Bulgaria's U22 national team concluded its participation in the European Championship in Portugal with a loss. In its last match of Group II in Albufeira, the team led by Daniel Peev lost to Czechia with a score of 1:3 (27:29, 25:21, 19:25, 21:25) and finished in last, fourth place in the standings without a win and without a point, thus being eliminated from the competition.
The match started extremely competitively, with the Bulgarians very close to success in the first set, but after a dramatic finish, they lost it 27:29. Our team managed to react excellently in the second set and, after a steady performance, equalized after a 25:21 win. However, in the third and fourth sets, the Czechs asserted their superiority, were more effective on serve and block, and closed out the match with scores of 25:19 and 25:21.
Jasmin Velichkov was once again the top scorer for Bulgaria with 14 points, including 1 block, 50% attack efficiency, and 67% positive reception. Erik Georgiev added 11 points, recording 1 ace and 56% attack efficiency.
For Czechia, Václav Zajdl played an excellent match and scored 21 points, including 4 aces and 1 block, with an impressive 73% attack efficiency. Matěj Pašternák finished with 15 points, including 1 block, 1 ace, and 50% attack efficiency.
Team statistics also show the superiority of the Czech team in key elements. Czechia made 12 blocks compared to just 3 for Bulgaria and recorded twice as many direct service points (aces) – 8 against 4. In attack, both teams were relatively evenly matched – 56% efficiency for Czechia versus 53% for Bulgaria, with attack points being 48:44 in favor of the opponent. Both teams committed a similar number of service errors – 26 for Czechia versus 24 for Bulgaria, and points after opponent errors were almost even – 37:36 for the Bulgarian team. Ultimately, Czechia finished with an advantage in the total number of points scored – 100:92.