In front of a fired-up home crowd in Burgas, Bulgaria pulled off a major surprise, sweeping Japan in straight sets (27-25, 25-23, 25-19) during their Volleyball Nations League 2025 home debut.
The energy at Arena Burgas was electric, and the Bulgarian squad fed off it, with Aleksandar Nikolov leading the charge. The star outside hitter racked up 17 points, backed by Aleks Grozdanov’s 12 and Venislav Antov’s 11.
“It was an incredible night,” said Nikolov. “The fans really lifted us, and we’re going to keep fighting.”
Japan, last year’s silver medalists, couldn’t find their rhythm. Masato Kai scored 13 points for the visitors, but it wasn’t enough to stop Bulgaria’s momentum.
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Standings provided by Sofascore
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