Deya Sport continues its rise in the men's WINBET Super Volley.The team from Burgas recorded a second consecutive victory after defeating Lokomotiv Avia (Plovdiv) with 3:1 (29:27, 26:24, 23:25, 25:23) in a match from the fourth round of the championship.
After achieving their first success of the season against Pirin (Razlog) in the previous round, Deya Sport's volleyball players showed that they are gradually finding their rhythm. This time, they faced a much more serious obstacle in the form of Lokomotiv Avia, led by Nayden Naydenov.
The match in the "Mladost" hall in Burgas lasted 2 hours and 4 minutes, with all four sets being extremely competitive. The difference between the two teams in the final score was only four points - 103:99.
Tsvetan Sokolov was once again the great leader of the hosts.The experienced opposite hitter played an impressive match and finished with 34 points, of which 32 were in attack and 2 from blocks. Sokolov converted 32 out of 58 attacks, which means 55% success rate, and his efficiency coefficient reached +21.
Captain Valentin Bratoev added 18 points, including 4 blocks and 1 ace. Georgi Bratoev distinguished himself with 7 points, including 2 aces, and the middle blocker Konstantin Dinov also finished with 7 points, 3 of which were from blocks.
The hosts dramatically took the first set with 29:27, after Lokomotiv had a minimal lead at both technical timeouts - 8:6 and 16:15. In the decisive rallies, however, the Burgas team showed stronger nerves.
The second set offered a similar scenario. The Plovdiv team led 21:19, but Deya Sport managed to turn the tide and close the set at 26:24.
Lokomotiv Avia did not give up and reduced their deficit after 25:23 in the third set. However, the guests failed to send the match into a tie-break. In the fourth set, the hosts maintained the initiative and reached the final 25:23.
For Lokomotiv Avia, the most effective scorer was Aleksandar Nikolov with 16 points and an impressive 68% success rate in attack. Todor Dimitrov added 13 points, Trifon Lapkov finished with 12, and Julien Georgiev contributed 11.
The serve and block proved crucial for the success of the Burgas team.Deya Sport scored 9 aces against only 4 for Lokomotiv Avia. Both teams finished with 12 successful blocks each, but the hosts also made fewer service errors - 12 against 16.
Interestingly, Lokomotiv Avia even had a minimal advantage in attack efficiency - 48% against 47% for Deya Sport. Nevertheless, the Plovdiv team failed to capitalize on their good performance in key moments.
The recovery of Deya Sport's full squad after the served suspensions of brothers Georgi and Valentin Bratoev is clearly yielding results. The Burgas team now has two consecutive victories and is gradually starting to show the potential they possess.
And Tsvetan Sokolov's performance is the clearest sign that Deya Sport has a leader capable of deciding big matches.