Slovenia survived the Netherlands’ second-set rampage before prevailing 25-20, 32-30, 25-22, to end its Week 3 campaign in the men’s Volleyball Nations League (VNL) on a high note at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City on Sunday, July 9.

Slovenia's Tine Urnaut scores against the outstretched hands of the Netherlands' Fabian Plak (8) and Nimir Abdel-Aziz during their VNL game Sunday. (Ali Vicoy)

Already assured of a spot in the quarterfinals, the Slovenians still showed their resolve behind the efforts of skipper Tine Urnaut and Klemen Cebulj to end the preliminaries with an 8-4 win-loss record at seventh place.

The victory also denied the Netherlands an entry to the next phase as it slipped to 5-7.

Urnaut showed the way with 14 points highlighted by 12 attacks, while Cebulj chipped in 13 points as the Slovenians also ended the Philippine leg with three wins against a loss to world No. 1 Poland.

The Netherlands threatened midway through the second set when Nimir Abdel-Aziz spearheaded the assault by erasing an 18-21 deficit for a 24-23 upperhand.

But Slovenia held its poise, challenging the Netherlands’ defense with Urnaut at the forefront of their attack.

A service error from Abdel-Aziz and an attack error from Maarten Van Garderen proved costly for the Dutch as it gave the Slovenians the 31-30 lead before Alen Pajenk blocked Abdel-Aziz’s corner spike to give Slovenia the set victory.

The Dutch tried to bounce back in the third frame by keeping it close, but continued to fall into a maze of errors including a service from Abdel-Aziz that went long that sealed the win for the Slovenians.

Overall, the Netherlands gave up 28 points on errors as opposed to Slovenia’s 20.

Abdel-Aziz scored 22 points including 18 kills, while Fabian Plak and Twan Wiltenburg combined for 15 points in a futile attempt for the Dutch.