came to play in the European Championship medal match. I don’t know if that had ever happened before - he came one day, had one practice with us and we won the bronze medal. That is a special memory for this group, for our brotherhood.”

A few weeks ago, Urnaut and Pajenk added another historic achievement to that story. Slovenia won their first VNL medal in Ningbo, finally reaching the podium after finishing fourth on three previous occasions. It was also the country’s first medal at global level - a milestone that brought pride, but also an appetite for more.

“Our goals are the same as always. One medal in one tournament doesn’t guarantee or mean anything in the next one, so we must be aware of that. There are many teams at a high level, and I think the difference between the teams nowadays is smaller than it was 10 or 20 years ago. So you need to be even more careful throughout the tournament. The tournament is also pretty long, around 18 days. I hope, as I said, that we play the best possible Volleyball, that we stay healthy and that we improve throughout the tournament,” said Urnaut.

Pajenk sees the VNL bronze as proof that Slovenia can compete with the very best - and believes there is no reason to set limits at EuroVolley. “Of course, we are very happy that we won the VNL medal because it was the first one. We were a lot of times in the finals and always finished in fourth place, so it gives us a little bit of a boost that we can compete with the best. This year EuroVolley will be different because there is also one ticket for LA at stake, which is probably our goal, and the goal of many other teams - to secure it already now. If we can win it, why not? I think we are better now than we were at the VNL. We put a lot of thought into the serve, which was not our best at some moments in the VNL. Earlier, we were also a team that served well, so we lost a little bit of that. If we feel good, push hard and our serves go in, I think we can beat everybody.”

Ten EuroVolley appearances mark a remarkable milestone for Urnaut and Pajenk. With both still hungry for success and determined to help Slovenia compete for the biggest prizes, the record they have just set could yet be extended. For now, they have another EuroVolley ahead of them - and another opportunity to add a new chapter to a story that continues to grow.