Bulgaria's U18 Women's National Team suffered a second loss at the 2026 European Championship in Lithuania, after losing to France 1:3 (25:23, 16:25, 14:25, 15:25) in a group stage match played in Šiauliai.
The Bulgarians started excellently and won the first set, despite trailing 19:21. The players showed character in the decisive rallies and turned the score around for 25:23.
After that, however, a complete collapse followed in the Bulgarian team's game. The French took full initiative and won the next three sets without significant difficulty. The third set was the toughest, in which Bulgaria trailed by as much as 9:21 before losing it 14:25. A similar scenario was repeated in the fourth set, where our national team players only managed 15 points.
The statistics clearly show France's superiority. Only in blocking were the two teams equally matched, while in all other elements, the French had the advantage. Bulgaria experienced particularly serious problems with their serve, allowing 12 direct points from serves, while only scoring 4 aces.
Edna Todorova was the top scorer for Bulgaria with 13 points, while Bozhidara Ivanova added 10. For France, two players finished with 19 points each and led their team to victory.
The loss dropped Bulgaria to fourth place in the group's provisional standings, which largely deprives them of the fight for medals.
In their last group stage match, the Bulgarians will face Hungary, who leads the group with 5 wins.