Bulgaria was absolutely helpless against the extremely strong team of France – 0:3 sets.
The Bulgarian national U18 volleyball team continued its frankly weak and disappointing performance at the home European Championship, after suffering a third consecutive loss in the tournament – a second consecutive 0:3 defeat. After a positive but shaky start to EuroVolley 2024, including 3 wins, the Bulgarian boys were unrecognizable. The shocking defeats to Finland and Turkey in the previous days were not enough reason to "wake up" in any way to oppose France.
The "Lions" and the "Roosters" clashed on the sixth day of EuroVolley 2024. Unfortunately, our team lost its chances for qualification to the Final Four of the tournament but was still chasing a spot in the top 6, which would secure their tickets for next year's World Championship. Bulgaria started the match with the following lineup: Konstantin Manolev, Zhasmin Velichkov, Kristiyan Ivanov, Nikolay Nikolaev, Ivan Uzunov, captain Petyo Ivanov, and libero Dimitar Dobrev.
The French squad included the name of Bulgarian volleyball player Viden Natsev, whose story we recalled in a previous article, but he remained a reserve for this match. Interestingly, two other players with Balkan surnames, Dukic and Yokanovic, are regulars in the French team.
Andrei Yokanovich, Viden Natsev and Ino Dukic
Bulgaria started the match better and took a 6:2 lead after several opponent errors. France cleaned up their mistakes and narrowed the gap to 8:9, forcing Desislava Velichkova to call the first timeout of the match. The game continued at an even pace in the following minutes, with the score tied at 11:11 after a technical attack by the "Roosters". Good blocking allowed France to take a 2-point lead – 13:11. Bulgaria briefly tied at 13:13, but the French again took control, winning the next 3 points – 16:13. The referee seemed to disadvantage our opponent after their attack, giving us a point – our deficit was reduced to 1 at 17:18, but we quickly made a service error afterwards. An ace for our team allowed us to tie the score at 19:19.
A second timeout for Bulgaria, taken when trailing by 2 points – 19:21, but France continued to maintain their lead almost undisturbed. Their first set point came at 24:21, but we managed to save it with a skillful play near the net by our team. The "Roosters" called their first timeout of the match after this point, and after play resumed, the set ended at 25:22, after the "Lions" made a terrible serve – 1:0 for France.
The second set started point for point, but our opponents were the first to pull away at 9:5. The coach of the Bulgarian team, Desislava Velichkova, took her first timeout in the set with a 6:11 deficit, and subsequently the difference continued to grow, reaching 8 points at 16:8. The second timeout for our team came at this score, but it did not help our seriously shaken team in any way – our deficit became catastrophic at 10:20. The coach of the "Roosters" called a timeout at 20:12 to instantly halt Bulgaria's minimal resurgence in the set. France closed the second set extremely routinely, winning it after a crushing 25:13. Nothing in the "Lions'" play suggested any positive response.
The third set started as the second one ended – France took the lead at 2:4. However, Bulgaria managed to take the lead in turn at 8:6, after our libero showed phenomenal play in defense. Unfortunately, the "Roosters" quickly regained the lead in the set – 11:9. Here, Desislava Velichkova also called her first timeout in the third set. Nothing changed in our play once again, and the Bulgarian coach quickly took her second timeout – an increased deficit of 4 points at 14:18. An attack out by the French brought Bulgaria to within a single point at 19:20. Unfortunately, we couldn't capitalize on this gift, after making another elementary mistake. First match point for France at 24:21, but it was not converted – 24:22. The coach of the "Roosters" called a timeout immediately after that. A terrible end to the match for the Bulgarian players after a serve high and far out – 25:22 and a fully deserved victory for France with 3:0 sets.
Bulgaria faces a final group stage match at EuroVolley 2024 tomorrow against the other main favorite in the pool – Poland. "Druzyna Polska" are guaranteed semi-finalists and are unlikely to underestimate their match with the "Lions". The unpleasant news is that after today's loss, our team has 99.99% lost its chances to qualify for the U19 World Championship in 2025, and only a miracle would send us to the planetary championship. Everything will depend on the results of all teams in Group A, which is being held in Levski Sofia Hall.
