Bulgaria started the volleyball summer with a victory, after a convincing 3:0 (25:20, 27:25, 25:22) win over Germany - in one hour and 14 minutes of play in the opening match of the "Silesia Cup" tournament in Katowice. Thus, after a 6-year "drought", our team once again has a victory against the tough opponent - a participant in the last Olympics in Paris. Head coach Blengini relied on Simeon Nikolov, Alex Nikolov, Georgi Tatarov, Venislav Antov, Iliya Petkov, Krasimir Georgiev and libero Martin Bozhilov, replaced by Rusi Zhelev in the role of a defender. Stoil Palev (on serve in place of Georgiev), Asparuh Asparuhov in place of Tatarov, who was "broken" on serve several times, and Dimitar Dimitrov entered the game.
Our team took the first set with a better attack percentage - 68% against 42% for the opponent, and also demonstrated better positive reception - 67% against 42%. The second set was the most contested, as our national team started hesitantly, allowing Germany to lead up to the eighth point. An attack by Alex Nikolov followed, a block by Iliya Petkov and an ace by Moni Nikolov, and the score became 10:8. The opponent again took the lead after two errors by Tatarov. Up to 18:18, the two teams took turns leading with a minimal advantage, with Tatarov being replaced by Asparuhov, after a second ace in his zone. New ties followed - 20:20 and 21:21 after a successful video check for our team. The score moved point by point, with Alex Nikolov giving the first set point with a technical tip behind the block. Only on the fourth try did our team close the set with 27:25, after an unsuccessful attack by Germany.
The third set started with an ace by Krasi Georgiev, and again neither team managed to create a lead. Individual errors on both sides also increased. After an ace by Moni Nikolov, a larger advantage came - 16:12, with the setter already having 7 points in his active (3 from attack, 2 blocks and 2 aces). From a serve came the 18th point, scored by the other Nikolov brother for 18:13, which forced Germany to take a timeout. Our opponent managed to equalize - 20:20, after an attack out by Veni Antov. So far, Alex Nikolov was the most productive for our team with 14 points, and Germany's opposite, John, had one more. A tip by Moni Nikolov followed for 21:20, followed by a powerful single block by Georgiev in the center and an even more attractive block by Moni Nikolov against John (23:20). His brother Alexander brought the first match point for Bulgaria. Stoil Palev stood on serve, and Iliya Iliev spiked a block-nail on Germany's attack, which brought the victory for the "tricolors".
The teams decided to play an additional, fourth set, which again started better for Gianlorenzo Blengini's team (4:2). One of the biggest advantages of the Bulgarians was the aggressive serve (8:5), which the Germans failed to receive accurately (12:7). With every action, Thomas Ranner's volleyball players conceded more and more (17:10), and the difference in their points grew to ten (21:11). The last word in this set went to Asparuh Asparuhov, who stopped Daniel Malescha on a block (25:12).
In this set played: Stoil Palev, Iliya Petkov, Asparuh Asparuhov, Georgi Tatarov, Dimitar Dimitrov, Kiril Kolev, Preslav Petkov and Rusi Zhelev-libero.
BULGARIA:Simeon Nikolov 9, Venislav Antov 13, Georgi Tatarov 6, Aleksandar Nikolov 15, Krasimir Georgiev 4, Iliya Petkov 8 - Martin Bozhilov-libero (Stoil Palev 2, Asparuh Asparuhov 4, Dimitar Dimitrov 2, Rusi Zhelev-libero, Samuil Valchinov, Kiril Kolev, Preslav Petkov)
Head coach: Gianlorenzo Blengini
GERMANY:Jan Zimmermann 1, Philip John 15, Joscha Kunstmann 6, Eric Röhrs 7, Theo Möwius 5, Simon Torwie 6 - Leonard Graven-libero (Tim Peter 2, Daniel Malescha 1, Eric Bergmann, Bastian Kerek 1, Leon Meyer 4)
Coach: Thomas Ranner.
