Bulgaria edge Slovenia and book eighthfinal spot at Men’s Volleyball World Championship

In a thrilling five-setter, Bulgaria, the number 12 team in the FIVB World Ranking, edged sixth-ranked Slovenia and qualified for the eighthfinals of the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship in the Philippines. In Pasay City on Monday, the southern Europeans registered their second victory in Pool E and can no longer be pushed below the top two in the final pool standings. The central Europeans, on the other hand, suffered their first defeat of the tournament and will have to lock horns with Germany in a direct duel for the second eighthfinal vacancy from the pool. The fourth team, Chile, are no longer in contention for the next round.

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After ruthless first two sets, in which Bulgaria ran over the opponents in an emphatic manner, Slovenia fought back and managed to level the score and push the match to five. They were well on their way to completing a reverse sweep, when late into the tie-breaker, the Lions woke up again with a roar, and not without the help of well-taken video challenges by their coaching staff, turned the course of the fifth set to celebrate a hard-earned 3-2 (25-19, 25-14, 18-25, 23-25, 15-13) victory. With this win, Bulgaria gained a valuable 12.64 points towards their World Ranking score.

Bulgaria outperformed Slovenia in all three scoring elements – by 13-9 in kill blocks, by 56-52 in spike kills, and most heavily, by 11-4 in serving aces. 21-year-old Aleksandar Nikolov once again spearheaded the Bulgarians and inspired them to a big victory over a strong opponent, himself delivering the winning point at the climax of the match. Nikolov emerged as the best scorer of the game with 26 points, including two aces and a kill block. Opposite Asparuh Asparuhov produced two aces and two blocks and registered a 62% success rate in attack to finish with 17 points. Middle blocker Iliya Petkov was phenomenal at the net and with five kill blocks and five spike kills at a 71% success rate added to the ace he fired, he tallied a total of 11 points. Bulgaria’s rising star setter, 18-year-old Simeon Nikolov, also reached the double digits, producing four aces and six kills in attack at a success rate of 55%.

Slovenia did better than Bulgaria in performance precision, with 26 unforced errors against 31 from their rivals. Opposite Toncek Stern was Slovenia’s most prolific scorer with 20 points, including two blocks. Their 20-year-old rising star Nik Mujanovic added another 16 points, while the other outside hitter, Ziga Stern, put away two aces and finished with a total of 13 points.

Pool E action will be completed on Wednesday, when Bulgaria are challenged by Chile, and Slovenia take on Germany in a direct battle for the eighthfinals.

2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship: full schedule and results

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