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 Marcello 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 Bulgarians lost 1.67 points from their world ranking total and dropped to 22nd place with 157.55 points. Nevertheless, the national team currently maintains 16th position in the temporary VNL standings.
The Poles established a serious dominance right from the start of the match. After evenly matched initial rallies, they built a solid lead and, following a series of successful attacks and blocks, took a convincing lead. The Bulgarian team struggled to find solutions against the opponent's organized play, and the first set ended 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. In the decisive moments, however, the Poles showed greater stability. An ace from Magdalena Stysiak sealed the final score of 25:22.
The third set was the most dramatic. After trailing 2:7, the Bulgarians caught up and reached a 22:22 tie after excellent block plays by Borislava Saykova. The national team even led 23:22, but in the end, Poland better utilized its chances and closed out the match 25:23.
Statistics show that the difference largely came from errors. Poland scored 39 points from attack compared to 36 for Bulgaria and 8 blocks compared to 7. The Bulgarian team was better on serve with 5 aces against 4, but the Poles won a total of 24 points from Bulgarian errors, while our team received only 9 points in this metric.
The national team also had an advantage in reception (71 against 49) and 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.
Mikaela Stoyanova was the top scorer for Bulgaria with 13 points, and Borislava Saykova added 10. For Poland, Piasecka scored the most points 12, while Koput finished with 10 points.
Bulgaria's next match in Bangkok is against the team from Thailand. This encounter is the most important of the second week of the VNL.

photo:volleyballworld.com