Bulgaria's U18 men's national team secured their second victory at the European Championship 2026 in Cisterna di Latina. Miroslav Zhivkov's players defeated the Netherlands 3:1 (25:20, 25:15, 24:26, 25:23), earning three extremely valuable points in the battle for the top spots in the group.
The Bulgarian team can only regret not closing out the match with a decisive 3:0. In the third set, our players overcame a deficit, reached match point, but failed to convert it, allowing their opponent to stay in the game.
After losing the third set, Miroslav Zhivkov's team regained the initiative in the fourth set and built a comfortable seven-point lead. However, a significant drop in their performance followed, and the Netherlands scored a series of six consecutive points, four of which were direct aces, reducing the score to 21:22. The Bulgarian nationals maintained their composure in the crucial rallies and with strong play at the end, closed out the set 25:23, and thus the match.
The victory came a day after their 1:3 defeat to Germany and moved Bulgaria into a good position in the temporary standings.
Team statistics were also overwhelmingly in favor of the Bulgarian team. The national team outperformed their opponent in blocking (14:11), attack efficiency (52% vs 44%), attack points (59:42), positive reception (55% vs 44%), and aces (9:6). Notably, four of the Netherlands' six aces came in the fourth set and were the main reason for the dramatic mini-comeback at the end of the set. Bulgaria scored fewer points from opponent errors (17:25).
Five Bulgarian volleyball players finished with double-digit points. Veselinov was the top scorer with 19 points, followed by Jene with 14, Gradinarov and Kosev with 13 each, and Ganev with 12 points. For the Netherlands, Valkema led with 18 points, and Kok added 12.
Tomorrow, the Bulgarian national team has a rest day, and on Saturday, they will face Romania in their next group stage match.