In the EuroVolley tournament, the Bulgarian national team suffered its first defeat. In their third match from Group B, Gianlorenzo Blengini's squad fell to Ukraine 1-3 in sets (23:25, 22:25, 25:21, 21:25). While the Ukrainians remain at the top of the standings, our boys face a match against Israel this Monday at 19:00.
The match began with inspired play from the hosts. Simeon Nikolov opened the scoring with an ace, and Alex Grozdanov contributed with a block to make it 8:6. However, the Ukrainians responded through Oleh Plotnytskyi, whose serving streak secured a 15:12 lead. Late in the first set, Bulgaria leveled the score to 19:18, but at 22:20 in favor of the opponent and a subsequent attack by Kisiliuk, the Ukrainians closed out the set 25:23.
The second set was controlled by the visitors, who built an advantage of 14:10 after being tied at 5:5. Bulgaria closed the gap to 13:15, but the deficit then grew to 19:15 and 22:17. Although Aleksandar Nikolov gave us hope at 20:23 and 22:24, a net touch ended our hopes in the set at 22:25.
The third set was the strongest for the "Lions," who took a 7:4 lead, with Asparuh Asparuhov doubling the run to 9:6. An excellent triple block against Plotnytskyi brought the score to 14:11. In the key moments, Aleksandar Nikolov made it 18:14, and Preslav Petkov, coming off the bench, provided four set points with an attack through the center to make it 24:20. Shortly after, Bulgaria won the set 25:21.
The fourth set began with hopes of a comeback after a block made it 6:4, but Ukraine quickly leveled. A turning point proved to be the service run by Plotnytskyi, which led to a critical 9:13. Bulgaria made a final push to reach 21:23, but ultimately fell 21:25.
The events during the match are noted in the following key chronological points:
- 9:13 – a moment from the fourth set after a series of serves by Plotnytskyi.
- 13:15 – the score at which Bulgaria closed in on its opponent in the second set.
- 14:11 – the national team's advantage in the third set following good defense.
- 15:12 – Ukraine's lead in the first set after a run by Plotnytskyi.
- 18:14 – the score in the third set after a successful attack by Aleksandar Nikolov.
- 19:14 – Ukraine's lead in the fourth set before the final phase.
- 19:15 – Ukraine's lead in the second set after a long rally.
- 19:14 – a time frame in which our team attempted to catch up to the opponent.
- 20:23 – the score in the third set, brought about by Preslav Petkov.
- 21:23 – a moment from the fourth set after an ace by Zhelev.
- 22:20 – Ukraine's lead in the first set after errors in the Bulgarian attack.
- 22:24 – the score in the second set before the final point.