The Bulgarian national team for girls U18 recorded its first victory at the European Championship in Latvia and Lithuania. Atanas Petrov's players defeated the Netherlands 3:1 (25:19, 26:24, 23:25, 25:13) in their second match of Group II, played in the Lithuanian city of Šiauliai.
After the dramatic loss to Germany in the first round, the Bulgarian team reacted excellently and deservedly achieved success. They controlled the development of the first set, after which they snatched the extremely contested second part with 26:24. The Netherlands brought back the intrigue by winning the third set 25:23, but in the fourth, the young "lionesses" left no chances for their opponent and closed the match after a convincing 25:13.
Statistics also showed the superiority of the Bulgarian team. The national players finished with more blocks (8 against 5), higher attack efficiency (41% against 35%), more attack points (49 against 39), significantly better positive reception (60% against 41%), and double the direct points from serve (14 against 7). Bulgaria also benefited from 28 points from opponent errors, compared to 30 for the Netherlands, concluding the match with a total of 99 points scored against 81 for the "tulips."
With this victory, Bulgaria now has a record of 1 win, 1 loss, and 4 points in the temporary group standings. The team's next challenge is against Greece tomorrow (July 3) at 3:00 PM Bulgarian time.
The most effective players for the Bulgarian squad were Bozhidara Ivanova and Katerina Popova. Ivanova scored 21 points (1 block, 1 ace, and 56% attack efficiency), and Popova added 20 points (3 blocks, 3 aces, 39% attack efficiency, and 62% positive reception).
For the Netherlands, only Yasmin Ratjes finished with a double-digit score, realizing 14 points (1 ace, 48% attack efficiency).