Ljubljana. The Bulgarian national team missed an opportunity to record a second victory in the second tournament of the Volleyball Nations League, which is taking place in the Slovenian capital. Gianlorenzo Blengini's players took a 2:1 lead in sets, but allowed a comeback and lost to the hosts Slovenia with 2:3 (25:19, 21:25, 25:17, 24:26, 6:15) in their second match of the tournament in Group 6 in Ljubljana. Thus, the hosts took a kind of revenge for their loss in the group stage of last year's World Championship, when Bulgaria defeated them 3:2.
Bulgaria won one point, which, however, was not enough for a place in the Top 8 of the tournament. After the match, the "Lions" occupy 10th place in the temporary VNL standings, maintaining their 8th position in the world ranking, losing only 2.56 points from their asset.
Excellent start and a strong first set
The Bulgarians started confidently and after an even start, took a 5:3 lead after an attack and an ace by Asparuh Asparuhov. The national team's serve created serious problems for the Slovenians, and Ilia Petkov also scored an ace for 8:5.
After the hosts equalized at 15:15, Alexander Nikolov responded strongly, scoring two consecutive aces and restoring Bulgaria's lead. Until the end, the "Lions" were decisive, and Alex Grozdanov and Martin Atanasov sealed a convincing 25:19.
Slovenia equalized after a series of blocks
In the second set, the Slovenians started much more aggressively on the block and took a 6:2 lead. Bulgaria managed to equalize at 6:6, but a series of three direct points from service and excellent blocking gave the hosts a new advantage.
Although the national team reduced the deficit to 19:21 thanks to a strong serve from Alex Nikolov and an excellent block from Martin Atanasov, Slovenia did not lose the initiative and closed the set with 25:21.
Bulgaria dominates in the third set
The third set was one of the strongest for Blengini's team in the tournament. The Bulgarians pulled ahead early with 11:6, with Martin Atanasov, Alex Grozdanov, and Ilia Petkov doing an excellent job.
Bulgaria's attack was almost flawless. After a counter by the setter and a pipe by Martin Atanasov, the lead became insurmountable, and the set ended at 25:17.
Missed fourth set
It was the fourth set that proved to be the turning point in the match. Bulgaria controlled the game's development and led with20:16, and a little later had the opportunity to close the match. However, the Slovenians gradually caught up thanks to Nik Mujanović and Rok Bračko. At24:24the hosts showed more composure, scored two consecutive points and snatched the set with26:24, sending the match to a tie-break. A mistake by Moni Nikolov also weighed in, as he was called for a held ball at a very crucial moment.
Tie-break only for the hosts
In the decisive fifth set, the Slovenians established complete superiority from the very beginning. After 3:3, they went on a run to 9:3, with their blocking practically disarming the Bulgarian attack.
Until the end, the hosts did not allow a comeback and won the tie-break with15:6, and with that, the match.
Alex Nikolov was once again Bulgaria's leader
The outside hitter played another impressive match with 28 points (including 5 aces), becoming the top scorer of the encounter.
Asparuh Asparuhov added 13 points, while Iliya Petkov contributed 9.
Bulgaria's Scorers
| Player | Points | Attack | Block | Ace |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aleksandar Nikolov | 28 | 23 | 0 | 5 |
| Asparuh Asparuhov | 13 | 11 | 1 | 1 |
| Martin Atanasov | 11 | 7 | 2 | 2 |
| Iliya Petkov | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 |
| Alex Grozdanov | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 |
| Simeon Nikolov | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
Bulgaria had a clear leader in Aleksandar Nikolov, who scored over a quarter of the team's total points. Four other players finished with between 8 and 13 points, which shows good distribution in attack. In the tie-break, however, the attack lost effectiveness, and the lack of a second consistent scorer became a burden.
Team Statistics
| Indicator | Slovenia | Bulgaria |
|---|---|---|
| Attack | 44 | 56 |
| Block | 17 | 8 |
| Ace | 5 | 12 |
| Opponent errors points | 36 | 25 |
| Total points | 102 | 101 |
| Digs | 45 | 62 |
The statistics show how painful the defeat is for Bulgaria. The nationals surpassed their opponent in attack (56:44), on serve (12:5) and in digs (62:45). The difference came at the block, where the Slovenians had a huge advantage (17:8), as well as from significantly more points that came after errors by the Bulgarian team (36 versus 25). The overall point ratio is also indicative –102:101for Slovenia, which perfectly illustrates how evenly matched the game was. Nevertheless, the bitter taste of a lost match remains, partly due to wrong decisions by key players (Simeon Nikolov editor's note), and partly due to the possibility that the match could have been led differently by the staff (Gianlorenzo Blengini editor's note).
Tomorrow our team rests, and on Saturday we play against Canada at 5:30 PM.
photo: Nikolay Varadinov
