Slovenia secured its spot in the Round of 16 of the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship by defeating Germany, 25-21, 17-25, 31-29, 25-22, late Wednesday night at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The world No. 6 Slovenians leaned on the Štern brothers, Tonček and Žiga, to navigate Pool E and advance to the knockout stages, where they will face an undefeated USA team that went unscathed in Pool D.
“It was a very tough match against Germany. I’m happy we managed to win in the end. It was another rollercoaster of a game for us. We started strong, dropped the second set, then played solid volleyball in the third and fourth,” said Žiga, who tallied 16 points on 13 spikes, two aces, and a block.
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After dropping the marathon third set, the world No. 10 Germans looked deflated, falling behind 9-15 in the fourth. They found a spark, however, through Filip John, Tobias Brand, and Erik Röhrs, who helped them close the gap to 21-all.
Slovenia, though, responded with key points from 20-year-old Nik Mujanovic, Žiga, and Jan Kozamermik to secure the win after two hours and five minutes in front of a lively crowd.
Tonček led Slovenia with 18 points, while Mujanovic continued his strong performance in place of injured captain Tine Urnaut, sidelined due to neck issues from a pre-tournament collision. Kozamermik contributed 10 points, half of them coming from blocks.
“We know each other well; there haven’t been many changes since the VNL competition. As I said, the most important thing is to play our best game on that day, and I hope that with a strong performance, we can overcome them,” Žiga said ahead of Slovenia’s Round of 16 clash against the USA on Monday, Sept. 22.
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For Germany, which exited the tournament with a 1-2 record, Röhrs led with 22 points, while Brand added 14. Middle blockers Anton Brehme and Tobias Krick contributed 11 and 10 points, respectively.
“The guys played really well, so I’m sorry to leave the tournament. But we need to learn with the new group, grow again, and get back to where we were. We take lessons from this tournament, and we still have a couple of years before the Olympics,” said 40-year-old captain György Grozer, who remains committed to continuing his playing career.
