Fifth-placed in the Super League, Rodopa Smolyan defeated the leader Slavia with a score of 3:2 (23:25, 25:17, 20:25, 25:22, 15:13) in the first semifinal match for the Bulgarian Cup in the second tier of the domestic championship. Thus, the team from Rodopa will face Etropole in the final in Burgas, who prevailed over Zvezdets (Gorna Malina) with 3:1 (22:25, 25:22, 25:23, 25:18). For Etropole and coach Anton Dimitrov's boys, this will be their third consecutive final for the Bulgarian Cup in the Super League.

Rodopa forged their success in the capital's "Panayot Pondalov" hall in a five-set thriller that lasted more than an hour and a half. The two teams exchanged one set each, after which the hosts managed to impose their rhythm and take a one-set lead.

A subsequent drop in the "whites'" reception allowed the visitors to gain a comfortable lead in the middle of the fourth set, after which they forced the match into a tie-break. In the final set, Slavia failed to play with concentration at the end of the match, even though the "whites" were the first to reach the 8th point. Severin Dimitrov's boys even had a comfortable three-point lead (10:7) but allowed a 4-point run (10:11). Slavia managed to equalize (13:13) and their strength reached its limit there. The visitors scored the first match point and closed the encounter on the next serve, which brought them qualification for the final on January 12th in Burgas.

photos: NVL and Nikolay Varadinov