For ACH Volley Ljubljana, the first hurdle is in the Netherlands.

The reigning national volleyball champions received their opponents on the road to this year’s CEV Champions League at the European Volleyball Confederation (CEV) headquarters yesterday. As expected, ACH Volley Ljubljana was seeded in all three qualifying rounds leading up to the group stage of the Champions League.

The draw assigned the Dutch champions, Orion Stars from Doetinchem, as ACH Volley Ljubljana’s opponents in the first round, with the matches scheduled for late October. Should the team advance, their second-round opponents will be the winner of the tie between Strumica (MKD) and Dinamo Bucuresti (ROM). In the third round — contingent on success in the previous stages - ACH Volley will face one of the following teams for a spot in the group stage: TSV Hartberg (AUT), AKAA Volley (FIN), Azerrail Baku (AZE), or Radnički Kragujevac (SRB).

At the CEV headquarters, the Champions League groups were also drawn, with the top teams awaiting their final opponents from the qualifiers. If successful in all three qualifying rounds, our champions would be placed in Group A, alongside last year’s European and current Italian champions Trentino Itas, the current CEV Cup winners and Turkish champions Ziraat Bankkart Ankara, and the French champions Tours VB.

Ljubljana’s coach Igor Kolaković and the most experienced player in this year’s Orange Dragons squad, Tine Urnaut, followed the draw and shared their thoughts on the path ahead.

Igor Kolaković: “We must recognize that the Dutch team in the first qualifying round is very strong. Several Dutch national team players who have successfully competed elsewhere in Europe have returned to their home club, aiming to bring Orion notable results in European competition. The matches will take place immediately after the World Championship in the Philippines, so our main priority is for the players to return healthy and reasonably rested for club duties, allowing us to start the journey toward the Champions League group stage as complete as possible.”

Tine Urnaut: “My focus is solely on the first opponent, Orion. We know that some excellent Dutch internationals have returned to the club and their ambitions are high. We must ensure we are well prepared and cohesive for these matches because many teams in Europe now aspire to reach the Champions League group stage, and every obstacle will be challenging. I also hope for strong support from the stands in Ljubljana against the Dutch team — together with our fans, it will be easier to qualify for the much-desired Champions League.”