Bulgarian setter Simeon Nikolov will join "Lokomotiv" (Novosibirsk) next season, Polish journalist Ewa Mac reports on the social network X.

Sources from "BO Sport", Russia, confirm this information - 18-year-old Nikolov has been invited to the Novosibirsk team to replace Igor Kobzar. Nikolov played in his home country for "Levski" (Sofia), with whom he became Bulgarian champion in 2024. This season he competes in the USA for the team of the University of California (Long Beach State Univ).
Simeon is the son of Bulgarian volleyball legend Vladimir Nikolov and brother of "Civitanova" outside hitter Aleksandar Nikolov. The tall setter (207 cm) helped the Bulgarian youth national teams win bronze medals at the U18 (2022) and U20 (2022) European Championships, as well as a silver medal at the U20 European Championship (2024). In one of the matches at the U19 World Championship, he scored 16 points. Nikolov debuted for the national team at the age of 16 in the Olympic qualification. He also played extensively in the Nations League in 2024, scoring 55 points in 12 matches: 13 aces, 26 attacks, and 16 blocks. This season, the foreign duo at "Lokomotiv" were outside hitters Yoandy Leal and Marko Ivović. The Novosibirsk club terminated the contract with the Cuban at the end of December.
Currently, Vladimir Nikolov is in the USA, where Long Beach are playing UCLA today. It is not clear whether this is the only reason for Nikolov Sr.'s visit across the Ocean.