The Bulgarian champion Maritsa (Plovdiv) lost its first match at the international friendly tournament in Romania. The Plovdiv team was defeated by the host Volei Alba Blaj with 1:3 (18:25, 15:25, 25:23, 21:25).
The Bulgarian national player Radostina Marinova, who will defend the colors of Alba Blaj this season, also plays for the Romanian team.

Maritsa participates in the tournament as part of its preparation for the new season in the Demax League. The second test for the team is against Serbian Ub, another traditionally strong team in the region and a regular participant in European club tournaments.
Before traveling to Romania, the champions played two control matches in Serbia. Maritsa defeated Crvena Zvezda (Belgrade) with 3:1, and then lost to the Serbian champion TENT (Obrenovac) with 1:3.
The official season for the Plovdiv team begins on October 16, when Maritsa hosts CPVC (Sofia) at 6:30 PM in the "Stroitel" hall.