The beautiful Bulgarian Black Sea coastal city of Burgas is heating up, not just with summer arriving but also in anticipation of intense Volleyball Nations League matches. Bulgaria is hosting France, Japan, Slovenia, Turkiye, and Ukraine for the second week of the men`s VNL Preliminary Phase. With significant fresh additions to their rosters, these six ambitious teams are ready to compete, suggesting that any team could potentially defeat another. Fans can look forward to high-level volleyball excitement from Wednesday, June 25, through Sunday, June 29.
A total of 12 matches will be played in Burgas, with each of the six teams participating in four games. Wednesday and Sunday will feature three matches each, while Thursday, Friday, and Saturday will have two matches per day.
Reigning back-to-back Olympic champions France arrive in Burgas ranked ninth in the current VNL standings after the first week. They hold a 2-2 win-loss record and 5 points, placing them in the middle of the table, just outside the qualification zone for the Finals. To improve their position, they have made major reinforcements to their roster for this week in Bulgaria. These additions include Olympic champion stars like Barthelemy Chinenyeze, Jean Patry, Yacine Louati, and team captain Antoine Brizard. France’s playmaker and captain Antoine Brizard joins his Paris 2024 teammates Trevor Clevenot and Theo Faure, who were already selected in coach Andrea Giani’s squad for week one.
In this week`s opening match in Burgas, scheduled for 12:30 local time (09:30 UTC), France will face VNL newcomers Ukraine. Two weeks ago, even without their brightest international star Oleh Plotnytskyi, Ukraine made a strong start to the competition. They secured victories against USA and Cuba, and took the first two sets of their third match against Brazil, finishing the week above the advancement line in seventh place with a 2-2 record and 7 points. This performance has certainly increased their appetite for more.
Higher in the table, consistently ambitious Slovenia is set to join the battles in Burgas as the fifth-placed team. They won three of their four matches in Rio de Janeiro and collected eight points towards the standings. They will open their Burgas campaign with a match against Turkiye on Wednesday at 16:00 (13:00 UTC).
Currently standing in 16th place, Turkiye is the lowest-ranked team among the six in Burgas. However, after losing their first three matches of the season, they ended the first week on a positive note with a straight-set victory over hosts China in Xi`an. This has increased their ambitions to continue growing and improve upon what they achieved during their rookie season last year.
Japan, on the other hand, is the highest-placed team among those competing in Burgas, running in second place with a 3-1 record and 9 points. In their opening match of the week, Kento Miyaura and his teammates face a tough challenge against hosts Bulgaria and their faithful fans, who are expected to pack the stands for Wednesday’s game serving off at 19:30 (16:30 UTC).
Inspired by their rising star brothers Aleksandar Nikolov and Simeon Nikolov, Bulgaria showed growth as the season started, achieving two important wins. They now stand 10th in the table with a 2-2 record and 5 points. For their home gig, the squad was joined by powerful opposite Dimitar Dimitrov and their team captain, middle blocker Aleks Grozdanov.
The VNL Preliminary Phase features three competition weeks, with each of the 18 teams playing a total of 12 matches. The top eight national teams in the Preliminary Phase standings will qualify for the Finals. The Finals will be held in Ningbo, China, from July 30 to August 3, with the host country already guaranteed a spot.
Jasper Thornfield 
Oliver Wrenwick