Team play, aggressive serving, and character in key moments were among the main reasons for Bulgaria's victory over Italy in the Nations League. This became clear from the statements made tovolleyweek.bgAsparuh Asparuhov, captain Alex Grozdanov, and head coach Gianlorenzo Blengini after the match.

Asparuhov believes that the national team is gradually starting to show the face it has been looking for since the beginning of the season.

"We are already playing more aggressive volleyball. It is important to be consistent and maintain this level every day, to create this atmosphere. Today we won with team play, which was extremely important. This is something we talked about after the first tournament, and I am glad that we managed to implement it on the very first day of the second tournament," stated the outside hitter.
He attached great importance to serving performance against one of the strongest teams in the world.
"Serving was one of the most important elements, especially in the first set. This is men's volleyball right now. Whoever manages to serve better and push the opponent away from the net has a much greater chance of winning. Even without direct service aces, it is much harder to score a point against a triple block and defense like Italy's.
"They are a team that knows how to play volleyball. They have intelligent players who read the situation perfectly. If they pressure with serves, we must do the same. Sometimes this leads to more errors, but that is the price."
The national team player does not believe that the team lost concentration at the beginning of the fourth set.
"There was no loss of concentration. Marto decided to do something we had trained hundreds of times. It just didn't work out for him in that situation. That's sports. You have to try the situations you've trained for. He played the ball as he should have, it just didn't work. There's no problem at all."
According to him, Bulgaria managed to maintain concentration even during the prolonged video review break.
"We managed to maintain concentration. It was important for the point to be called correctly. After that, against their very strong serve, we managed to make the necessary rotation and create composure right from the beginning of the set. From then on, we imposed our game."
Asparuhov also commented on the inclusion of libero Rusi Zhelev.
"Rusi performs exceptionally well in training. He has a lot to give to the team. I am sure that with time he will continue to get more and more chances because he has earned it. It's high time I said it. He is here because he earned it, not because of this or that. Let people stop with the comments about him."
For the decisive tie-break, Asparuhov emphasized the team's character.
"We prevailed with willpower. We do not give up, even when something isn't working. We continued to push, and I am happy that with team play we managed to get out of this situation."

Captain Alex Grozdanov also emphasized the collective performance.

"We won with team play and team spirit. This is something we were lacking a bit in the first tournament. It's normal ", everybody is returning from long and tough club seasons. There are players who are still learning how to immediately join the national team after such a season.
"We are one of the few teams that spend the entire summer without resting players. This does not excuse us for the first tournament, but I am very happy that today we played as a team and defeated an extremely strong opponent."
The middle blocker is convinced that the improvement in serving is a natural result of the players' work during the club season.
The serve is the only element that depends entirely on the player, and the whole game starts with it. During the season, everyone has seen what kind of serves Bulgarian players perform in their clubs. Both in terms of concentration and physical capabilities. We are simply gradually getting back into rhythm.
According to Grozdanov, the Bulgarian team has the potential to be even stronger at blocking.
I think we can be even better. Both I and Iliya have the capacity as middle blockers to play at a higher level. All of our outside hitters are over two meters tall. We have the potential to be much stronger in this element.
This is also related to the serve. Today we served better, and our blocking game immediately improved.
The captain was also categorical about the contribution of Rusi Zhelev.
He joined beautifully. We haven't seen him play for a long time, and he came in and handled very difficult situations. There were balls at the three-meter line where he had to act with enormous precision. That is extremely difficult. In addition, he brought emotion and energy to the team. He started shouting, hyping up his teammates. Rusi is a great guy. He deserves much more love from the audience. There are quite a few negative comments about him, which in my opinion are completely baseless. Today he showed why he deserves to be here.
Regarding the next match, Grozdanov wished for a quick recovery.
The most important thing now is to catch our breath, put the emotions of this victory behind us, go back to the hotel, rest, and recover. After that, we need to go into the next match with a clear head and renewed energy.

Head coach Gianlorenzo Blengini emphasized the team's mental resilience during the match against Italy.

Every match has its own story. We are very happy because we achieved a difficult victory. We lost the fourth set, we withstood their comeback in the third when we had a big lead, and they almost caught up with us at the end.
We remained calm. We didn't give up once. We didn't give up even after the first set, when Italy started very strong. What pleases me most is precisely the ability the team showed.
The Italian specialist warned that an even tougher challenge comes after such a success.
After such a victory, the next match is more difficult. We need to be very good psychologically so as not to change our attitude. We need to find new mental energy and go back onto the court ready for a tough battle.
We will play against the hosts in front of a full hall. This will be a very complex match, and we should expect it to be exactly that.
Blengini also paid special attention to the level of this year's Nations League.
This season's Nations League is very different from last year's. The level is significantly higher.
You have to accept the idea that even when you're having difficulties, you might have to stay on the court for three hours. If you're ready to stay on the court for three hours, even when the opponent seems stronger than you, and you keep not giving up, then you correctly understand the character of this tournament.
The head coach also praised the inclusion of Rusi Zhelev.
I have great trust in all the players I include in the squad, as well as those who work with the team but are not among the 14 for the specific match.
I know that if needed, I can rely on them and that they can be important.
Rusi made a good contribution. He helped in some specific situations, brought order to the team's play, and performed well. He deserves congratulations.
But the most important thing is to think as a team, to play as a team, and to accept the difficulties of this competition.