Bulgaria recorded a second loss in the first VNL tournament, held in Ottawa, Canada. Tony Zetova's girls lost 3:0 (21:25, 16:25, 23:25) to the Netherlands in a match that lasted just over an hour. There was a definite lack of freshness in the Bulgarian team, who had played three five-set matches. Fatigue also affected the emotional state of the players, who struggled to maintain concentration. The match was filled with easily conceded points, and the attack was frankly not working.
In the first set, we recorded an attack efficiency of 5% through the center, which also indicates poor reception. The setters constantly sought out Elitsa Atanasijevic, forgetting about Mika Stoyanova. The latter finished with a modest 8 points in the match. Atanasijevic added 10.
The second set started well for our team, but gradually the Dutch increased their pace, constantly troubling the defense with dropped balls. At the same time, we couldn't pick up the easy balls. The double substitutions of setter-opposite didn't help to turn the tide either. The lack of freshness was most evident in this part, which ended with an ace to the libero and only 16 points for Bulgaria.
Only in the third set did we start more concentrated and managed to maintain a lead up to 19:18. Then we again started to concede easy points, while our attackers struggled to finish their attacks. Atanasijevic managed to equalize twice - 22:22, 23:23. The Dutch had the first opportunity to score 24 points after a long rally. The match ended after a poor reception from our side and an error by Atanasijevic.
Most points for the Netherlands were scored by Vos - 13 points, followed by Van De Voos - 8.
NETHERLANDS: Sarah Van Aalen 4, Elles Dambrink 8, Iris Vos 8, Helena Kok 8, Suus Gerritsen 7, Britt Stuut 8 - Florien Reesink-libero (Nicole Van De Voos 8, Esther Jasper, Hieke Lijklema)
Head Coach: FELIX KOZLOWSKI.
BULGARIA: Lora Kitipova, Mikaela Stoyanova 8, Elitsa Atanasijevic 10, Alexandra Milanova 7, Hristina Vuchkova 5, Nasya Dimitrova 5 - Galina Karabasheva-libero (Lora Slavcheva 3, Iva Dudova, Iveta Stanchulova 1, Darina Naneva, Merelin Nikolova, Viktoria Ninova-libero)
Head Coach: ANTONINA ZETOVA
After the first tournament, Bulgaria maintained its 19th place in the rankings, despite losing -4.75 points from the match with the Netherlands, and now has 172.71 points.
