Ottawa welcomes new-look VNL teams for Week 1

The 2025 international season is set to begin, with the opening week of the Volleyball Nations League 2025 proving fans around the world with the opportunity of watching their national teams for the first time since the conclusion of the historic 2024 season, which culminated with the Paris Olympics.

Set to play in Pool 1 at The Arena at TD Place, in Ottawa, Canada, the home team, Bulgaria, the Dominican Republic, Japan, the Netherlands and Serbia will all have, in varying degrees, new looks when compared to the last time they got on the court in 2024.

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Having Turkish head coach Ferhat Akbas take over from Masayoshi Nanabe after the Paris Games, Japan enter a new era also on the court, following the retirement of superstar Sarina Koga – fellow outside hitters Arisa Inoue and Kotona Hayashi aren’t coming back either. Elevated to the captain role, outside hitter Mayu Ishikawa will be even more important for the Asian side, as well as setter Koyomi Iwasaki and libero Manami Kojima.

"Having Ferhat as our new head coach, there's a lot of new stuff that came with him," middle blocker Airi Miyabe said. "We also brought some younger players into the team and are on a journey to figure out what we can do and how we can fight for each other. I believe there's going to be some ups and downs as we go through it, but I'm excited to see how we improve as a team during the VNL."

Reigning world champions Serbia are also among the teams that went through changes after Paris. Besides bringing back head coach Zoran Terzić, who won’t be in Ottawa this week, the Serbians also saw some of their pillars step away from the national team in 2025, such as setter Maja Ognjenović, outside hitters Bianka Buša and middle blocker Jovana Stevanović. Setter Slađana Mirković, outside hitters Katarina Dangubić and Aleksandra Uzelac and middle blocker Hena Kurtagić will form the core of the team this week in Canada.

Now led by Italian Giovanni Guidetti, who left Serbia, the Canadians will also see some changes on the court, due mostly to the absences of star outisde hitter Alexa Gray and middle blocker Alicia Ogoms, who didn’t appear in the new coach’s first selection. Other key players, such as setter Brie O’Reilly, opposite Kiera Van Ryk, outside hitter Hillary Johnson and middle blocker Emily Maglio, continue with the team.

"I've felt a great atmosphere at the gym since my arrival," Guidetti remarked. "A lot of things are different than what I was used and that was one of the reasons why I wanted to be involved with volleyball outside of Europe. I'm excited by the quality of the team and the passion they've been showing. We're still learning each other and understanding the best way to work together, but their attitude has been amazing so far."

Bulgaria also went through significant changes after the appointment of Antonina Zetova as their new head coach for the 2025 season, but in a different way. A former national team star, she was able to convince some veterans who had already left the team, such as outside hitter Elitsa Atanasijevic, middle blockers Hristina Vuchkova and Nasya Dimitrova and setter Lora Kitipova to return, adding an interesting level of experience to the squad.

The Netherlands won’t have outside hitter Anne Buijs, who retired from the national team, and middle blocker Jüliet Lohuis, who is off this season, but continue with German head coach Felix Koslowski after he took the country back to the Olympics last year. Outside hitter Nika Daalderop continues to be the team’s focal point, having the support of other players with solid international experience, such as setter Britt Bongaerts and outside hitter/opposite Celeste Plak.

At the helm of the Dominican Republic since 2008, Brazilian Marcos Kwiek is set to enter his 18^th season with the team. The head coach lost possibly the country’s best-ever player, outside hitter Bethania De La Cruz, who left the national team after 20 years, but continues to have setter Niverka Marte, who will play at least part of the VNL through pregnancy, the Martínez sisters Brayelin and Jineiry and opposite Gaila González.

"It's funny that we see most teams bringing new players in and renovating their squads while we have had the same team forever," Marte said. "We've had the same team for many years, and we'll try to go with it until Los Angeles 2028 if we can. Unfortunately, we don't have a large pool of young players in our country, but we're all in good shape, and we're a team that fights until the end, so we'll do it in the VNL."

Dutch and Japanese are the first to play

The Netherlands and Japan will be the first to play in Ottawa as Europeans and Asians will meet in the first match of the week, scheduled for Wednesday, at 11:00 local time (15:00 GMT). Dominicans and Serbians will duel at 16:00 (20:00 GMT), with Canadians and Bulgarians ending the day at 19:30 (23:30 GMT).

For the next three days, only the last two timeslots will be used. Bulgaria and the Dominican Republic will open the day on Thursday, with Canada and the Netherlands playing later. On Friday, Dominicans and Dutch go first, followed by Serbians and Japanese. Saturday’s schedule in Ottawa will have Canada vs. Japan in the opening match and the European Derby reuniting Bulgaria and Serbia in the second encounter.

On Sunday, the full schedule will be back, starting with the Dominican Republic vs. Japan at 11:00 (15:00 GMT), continuing with Bulgaria vs. the Netherlands at 16:00 (20:00 GMT) and ending with Canada vs. Serbia at 19:30 (23:30 GMT).

VNL 2025 – Match Schedule

Presenting a new format in 2025, the VNL will feature 18 national teams. In each of the three weeks of the Preliminary Phase, they will be split into three pools of six and will play four matches each. At the end of the Preliminary Phase, the seven best-ranked teams and hosts Poland will secure a spot in the Finals, which are going to be held in Łódź from July 23-27.

In the first week, Beijing and Rio de Janeiro will be the other cities hosting pools. While China, Belgium, France, Poland, Thailand and Türkiye will compete in the Chinese capital, Brazil, Czechia, Germany, Italy, Korea and the United States will be in action in the Brazilian location.

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