Bulgaria defeats world champions Italy in Volleyball Nations League

The Bulgarian national volleyball team defeated world champions Italy 3–2 (18:25, 25:20, 25:23, 19:25, 15:9) in a Volleyball Nations League match in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

The match between Bulgaria, led by head coach Gianlorenzo Blengini, and Italy was the first encounter between the two teams since the World Championship final in the Philippines, which Italy won 3–1.

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So far, Bulgaria has defeated Iran (3–0) and Argentina (3–1), but they also suffered a surprising opening loss to Belgium (1–3 sets), and most recently failed to take a set against Serbia, BGNES reports.

This is Bulgaria’s first victory over Italy since 2015.

Edited by Miglena Ivanova

Translated by Kostadin Atanasov