The coach of the Bulgarian men's national team, Gianlorenzo Blengini, has announced the squad for the second tournament of the Volleyball Nations League (VNL), which will take place in Ljubljana (Slovenia) from June 24 to 28.
Compared to the group that participated in the first week of the competition in Rio de Janeiro, the Italian specialist makes only one change. Outside hitter Georgi Tatarov returns to the squad, replacing Zhasmin Velichkov.
The Bulgarian national team will play four matches in the Slovenian capital against Italy, Slovenia, Canada, and Ukraine in the battle for a place among the leading teams in the tournament.

Bulgaria's Schedule in Ljubljana

• June 24, 2:00 PM– Bulgaria – Italy

• June 25, 9:30 PM– Bulgaria – Slovenia

• June 27, 5:30 PM– Bulgaria – Canada

• June 28, 2:00 PM– Bulgaria – Ukraine

• Simeon Nikolov

• Stoil Palev

Outside Hitters

• Aleksandar Nikolov

• Martin Atanasov

• Asparuh Asparuhov

• Georgi Tatarov

• Denislav Bardarov

Middle blockers

• Alex Grozdanov

• Iliya Petkov

• Preslav Petkov

• Boris Nachev

Opposite hitter

• Venislav Antov

Libero

• Damyan Kolev

• Rusi Zhelev
  

The Bulgarian national team departs for Ljubljana tomorrow morning on a 6:20 AM flight from Terminal 2 of 'Vasil Levski' Airport in Sofia.
Tatarov's return gives Blengini additional depth in the reception line before a tough series of matches against four very strong opponents. The clashes against world champion Italy and host Slovenia, which will be a serious test for the young Bulgarian squad, are of particular interest.

photos: Nikolay Varadinov