Belgrade.The Bulgarian women's national team took the penultimate step towards relegation from the Volleyball Nations League. Marcello Abbondanza's team lost to France 1:3 (25:23, 20:25, 28:30, 22:25) in the direct survival clash of the third week of the tournament in Belgrade.
After the defeat, the Bulgarian women remain in last, 18th place, with 2 wins, 9 losses, and 5 points, while with their victory, France practically saved itself. In addition to the heavy blow in the VNL standings, Bulgaria also dropped two positions in the FIVB world ranking, where they now occupy 29th place.

The start was promising. The Bulgarian women took an 8:4 lead early in the first set after strong performances by Miroslava Paskova, Aleksandra Milanova, and Darina Naneva. The Frenchwomen turned it around to 11:10, but the national team players regained the initiative at the end. Aces by Monika Krasteva and Kalina Veneva, as well as successful attacks by Paskova, brought a 25:23 victory.
In the second set, Bulgaria caught up with their opponent several times and even turned the score to 20:19 after an excellent run, but a new collapse followed in the final rallies. France won five of the last six points and equalized with 25:20.
The third set proved decisive for the match's outcome. The Bulgarian women had a 23:21 lead and a set point at 25:24 but failed to close the set. The Frenchwomen saved the critical situations, and an ace by Fatoumata Fanguoudou sealed the dramatic 30:28.
In the fourth set, Bulgaria started better again and led 15:14, but another series from France followed, pulling them ahead to 20:17. The national team players reduced the deficit to 22:23 after a block by Borislava Saykova, but on their first match point, the Frenchwomen ended the match with another successful block for the final 25:22.
Statistics show where the difference lay. France outperformed Bulgaria in attack (57:49) and blocking (14:10), which compensated for our team's better performance from serve (9:8). The Bulgarian women scored more points from opponent errors (27:24), but this was not enough. The Frenchwomen finished the match with a total of 103 points against 95.
Despite the defeat, Bulgaria had more digs (107:97), better reception (89:88), and more successful sets (154:147), which makes the missed opportunity in the third set even more painful.
The most productive player in the match was Mikaela Stoyanova with 18 points for Bulgaria, and Aleksandra Milanova added 13. For France, Eva Elouga scored the most with 16 points, followed by Lylou Ratar with 14.

In their last match of this year's Volleyball Nations League, Bulgaria will face Germany, but after the defeat by France, their chances of survival are now close to zero.

photos: Nikolay Varadinov