The Bulgarian women's national team started its participation in the second week of the Volleyball Nations League in Bangkok with a loss. The team led by Marcelo Abbondanza lost to the VNL 2025 bronze medalist Poland with a score of 0:3 (12:25, 22:25, 23:25).
After the defeat, the Bulgarian women lost 1.67 points from their world ranking and dropped to 22nd place with 157.55 points. Nevertheless, the national team currently maintains 16th position in the temporary VNL standings.
The Polish team asserted serious dominance from the start of the match. After the evenly matched first rallies, they built a solid lead, and after a series of successful attacks and blocks, they took a convincing lead. The Bulgarian team struggled to find solutions against the opponent's organized play, and the first set concluded with a score of 25:12 for Poland.
The second set offered a much more even battle. The national team managed to equalize the score several times, and after an error by Julia Piasecka, they even took a 17:16 lead. However, in the decisive moments, the Polish team showed greater stability. An ace by Magdalena Stysiak sealed the final score of 25:22.
The third set was the most dramatic. After trailing 2:7, the Bulgarian women clawed their way back and reached a 22:22 tie after excellent performances by Borislava Saykova in blocking. The national team even took a 23:22 lead, but in the end, Poland better utilized their chances and closed out the match with a 25:23 score.
Statistics show that the difference came mainly from errors. Poland scored 39 points from attack against 36 for Bulgaria, and 8 blocks against 7. The Bulgarian team was better on serve with 5 aces against 4, but the Polish team won a total of 24 points after Bulgarian errors, while our team received only 9 points in this category.
The national team also had an advantage in reception (71 against 49) and in setting (106 against 91), but this was not enough to win a set against one of the strongest teams in the world. Poland also finished with more digs in defense – 71 against 63.
The top scorer for Bulgaria was Mikaela Stoyanova with 13 points, and Borislava Saykova added 10. For Poland, Piasecka scored the most points – 12, while Koput finished with 10 points.
Magdalena Stysiak marked an important personal record. The opposite hitter surpassed the 1200-point mark in the tournament and now has 1207, being fourth in the all-time ranking.
Stysiak scored 9 points (7 attacks, 1 ace, 1 block), but admitted she was not satisfied with her performance.
Bulgaria's next match in Bangkok is against the team from Thailand. This match is considered the most important of the second week of the VNL.
photo:volleyballworld.com
