Leon's Six Aces Lead Poland Past Slovenia Into VNL Final

Defending champions Poland swept Slovenia 3-0 (25-16, 25-19, 25-17) in the first VNL semifinal in Ningbo, China, on Saturday, reaching the gold medal match for the fourth time in tournament history. Poland have won the title twice (2023, 2025) and finished runner-up once (2021).

Wilfredo Leon dominated the first set, helping Poland close it 25-16, with Bartlomiej Boladz sealing the point. Poland pulled away in the second set behind Boladz's offense, winning 25-19 on a block from Bartlomiej Lemanski. A fast start in the third set, aided by two Leon aces, put the match out of reach, and Poland closed it out 25-17.

Poland dominated across the board, outscoring Slovenia 9-3 in aces, 12-6 in blocks, and 35-25 in kills. Leon finished with a match-high 16 points, including six aces, eight kills, and two blocks. Boladz added 15 points. Slovenia's 40-year-old middle blocker Alen Pajenk was the team's only double-digit scorer with 11 points.

Speaking to VBTV after the match, Leon said: "Not always you can win 3-0 in the semifinals. And we also dominated in each of the three sets. It's not that easy, so you will not play this kind of a match every day. I hope there will be more (aces) in the final."

Slovenia's Rok Mozic reflected on the loss: "I am a little bit sad, because we had some opportunities, where we could do better. When Leon is spiking over the block, you cannot do anything, but when he's taking a roll shot, you can take it and do something better in counterattack. We knew we would suffer a lot in attack, because they are one of the best blocking teams and that's what happened. But we need to learn from this. Tomorrow is a new day. We need to reset and go full power. The medal is the only goal that we have, so we'll give everything we have to win it."

Poland will face the winner of Saturday's second semifinal between Japan and the United States in Sunday's final. Slovenia will play for bronze against the loser of that match.