Ningbo, China, May 26 - Taylor Sander stepped up big with 18 points for the USA as the world's second-ranked team made it 2-0 so far with a 3-1 (25-19, 22-25, 25-19, 25-20) in first-round action at the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Nations League on Saturday.
The 26-year-old wing spiker led a fearsome American back-row attack as they picked their opponents apart after a nervy start, with both wing spiker Thomas Jaeschke (16 points) and middle blocker Maxwell Holt (12 points) taking the match away from the Bulgarians.
The Balkan outfit had started brightly as they looked to build on their 3-2 win over China the night before. But they were overpowered in the middle sets as the American machine clicked into gear.
Best on court for Bulgaria were wing spikers Nikolay Uchikov (15 points) with Todor Skrimov (10 points) playing a fine supporting role.
A late rally put pressure of the US towards the death but cooler heads prevailed.
So it was the Americans who left the Beilun Sport and Art Centre court with their eyes on a clean sweep of matches in the first round of this inaugural event, and it would be hard to go against them, with only the 20th-ranked Chinese remaining in this first round.
The history books make for misleading reading when it comes to previous clashes between the two nations. The Bulgarians led the head-to-heads 14-10 coming into the round of matches in Ningbo, but the Americans had won seven of the past nine meetings.
Notch up another one (14-11) for a team who already looks like being a serious threat in the inaugural staging on this event.
The trick so far has been the fact the American squad is loaded with talent. While Sander dominated scoring veterans such as the sweet-serving setter Kawika Shoji were also there on Saturday to do the ground work.
Already, the USA has shown some resilience, too, Friday's 3-2 win over Argentina came after they were 0-2 down and it was the first time they had won a five-setter at a world level major tournament since they took bronze over Russia at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
It hasn't totally clicked for John Speraw's squad but these are still early days in the VNL.