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 led 2:1 in sets but allowed a comeback and lost to hosts Slovenia 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 form of revenge for their loss in the group stage of last year's World Championship, when Bulgaria defeated them 3:2.

Bulgaria earned 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 total.

Excellent start and strong first set.

The Bulgarians started confidently, and after an even beginning, took a 5:3 lead following an attack and an ace by Asparuh Asparuhov. The national team's serve caused serious problems for the Slovenians, and Iliya Petkov also scored with an ace for 8:5.

After the hosts tied at 15:15, Aleksandar 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 the convincing 25:19.

Slovenia tied 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 tie the score at 6:6, but a series of three direct points from service and excellent blocking play 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 relinquish the initiative and closed the set with 25:21.

Bulgaria dominates the third set.

The third set was one of the strongest for Blengini's team in the tournament. The Bulgarians pulled ahead early with an 11:6 lead, with Martin Atanasov, Alex Grozdanov, and Iliya Petkov doing excellent work.

Bulgaria's attack worked almost flawlessly. After a counter-attack by the setter and a pipe by Martin Atanasov, the lead became insurmountable, and the set concluded at 25:17.

Missed fourth set.

It was precisely the fourth set that proved to be the turning point in the match.

Bulgaria controlled the game's development and took the lead with20:16, and a little later had the opportunity to close out the match. However, the Slovenians gradually caught up, thanks to Nik Mujanovic and Rok Brazcko.

At24:24the hosts showed more composure, scored two consecutive points, and snatched the set with26:24, sending the match to a tie-break. A crucial error by Moni Nikolov, who was called for a held ball at a very important moment, also weighed heavily.

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.

By 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

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, showing good distribution in attack. In the tie-break, however, the attack lost effectiveness, and the lack of a second consistent scorer became apparent.

Team Statistics

The statistics show how painful the defeat is for Bulgaria. The national team outperformed their opponent in attack (56:44), on serve (12:5), and in digs (62:45). The difference came in blocking, where the Slovenians had a huge advantage (17:8), as well as from significantly more points conceded from 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, there remains a bitter taste for a lost match, partly due to wrong decisions by key players, and partly due to the possibility that the match could have been managed differently.

Tomorrow our team rests, and on Saturday we play Canada at 5:30 PM.

photo: Nikolay Varadinov