Bulgaria's head coach Gianlorenzo Blengini made an interesting choice when determining the final squad for EuroVolley 2026. The Italian specialist will have only three middle blockers, while there are six pure outside hitters in the group. The surprise is significant, given that in the squads of our main opponents for first place - Poland and Ukraine - this position is entrusted to very strong players. It is enough to mention Bartłomiej Lemański from Poland and Yuriy Semenyuk from Ukraine.
After the last training session before the start of the championship, Blengini named the 14 volleyball players who will represent Bulgaria at the European Championship.
The middle blocker position will be held by captain Alex Grozdanov, Iliya Petkov, and Preslav Petkov. Lazar Buchkov and Dimitar Peychinov, who were part of the team's preparation in Samokov, are out of the final squad.
Thus, Blengini enters the EuroVolley battles with only three middle blockers. We remind you that Bulgaria played the entire Nations League with four players in this position. On the other hand, the coach has six pure outside hitters – Aleksandar Nikolov, Asparuh Asparuhov, Georgi Tatarov, Denislav Bardarov, Martin Atanasov, and Zhasmin Velichkov. The latter was tested at the libero position in the last control match against the Czech Republic.
Rusi Zhelev is also in the group, providing additional versatility to the coaching staff and can be used as both a libero and an outside hitter.
Another peculiarity in Blengini's choice is the presence of only one nominal opposite hitter – Venislav Antov, which is not a surprise, as we had such a configuration for the entire VNL. Alex Nikolov can also be used in this position.
Bulgaria's final squad for EuroVolley 2026:
Setters:
Simeon Nikolov
Stoil Palev
Opposite Hitter:
Venislav Antov
Middle Blockers:
Alex Grozdanov
Iliya Petkov
Preslav Petkov
Outside Hitters:
Aleksandar Nikolov
Asparuh Asparuhov
Georgi Tatarov
Denislav Bardarov
Martin Atanasov
Zhasmin Velichkov
Libero:
Damyan Kolev
Rusi Zhelev
Bulgaria begins its participation in EuroVolley tomorrow, September 9, against North Macedonia. The match is at 7:00 PM in "Arena 8888 Sofia".
The "Lions" are in Group B along with North Macedonia, Portugal, Ukraine, Israel, and Poland. The first four teams in the final standings advance to the round of sixteen.