The Ukrainian men's national team announced its squad for the first match of the international 'Silesia Cup' tournament in Poland, where the team will face Bulgaria on May 20 in Sosnowiec.
The tournament is part of the preparation of Raul Lozano's team for their upcoming participation in the Volleyball Nations League 2026. After the match with Bulgaria, the Ukrainians will also compete against Poland and Serbia.
The 'blue-yellows' squad includes 14 volleyball players who compete in the championships of Ukraine, Poland, Italy, Czech Republic, Greece, Romania, and China.
The absence of some of the team's big stars is notable. Oleg Plotnytskyi, Yurii Semeniuk, and Vasyl Tupchii will join the national team at a later stage due to club commitments. Outside hitter Tymofii Poluian is out for the entire Volleyball Nations League season due to a wrist injury.
Head coach Raul Lozano will rely on the following volleyball players for the match against Bulgaria:
Setters:Vitalii Shchytkov, Yurii Synytsia, Serhii Yevstratov
Opposite Hitters:Maksym Tonkonoh, Yevhen Kisiliuk
Outside Hitters:Illia Kovalov, Dmytro Yanchuk, Oleksandr Nalozhnyi, Mykyta Luban
Middle Blockers:Andrii Cheleniak, Denys Veletskyi, Ruslan Chervatiuk, Vladyslav Shchurov
Liberos:Yaroslav Pampushko
The match between Bulgaria and Ukraine will provide the first more serious indications of the current state of both teams before the start of the official matches in the summer. For the Bulgarian national team, this will also
be an important test against an opponent that has established itself as a significant factor in European volleyball in recent years.
The match is on May 20 at 9 PM Bulgarian time and will be broadcast on MAX Sport1.
photo: Nikolay Varadinov
