After making it to the quarter-finals undefeated in their debut Olympic appearance in Paris, the Slovenian men's volleyball team suffered a 1:3 defeat at the hands of Poland, No. 1 team in the world ranking, as a bitter end to their Olympic dream.

The defeat, which automatically means the end of the Slovenian team's Olympic journey, is particularly disappointing since it comes after three consecutive wins in the preliminary round, which Slovenia finished as top of their group.

Poland, who came last in theirs, were efficient in the first set, while Slovenia's offence lacked confidence. However, in the second set Slovenia managed to turn things around and equalise in a nail-biting finish.

They did not keep up this momentum though and Poland, showcasing their serve skills, won the following two sets with a minimum 5-point difference to punch a ticket to the semifinals.

Slovenia's best scorer was Klemen Čebulj with 16 points, while Poland were led by their star player Wilfredo Leon Venero, who recorded 20 points.

"We did all we could, we left it all on the court and we stayed together until the end, which is most important. We have to admit that Poland truly played phenomenally... They showed their quality, unfortunately they were better today," Slovenia's Jan Kozamernik told the public broadcaster RTV Slovenija in the initial statement after the match.

Slovenia's captain Tine Urnaut told the media: "It's hard to say anything because it hurts. But we must admit that Poland performed better and deserved to advance to the semi-finals." He lauded their serve skills as well as their defence but also said he was proud of his teammates.

Slovenia's head coach Gheorghe Cretu is also proud of them, saying: "Being here is already a huge medal for us, because Slovenia, apart from qualifying for the Olympics for the first time, is also the smallest country in the history of the volleyball tournament.

"This is something that this generation has dreamed of for a long time and worked really hard for. If you listen to the stories of the older players, you will understand how much they have sacrificed for this," Slovenia's Romanian coach said.

Of the three team sport squads that Slovenia fielded in Paris, two made it to the quarter-finals. The women's handball team, who also made their debut appearance in the Olympics, did not make it past the group stage, having won only one of five matches.

Meanwhile, the men's handball team made it to the quarter-finals where they will face Norway on 7 August.