Marcello Abbondanza has named the group of 30 players who will be part of the Bulgarian women's national team for this year's edition of the Volleyball Nations League (VNL). The coach reduced the initial extended squad of 39 volleyball players, with nine dropping out of the representative team.
The remaining players, who are not included in the final VNL group, will continue their preparation following the same training program.
As part of their preparation, the national team players will play three control matches against Sweden in the "Hristo Botev" hall. The matches on May 22 and 23 will be of a training nature, while the match on May 24 will be open to the public and broadcast live on MAX Sport 1.
After the control matches against the Swedes, the Bulgarian team will travel to Rosario, where they will play two more friendly matches against Argentina
M on May 29 at 02:30 AM and on May 30 at 03:00 AM Bulgarian time.
The change in Monika Krusteva's position is also notable. In the initial extended list, she was included as an opposite hitter, but in the current VNL squad, she is listed among the outside hitters.
Three setters, four outside hitters, and two opposite hitters are dropped from the extended squad.
Players dropped:
Setters:
Kiara Andonov
Boyana Boyanova
Liana Vasileva
Outside Hitters:
Vyara Parapunova
Nicole Okoro
Diyana Borisova
Viktoria Dimitrova
Opposite Hitters:
Elisaveta Sarieva
Radostina Marinova
Bulgaria's final extended squad for VNL 2026:
Setters:
Lora Slavcheva, Dimana Ivanova, Stefani Dyankova, Margarita Guncheva
Outside Hitters:
Gabriela Zhekova, Maria Koleva, Miroslava Paskova, Alexandra Kitipova, Elena Becheva, Maria Zlatanova, Alexandra Milanova, Monika Krasteva, Kalina Veneva, Viktoriya Koeva, Tsvetelina Ilieva
Middle Blockers:
Denitsa Angelova, Venesa Radeva, Elena Kolarova, Borislava Saykova, Darina Naneva, Boryana Angelova, Kaya Nikolova, Ivanina Malinova
Opposite Hitters:
Iva Dudova, Mikaela Stoyanova, Merelin Nikolova
Liberos:
Maria-Magdalena Nedyalkova, Mila Pashkuleva, Zhana Todorova, Viktoriya Ninova
Photos:volleyballworld.comand bfv.bg
