The Bulgarian women's national team started its participation in the Nations League with a loss to the world and Olympic champions from Italy. In Brazil, Marcelo Abbondanza's protégées lost 0:3 (22:25, 16:25, 25:27) in their first match of the tournament.

The Bulgarians put up serious resistance against their renowned opponent and were fully competitive in the first and third sets. In the opening set, the 'Lionesses' stayed close to Italy until the very end, but 'Squadra Azzurra' won 25:22. The second set was more decisively in favor of the champions, who prevailed 25:16. The third set was the most contested, with Bulgaria taking an early lead and maintaining the suspense for a long time, but Italy snatched the victory 27:25 and finished the match in three sets.

Alexandra Milanova was the top scorer for Bulgaria with 12 points, while Mikaela Stoyanova added 10. Borislava Saykova finished with 8, Mira Paskova with 7 points. For Italy, Ekaterina Antropova scored 14 points, and Merit Adigwe finished with 12.

Italy made the difference mainly through serves and attacking efficiency. Both teams finished with an equal number of block points (7:7), but the Italians scored five aces against only one for Bulgaria. The world champions also had six more points in attack, which proved decisive for the final outcome of the match, especially at the end of the third set.

The statistics show that Bulgaria performed very well in elements beyond direct attack completions. The national team surpassed Italy in reception (66% against 53%), and the difference in digs was minimal. This is a good sign for the team's defensive work against one of the strongest teams in the world.
The lack of sufficient service points and lower attack efficiency prevented the Bulgarian team from winning at least one set. Nevertheless, their performance in reception and defense, as well as the contested third set against the reigning world and Olympic champions, provides grounds for optimism before the next matches of the tournament.