Slovenian women’s Volleyball team named Best Women’s Team of 2025
News
The Sports Journalists Association of Slovenia recently presented the Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year awards, thereby honouring the best Slovenian athletes of 2025. The Slovenian women’s Volleyball national team received the award for the Best Women’s Team of 2025.
The Slovenian women’s team kicked off the season with the European Golden League, and continued it in style by securing their fourth EuroVolley appearance through the qualifiers completed earlier this summer. The team’s standout achievement was their debut at the World Championship. In Thailand, they ranked among the top 16 teams, and they finished the 2025 season in an excellent 20th place in the world rankings.
“We are very happy, grateful, and proud to have been chosen as the best women’s team of the year. It is an enormous reward for all the work we put in this past summer,” said Polona Frelih.
Žana Ivana Halužan Sagadin, who accepted the award on behalf of the team from former national team player Tina Lipicer Samec, added:
“I believe this is one of the greatest honours we could receive after such a successful season. We know Slovenia has exceptional female athletes, so being chosen among all of them is something to be truly proud of. I am extremely proud of this recognition and that we managed to achieve this as a team.”
This is already the second such recognition for Slovenian Volleyball. In 2019, following their EuroVolley silver medal, the Slovenian men’s team was selected Best Team of the Year.
At the traditional ceremony held at Cankarjev dom in Ljubljana, Slovenian sports journalists chose sport climber Janja Garnbret as the Best Female Athlete of 2025. Cyclist Tadej Pogačar was voted the Best Male Athlete of 2025, while Leja Glojnarič received the award for the Best Para-Athlete. Among men’s teams, Football club Celje collected the most votes, while the Slovenian men’s Volleyball team finished second. The highly successful men’s ski jumping team was named the Best Team in Individual Sports.
Pictures courtesy of Igor Kupljenik/MI-PRESS