The giant’s defeat in the Nations League. The Outsider ridiculed them. They scrape along the bottom

The US national volleyball team is at the bottom of the Nations League table. This time, the Americans lost 1-3 to Bulgaria and after three consecutive defeats, they are in last place in the group of the prestigious series. Last year, they only lost to Poles in the Nations League final, and now they can only dream of success.

The US national team has been one of the greatest forces in men’s volleyball for years . This is evidenced by, among others, a bronze medal at the 2018 World Championships, or two silver medals in the Nations League in 2022 and 2023. In the last final, the Americans lost 1:3 to the Poles, who were undoubtedly the best team in the world. Now the White and Reds’ recent rivals are at the bottom of the table in the same competi

The USA lost to Bulgaria in the Nations League. They are at the very bottom

The USA started this year’s Nations League with a defeat against Poland, which was expected. However, the Reds and Whites won 3-0 without much resistance from their rivals, which gave the first signal about the Americans’ weaker performance. In the next match, the French did the same and also won 3-0 against a theoretically strong opponent.

The Americans had a chance to reverse their poor series against Bulgaria, which also had two 0-3 defeats (against France and Canada). However, in the first set, the Bulgarians showed that they would not give up easily and won it by 21. The second set was even better, because this time the USA scored only 20 points.

The United States players, with their backs against the wall, made a comeback in the third set, in which they led practically from the very beginning. Finally, at a key moment, they withstood the pressure and won 25:21, and in the match they only lost 1:2. However, winning the first set in this edition of the Nations League did not bring them much – in the fourth part the Bulgarians came back from 11:14 to win the set 25:21, and in the whole match 3:1.

Thus, Bulgaria won its first match in the Nations League and advanced to 11th place in the table, while the USA is last and has zero points. The dizzying set record of 1-9 is currently worse than Iran and Germany, who played one match less and lost six sets, winning one.

The Americans will play their next match on Sunday, May 26 at 4:00 p.m. against Turkey, which lost 1-3 to France on Saturday. At the moment, the Turks are in 13th place with one point and a set balance of 4:9.

Who will win the 2024 Volleyball Nations League?