Bulgaria defeats North Macedonia in EuroVolley opener

Bulgaria opened the Men's European Volleyball Championship with a 3-0 victory over North Macedonia at Arena 8888 in Sofia. The host nation won the match with set scores of 25-17, 25-19, and 25-18.

Aleks Nikolov led the Bulgarian team with 19 points, while Denislav Bardarov contributed 15 points. Setter Simeon Nikolov stood out by recording seven aces during the match. Despite North Macedonia leading during the first half of each set, the ninth-ranked Bulgarian squad maintained control to secure the win.

The event saw an official attendance of 8,892 spectators. While all remaining tickets had sold out previously, the turnout was impacted by the simultaneous Bulgarian Football Super Cup match between Levski and CSKA Sofia held in the same city.