Belgrade.The Bulgarian women's national team recorded their eighth loss in the Volleyball Nations League, after losing to the Czech Republic 1:3 (25:16, 12:25, 19:25, 14:25) in their second match of the third week of the tournament in Belgrade. After the defeat, Marcelo Abbondanza's team remains in last, 18th place, with 2 wins, 9 losses, and 5 points, while the Czech Republic is now 10th with 5 wins, 6 losses, and 14 points. Thus, the match against France on Saturday becomes a direct battle for survival in the elite, as the French team is immediately ahead of Bulgaria with 6 points. The loss cost the national team another 4.02 points in the world ranking, with their total now 144.38 points, while the Czech Republic increased its total to 215.62 points.
The Bulgarians played an excellent first set and, with stable serving, good blocking, and effective attacking, completely outplayed their opponent for a convincing 25:16. Everything seemed under control, but this turned out to be the only strong period in the match for our team.
The second set was entirely dictated by the Czech Republic. Bulgaria fell into a serious crisis in attack and reception, while the opponent dominated in blocking and quickly built up a large lead, to equalize after a decisive 25:12.
The third set was the most contested. Bulgaria managed to recover from a 4-point deficit and equalize at 16:16, but in the end, the Czechs once again imposed their superiority with excellent blocking and attacking play, winning 25:19.
In the fourth set, Bulgaria maintained equality only until 5:5, after which the Czech Republic made a decisive run, built a double-digit lead, and effortlessly closed the match after 25:14.
Statistics clearly show the superiority of the Czech Republic. The opponent scored 60 points in attack against 40 for Bulgaria, made 12 successful blocks against 7, and recorded 3 aces against only 1 for our team. Bulgaria's only advantage came from more points after opponent errors - 22 against 16. Despite our team's better reception (79:66%), the Czechs compensated with stronger attacking, more blocks, and a total of 91 points scored against 70 for Bulgaria. In terms of saved balls in defense, there was also a minimal advantage for the Czech Republic - 96 against 92.
Alexandra Milanova was the top scorer for Bulgaria with 11 points, and Mikaela Stoyanova added 10. For the Czech Republic, Monika Brancuska played a phenomenal match with 30 points, and Magdalena Jehlářová finished with 12.

photo: Nikolay Varadinov