Major stars back on Bulgarian national team roster

With new head coach Antonina Zetova taking over, some of the major Bulgarian volleyball stars have returned to the women’s national team roster, released last week by the Bulgarian Volleyball Federation (BFV). The list of 24 players, selected for the 2025 season, features names like Hristina Vuchkova (formerly Ruseva), Elitsa Atanasijevic (formerly Vasileva), Nasya Dimitrova, Aleksandra Milanova, Kristina Guncheva and Lora Kitipova, who had not been on the squad during previous coach Lorenzo Micelli’s tenure.

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BFV also announced that another star of Bulgarian volleyball, captain Miroslava Paskova, who was also included in Zetova’s list, will skip the beginning of the national team season because of an upcoming ankle surgery this week.

Bulgaria is set to compete in both major national team events this year – the Volleyball Nations League and the FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship.

The Lionesses will open their VNL 2025 campaign on June 4 with a game against hosts Canada at the event in Ottawa. During the first competition week, they will also meet the Dominican Republic, reigning world champions Serbia and the Netherlands. For the second competition week, the Bulgarian team will travel to Hong Kong, where they will take on reigning Olympic champions and defending VNL champions Italy, hosts China, Czechia and Thailand. They will finish the preliminary phase during the second week of July at the tournament in Chiba, Japan, where they will face the teams of Brazil, France, Korea and Poland. Should they qualify for the VNL Finals for the first time in history, they will travel to Lodz, Poland, where the event will be held from July 23 to 27.

At the World Championship, set to take place from August 22 to September 7 in Thailand, Bulgaria will start in Pool E against Canada, Türkiye and Spain.

Bulgaria is currently number 20 in the women’s FIVB Volleyball World Ranking.

Bulgaria women’s national team full roster (subject to eligibility check to be conducted by the FIVB):

Setters: Kristina Guncheva, Lora Kitipova, Lora Slavcheva, Margarita Guncheva
Opposites: Iva Dudova, Merelin Nikolova, Mikaela Stoyanova, Radostina Marinova
Оutside hitters: Aleksandra Georgieva, Aleksandra Milanova, Dariya Ivanova, Elitsa Atanasijevic, Iveta Stanchulova, Maria Yordanova, Miroslava Paskova
Middle blockers: Aleksandra Saykova, Borislava Saykova, Darina Naneva, Hristina Vuchkova, Mariya Krivoshiyska, Nasya Dimitrova
Liberos: Galina Karabasheva, Mila Pashkuleva, Zhana Todorova

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