The first tournament of the Volleyball Nations League for our women's national team has concluded. In the Turkish resort of Antalya, which also hosted the Champions League finals two weeks ago, our ladies faced extremely tough opponents in the form of the Netherlands, Japan, and Italy – all serious and traditional names in our favorite game. Losses to these teams with 3:0 are hardly a cause for suspicion or surprise among volleyball fans, but the more important highlight from them is seemingly the careless behavior of our "lionesses," which was not at all liked by a large part of the fans. The renewed Bulgarian squad confirmed observations from the past year that they enter matches with "a good mood and a lot of emotions," but this proved insufficient to oppose their illustrious opponents.

Our last opponent in Antalya was the VNL debutant, France. There, for the first time, we showed a different face and mood, but we couldn't take advantage of it. Thus, our opponent deservedly celebrated their first historic victory with 3:1.

We will present a brief summary of the first competitive tournament of the VNL:

1. Bulgaria – Netherlands 0:3 (14:25, 20:25, 22:25)

As always, a debut match for the season brings its positives, but also concerns. Bulgaria faced the bronze medalists from EuroVolley 2023, the Netherlands, but despite this, the captain of the "lionesses," Mira Paskova, led the squad with the hope of a successful start to the competitive summer. Whether due to a lack of worthy substitutions, or the incorrect timing of their implementation, Bulgaria's coach, Lorenzo Micelli, was almost unable to oppose the Netherlands for a large part of the match. The positive impressions that we were leading in the second and third sets were erased at the end by the inattention of our players, but also by the experience and class of the girls from the "low country." The conclusion from this debut match in the VNL for us is that there are many things to refine, but the familiar mood, which is important, is visible.

2. Bulgaria – Japan 0:3 (13:25, 15:25, 15:25)

To our great regret, this match can easily be described as our weakest in the tournament. The team from the Land of the Rising Sun, whose squad traditionally features not very tall but extremely technical players, managed to defeat us with a particular ease, something the Japanese are capable of. Our opponent's superiority was complete, as the final score showed. The conclusions from this match would be extremely numerous, so we look with hope at the significant smiles in this match on the face of head coach Lorenzo Micelli, who has probably taken and will take the necessary measures for our national team to stand достойно (worthily/properly) on the world stage in the VNL.

3. Bulgaria – Italy 0:3 (11:25, 22:25, 19:25)

Our matches against the "Squadra Azzurra" have always sparked particular interest among fans in Bulgaria. And this time there was a reason, as the cause was not solely our warm cultural and historical relations. Our coach, Lorenzo Micelli, faced his homeland in another episode. The coach continued in this match to skillfully and passionately lead our renewed women's national team, which included the entertaining speeches during technical timeouts, where English was heard, but with a peculiar Italian accent, which in itself aroused even more sympathy from the players and supporters. And indeed – although after the disastrous first set, our girls showed more desire and capabilities, staying close to the Italians in the second and third sets, who finished fourth at EuroVolley 2023 last year – losing the bronze precisely to our first opponent in Antalya, the Netherlands. Alas, this match also ended like the previous two – with a clean 0:3 loss. But it seemed our team's identity was already becoming clearer.

4. Bulgaria – France 1:3(25:19, 21:25, 11:25, 27:29)

After incurring three tough, but expected losses, it was time to face the absolute debutant in the League of Nations - the team of France. In such matches, especially after such a difficult schedule, the final outcome is always tricky. Moreover, in women's volleyball this is far more common than in men's. After a good performance in the opening minutes of this match, our "lionesses" deservedly celebrated their debut winning set. Unfortunately, our old weakness from previous matches and years, namely – after controlling events on the court, to lose the initiative at the wrong moment, manifested itself again. France immediately "read" the hesitations in our renewed and inexperienced team and equalized the sets – 1:1. In the third part, the Frenchwomen found the weaknesses in our team and in turn reversed the score. In the fourth set, our girls definitely woke up from the lethargy that had overtaken them, to enter a decisive battle to win it, thus entering a potential tie-break with more confidence. Again, moments of inattention cost us the loss of the fourth set in a particularly dramatic way, and this was punished by the spirited team of France, who deservedly celebrated the final success, which was also historic for the country in the VNL. From this match, the bitterness remains for us that we were both so close to our first success in the League, and yet far enough away that we couldn't realize it.

After this match, we can draw the followingconclusionsThus ended the first tournament of the Volleyball Nations League for our women's national team – with a particularly great bitterness after 4 losses from 4 matches played in the beautiful Turkish resort of Antalya. The smiles and moods in the locker room and on the court were a positive ray of hope for Lorenzo Micelli's team, but once again it was evident that this is far from enough to fight for anything more than honorable losses.

The renewed Bulgarian squad showed that it possesses some decent individual qualities, but their proper arrangement into a successful team will take time, which we don't know if it is still working in favor of Lorenzo Micelli, the players, and the Volleyball Federation.

Speaking of the governing body, it must be noted that our team enjoyed solid support in the stands from President Lyubomir Ganev, who was in pleasant company, as well as from team manager Boris Halachev. Alongside him, the matches were also watched by the new coach of "Maritsa," Ahmetcan Erşimşek. Let's hope that the Turkish specialist, who came from the titled grandee in our southeastern neighbor, "Vakıfbank," noticed positive things in the play of his future players in the Plovdiv team, as the majority of names in the national team – coincidentally or not – are representatives of Plovdiv volleyball, namely "Maritsa."

Concluding this summary review of the women's national team's first matches, we look with hope towards the team's next tournament in the League, which will be played from May 29 to June 2 in Arlington, USA. In the land of unlimited possibilities, the Bulgarians will make a renewed attempt to show and prove their volleyball capabilities, believing they are unlimited, against the teams of South Korea, considered the absolute underdog in the women's edition of the League, the hosts from the USA, the exceptional Serbia in this sport, and Germany, until recently led by our old scandalous acquaintance Vital Heynen.

But before that, we will turn our attention to our men's team, which will also meet its first opponents in the VNL precisely in sunny Antalya between May 21 and 26. Gianlorenzo Blengini's official debut will be against the team of France tomorrow, and our other opponents are Canada, the USA, and the Netherlands. Expect more on this in our next article.

Но преди това ще отправим погледите си към мъжкия ни тим, който също ще срещне своите първи съперници във ВНЛ именно в слънчева Анталия между 21 и 26 май. Официалният дебют на Джанлоренцо Бленджини ще бъде срещу тима на Франция утре, а останалите ни противници са Канада, САЩ и Нидерландия. Повече за това очаквайте в следващата ни статия.