Bulgaria failed to capitalize on its advantage and secure a prestigious victory against Poland at the Silesia Cup. Coach Blengini's boys recorded a 2:3 loss (25:19, 23:25, 26:24, 16:25, 12:15) after leading 2:1, and in the second set, they had an advantage almost until the end but missed the chance to lead 2:0.
Our team started concentrated in the first set, keeping a short distance from the opponent until 12:12. This was followed by Tatarov's entry, an ace from Alex Nikolov, and an out-of-bounds attack from Poland, which gave the 'Lions' an advantage. The hosts managed to equalize after a block against Moni Nikolov, who immediately retaliated with two blocks for 20:17 for our team. From then until the end of the set, the Bulgarians gave no chance to the hosts, and after successful plays by Alex Nikolov, Antov, and the subbed-in Palev (who recorded an ace), they brought things to set point, which was converted by Veni Antov.
In the second set, we maintained a balance with several equalizations (5:5, 9:9, 14:14), followed by two blocks for Bulgaria, with which we equalized the statistic with that of the Poles (6:6) - 14:16. Several errors followed from both sides of the net, but the score was again in favor of Bulgaria - 17:20. A service error by Palev and two aces by Szalpuk restored parity, even though until that point we had superior attacking efficiency to the Poles - 42% against 33%, and Veni Antov recorded 53% success. The opposite hitter scored for 23:23, but Iliya Petkov sent his serve out, giving set point to the hosts, who equalized the sets after a block against Tatarov and 31 minutes of play. Nikola Grbic's boys' advantage in this set was in serving and blocking, with Antov already having 11 points and Moni Nikolov recording 7 points.

Again, an even game in the third set, where our team led at times. Moni Nikolov made his fourth ace for 19:18, bringing the service point ratio to 8:4 in favor of Bulgaria. Our national team was more concentrated at the end of the set, with the coaching staff making several unconventional substitutions, putting Moni as an attacker, Palev as a setter, and Alex Nikolov as an opposite. Despite this, the Poles got to set point first, but Antov equalized. This was followed by an attack out for Poland and our first set point. The Bulgarian block was impenetrable, and despite the hosts' video replay challenge, the set went to our credit. Alex Nikolov now had 15 points, and his brother 11. Veni Antov added 14.
The fourth set started disastrously and ended disastrously for the Bulgarians, who were extremely unfocused in reception, aided by the hosts' strong serves, who took a 5:1 lead. This momentum continued until the end of the set, despite the 'Tricolors'' attempts to reverse the trend, the hosts' strong serves and blocking gave no chance for a comeback. Substitutions in the Bulgarian ranks also did not help. Thus, logically, the set played out, and things went to a tie-break.
In the last set, our team was more concentrated and managed to maintain balance until 7:7, despite errors from both sides of the net. The Poles were the first to score the eighth point, followed by an ace against Tatarov for 9:7. The lack of concentration in defense made the difference three points instead of one - 12:9. From then until the end of the match, the Poles gave no chance to our team, and after Antov's attack into the net, the hosts recorded a victory that pulled them out of an uncomfortable position after losing 2:3 to Ukraine.
After the match, coach Blengini spoke longest with Simeon Nikolov, suggesting some disagreements with the setter's actions on the part of the national coach.

POLAND - BULGARIA 3:2 (19:25, 25:23, 24:26, 25:16, 15:12)

POLAND:Jan Firlej 5, Kewin Sasak 9, Artur Szalpuk 13, Rafał Szymura 14, Mateusz Poręba 9, Szymon Jakubiszak 2 - Maksymilian Granieczny-libero (Aleksiej Nasiuk 7, Łukasz Kozub, Jakub Nowak 9, Kajetan Kubicki, Michał Gierżot 7)

Head Coach: Nikola Grbić

BULGARIA:Simeon Nikolov 10, Venislav Antov 19, Aleksandar Nikolov 14, Georgi Tatarov 5, Iliya Petkov 3, Preslav Petkov 8 - Martin Bozhilov-libero (Stoil Palev 1, Asparuh Asparuhov 2, Rusi Zhelev 2, Dimitar Dimitrov 2, Krasimir Georgiev 1, Samuil Valchinov)

Head Coach: Gianlorenzo Blengini.