Neftochimic beat Deya 3-1 in the Burgas derby in the men's volleyball league. It was the first match of the championship, and the result was decided in the fourth set after a comeback.
Deya's Tsvetan Sokolov scored the most points, with 25. He is back playing in Bulgaria's top league.
Neftochimic head coach Ivan Stanev named the same starting line-up as on Sunday, when the team lost 3-1 to Levski in the Bulgarian Super Cup final. Neftochimic were the nominal hosts for the derby.
Deya, coached by Georgi Dimitrov, played without the suspended brothers Georgi and Valentin Bratoev. Brazilian Victor Alcantara and Japanese players Hata and Koto also missed out, as they are not registered for the first match.
Neftochimic won the first set 25-22 after trailing 18-21 and then going ahead 23-21. In the second, Deya turned 16-17 into 24-18, with Erik Stoev scoring 6 points in that run. The set ended 25-21 when substitute Dimitar Chavdarov served out.
In the third set, Neftochimic led 7-4. After a long video review, a point for Deya at 6-7 was overturned and the score became 8-5. It went to 9-5 and 14-9, and Georgi Dimitrov called a timeout.
Stoyan Dimitrov was replaced by Tsvetanov at 21-18. Neftochimic got set point at 24-18, after libero Konstantin Chipev made a safe defensive play and Stoev made a mistake. The set ended 25-19, when a video review showed a block touch on an attack by Todor Valchev.
The fourth set began with Deya ahead 7-4. Stanev stopped play, and after the timeout Neftochimic closed to 6-7. At 17-14 to Deya, he took a second timeout. The score went to 14-18, then 15-19, Stoyan Dimitrov made it 16-19, and Stoev 20-16. Deya led 22-17.
Vasilev came up to serve at 18-22, and Neftochimic closed to 19-22. Georgi Dimitrov called a timeout. Valchev scored a break point for 20-22, and Stoyan Dimitrov levelled at 22-22 and then made it 23-22, before sending the ball out.
A video review of a Sokolov serve gave Neftochimic match point. A triple block closed the set 25-23.