Maritsa (Plovdiv) wrote a new page in its history after qualifying from the group stage of the Champions League for the first time. The team from Plovdiv defeated Croatian Mladost (Zagreb) with3:0 (25:15, 25:16, 25:19)sets. The match in Kolodruma Hall was played in a great atmosphere in front of nearly 3,000 people. Maritsa finished third in the final standings, securing their progression to the quarterfinals of the CEV Cup.
Maritsa also received support from legend Hristo Stoichkov, who wished the team success with a video message before the match.
The mayor of Plovdiv, Kostadin Dimitrov, and the chairman of the Municipal Council, Atanas Uzunov, attended the match.
For the first time, Tsvetelina Petrova was in the first team's squad for the match, replacing Aleksa Emilova, who had left.
Maritsa's volleyball player Alexandra Kitipova celebrated her birthday today.
The Plovdiv team started strong and took an 8:0 lead, reaching 16:8, and the set was won by Maritsa with 25:15 after an error in the Croatian team's court.
The second set started more evenly – 6:6, the champions pulled ahead to 13:11, and after an attack through the center by Borislava Saykova, the second part also went in favor of Maritsa – 25:16. This set was already enough for the champions, who officially secured third place in their group.
In the third set, the hosts won 7:4, then reached 15:10, and finally 25:19 with a successful attack by Iva Dudova. The top scorers in the match were Iva Dudova and Viktoria Koeva with 9 points each, while Borislava Saykova, Boryana Angelova, and Vanessa Agbortabi finished with 8 points each.
Lora Slavcheva was named the best player of the match – MVP.
For Mladost, Mirta Freund was the top scorer with 8 points.
Thus, Maritsa advanced from the Champions League group stage for the first time in their history and secured third place in their group. The team will continue their European participation with matches in the CEV Cup quarterfinals, but their opponent is not yet known.