The Bulgarian men's national team suffered a defeat in the second friendly match against the Czech Republic in Samokov. Gianlorenzo Blengini's team lost 1:3 (20:25, 25:20, 23:25, 15:25), after winning the first test match 3:0 the day before.
The match on August 26 lasted 1 hour and 26 minutes, with the Czech Republic winning a total of 95 points against 83 for Bulgaria. The visitors took the first set 25:20, but our national team responded in the second with the same score – 25:20. The third set was the most contested, with the Czechs reaching 25:23, and in the fourth, they already had a serious advantage and closed the match at 25:15.
Blengini used Simeon Nikolov, Preslav Petkov, Asparuh Asparuhov, Alex Grozdanov, Georgi Tatarov, Rusi Zhelev, Venislav Antov, Denislav Bardarov, Stoil Palev, and Aleksandar Nikolov in the match, while the liberos were Zhasmin Velichkov and Damyan Kolev. Martin Atanasov was listed in the protocol but without playing, while Iliya Petkov and Lazar Buchkov did not enter the game.
The most effective players for Bulgaria were Aleksandar Nikolov and Alex Grozdanov with 16 points each. Grozdanov scored 12 out of 17 attacks for an excellent 71% success rate and added 4 blocks. Aleksandar Nikolov finished with 15 points in attack and 1 block. Denislav Bardarov added 12 points – 11 in attack and 1 block.
For the Czech Republic, Patrik Indra was the top scorer with 16 points – 14 in attack with 67% success rate, 1 ace, and 1 block. Lukáš Vašina added 15 points, all in attack, and Antonín Klimeš finished with 9, of which 4 were blocks.
Interestingly, Bulgaria finished with higher attack efficiency – 55% against 51% for the Czech Republic, and both teams scored 8 points from blocks. The significant difference came from the serve – the Czechs recorded 7 aces against 2 for Bulgaria. Our national team also made 19 service errors against 15 for the opponent. The Czech Republic also had an advantage in positive reception – 51% against 37%. After the match, Czech libero Milan Moník stated to the website of the Czech federation that the serve was one of the key factors for the different outcome compared to the first friendly. According to him, the Czechs this time dealt better with the strong Bulgarian serve and showed more aggression and confidence. Moník also admitted that in the first match, his team was intimidated by the fact that they were playing away against the world vice-champions.
Thus, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic concluded the two friendly matches in Samokov with one victory each. On August 25, our national team won the official three sets 3:0 (25:21, 25:19, 25:19), and the additional fourth set went to the Czechs with 25:23. A day later, the Czech Republic took revenge with a 3:1 victory.