Bulgaria's women's national team concluded its participation in the Volleyball Nations League with a 0:3 (20:25, 20:25, 15:25) defeat to Germany in its last match of the tournament in Group 7 in Belgrade. Following Ukraine's 3:0 victory over Belgium earlier in the day, the "Lionesses" had already lost their place in the elite, and the match only held significance for the world rankings.
Instead of winning valuable points, Bulgaria suffered another defeat and lost 4.37 points, which dropped them three positions to 32nd place in the world rankings with 136.02 points.
The Germans dominated in almost all key elements. They scored 43 attack points against 32 for Bulgaria, recorded 12 successful blocks against just 4 for our team, as well as 4 aces against 2. The only statistic where the Bulgarians had a minimal advantage was points from opponent errors – 17 against 16.
The first set started evenly, and an ace by Darina Naneva gave Bulgaria a 7:5 lead. Germany gradually asserted its superiority, took a 14:12 lead, and after a series of successful blocks, reached 24:18. The Bulgarians saved two set points, but a service error by Kalina Veneva ended the set at 25:20.
In the second set, Bulgaria started excellently and pulled ahead 4:0 after a block by Darina Naneva. However, the Germans gradually caught up, equalized at 12:12, and with a strong run at the end, closed the set again at 25:20.
The third set was entirely dictated by the Bundesteam. Leana Grozer and Lina Alsmeier led their team to an early lead, which quickly grew to 17:10. The Bulgarians found no answer against the strong German blocking and serving, and an ace by Lena Kindermann made it 22:14. Germany effortlessly closed the set 25:15 and the match 3:0.
Darina Naneva was the top scorer for Bulgaria with 11 points, while Mikaela Stoyanova added 8, as did Kalina Veneva. For Germany, Lena Kindermann scored 18 points, and Leana Grozer finished with 13.
With this defeat, Bulgaria concludes its participation in this year's Nations League with relegation from the tournament and dropping out of the top 30 in the world rankings.

Photo: Nikolay Varadinov