Nikolovs carry Bulgaria to first VNL victory in Quebec

The day off on Thursday helped Bulgaria regroup and come back strong from an opening-match loss in the Volleyball Nations League 2025, as the Europeans managed to claim their first victory in the tournament after getting back on the court on Friday in Quebec.

The Bulgarians opened the third day of action at the Centre Vidéotron against then-undefeated Argentina and produced a dominant performance to get a sweep in Canada. Reigning Olympic champions France and current world champions Italy will clash in the second and last match of the day, scheduled for 20:00 local time (00:00 GMT, Saturday).

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Despite having lost to Italy in their debut on Wednesday, the Bulgarians approached Friday’s match against Argentina with great confidence and prevailed 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 28-26) over the South Americans, who were undefeated after topping France and Canada in their first two matches in the tournament.

The Nikolov family played a big role in the first Bulgarian victory in the VNL 2025, with brothers Aleksandar and Simeon combining to produce 20 points in the team’s triumph. The oldest of the two, 21-year-old outside hitter Aleksandar led the team’s scoring efforts with 14 points (13 kills, one ace), the same output generated by opposite Venislav Antov.

A setter, 18-year-old Simeon had another strong performance. He registered six points, the fourth-highest mark in the team, and was critical in their victory, firing back-to-back aces to score the last two points of the match.

“We didn’t come here to win sets, we’re here to win matches and it feels amazing to get the first one,” Simeon said. “I thought we played well and I hope we can get more wins in the next days. We knew Argentina was going to try to come back in the third set, so played as a team and took our chances.”

The victory gave Bulgaria their first three points in the VNL 2025 and also added 16.09 FIVB World Ranking points to their total, which made them jump two spots up, going from 19^th to 17^th with 177.14 points.

For Argentina, opposite Germán Gómez (13 points) and outside hitters Luciano Palonsky (11) and Ignacio Luengas (11), who had been the team’s leading scorers against Canada on Thursday, were again their most productive players.

VNL 2025 – Match Schedule & Results

Saturday’s match schedule in Quebec will have Canada meeting France at 16:30 (20:30 GMT) and Bulgaria facing Germany at 20:00 (00:00 GMT, Sunday).

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