September 25, 2025. Bulgaria are back among the best four of an FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship for the first time since 2006. In front of well over 10 thousand fans on the stands in Pasay City on Thursday, they mounted a sensational comeback from two sets down in their quarterfinal against the United States to pick up the last semifinal vacancy at Philippines 2025. Bulgaria will take on Czechia in one of the two semifinal matches set to take place on Saturday, September 27.
American opposite’s Gabriel Garcia’s powerful serving made the big difference in the first set. It gave them a substantial advantage early into the set. Bulgaria leveled the play, but never quite leveled the score as USA stepped in front. The Europeans took a small lead in set two, but practically refused to break further way with the overwhelming number of mistakes they made from the serving line. USA took advantage and, with middle blocker Merrick McHenry on fire, opened a wide gap. It was McHenry that put the final touch with a monster block to get the US lead in the match doubled.
Bulgaria finally found their rhythm in set three. With middle Iliya Petkov’s solid contribution both in offense and from the serving line, they were unstoppable on the way to taking the set by a wide margin. Things heated up as the fourth set offered an even battle throughout. In the money time, however, the Bulgarians remained more focused to edge forward and win the set on a kill block by opposite Asparuh Asparuhov.
Bulgaria’s first four points in the tie-breaker were personally delivered by 21-year-old outside hitter Aleksandar Nikolov. The next two came from the hands of his younger brother, 18-year-old setter Simeon Nikolov. In fact, Aleks produced as many as eight points on the way to a 12-9 Bulgarian lead. 22-year-old sub-in outside Georgi Tatarov killed the next two to bring Bulgaria to a quadruple match point. The first three opportunities to close the game were denied, but on the fourth, Iliya Petkov hammered the match winner for 3-2 (21-25, 19-25, 25-17, 25-22, 15-13).
The Bulgarians did slightly better than the Americans on all scoring counts – 61-57 in attack kills, 7-5 in serving aces and 7-6 in kill blocks. Aleks Nikolov was above all with a match-high 29 points, including two aces and a block. Asparuhov contributed another 12, including two blocks, while Petkov aced twice and registered a 73% success rate in offense to finish with 10 points.
USA made fewer unforced errors than Bulgaria, 30 against 34. Outside hitters Ethan Champlin and Jordan Ewert were their leading scorers with 17 and 15 points, respectively. McHenry registered an impressive 83% success rate in attack. He put away an ace and a kill block to finish with 12 points.
“In the moment, it’s not great, but when you look at the big picture, we came into this tournament ready to learn a lot, and I think we did. It’s served its purpose for us. This experience is wonderful for a lot of us, including myself,” USA’s star setter and captain Micah Christenson commented. “Obviously, it stinks. I hurt for these guys who put in so much. They are such incredible people – not only volleyball players, but teammates and people. But that’s how sports goes sometimes. So, we are going to learn from it, but we are proud of the battle. We are excelling in an accelerated rate and I am really proud of us.”
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