Ukraine recorded their first victory at EuroVolley 2026, after defeating Israel 3:1 (25:22, 25:19, 22:25, 25:19) in a Group B match in Sofia. The success brought three points to Raul Lozano's team and moved them to third place in the provisional standings after Bulgaria and Poland.
The start, however, was better for Israel. The team took a 9:4 lead and forced Lozano to call an early timeout. The Ukrainians gradually found their rhythm, with Oleh Plotnytskyi, Vasyl Tupchii, and Yurii Semeniuk playing an important role in their comeback in the set.
Lozano's double substitution also paid off, and an ace by Dmytro Yanchuk put Ukraine ahead for the first time – 18:17. In the end, the Ukrainian block proved decisive, Maksym Drozd and Tupchii successively stopped opponent attacks, and Ukraine snatched the first set 25:22.
In the second set, the Ukrainians already had more serious control. Semeniuk made several important blocks, while Plotnytskyi and Tupchii maintained attacking efficiency. Yevhen Kisiliuk, who recorded two consecutive aces at the end, made a very strong contribution from the bench. Tupchii sealed the set for 25:19 and a 2:0 lead.
Israel showed that they would not give up the match without a fight. In the third set, the team managed to take a 16:13 lead, and Ukrainian attacking errors allowed the difference to be maintained. In the end, Israel reached 25:22 and reduced their deficit to 1:2.
Ukraine did not allow the match to go into a fifth set. Lozano's team again took the initiative in the fourth set and closed out the match at 25:19.
Interestingly, the top scorers in the match were from the losing team. Shay Mayo Lieberman and Mark Rura scored 15 points each for Israel. For Ukraine, Dmytro Yanchuk finished with 11 points, and Oleh Plotnytskyi added 9. No Ukrainian volleyball player reached 15 points, which shows how evenly distributed the scoring was in Lozano's squad.
With the victory, Ukraine collected 3 points and took third place in the provisional standings of Group B due to the lost set. Ahead of them are Bulgaria and Poland, who also started their participation with victories, but without a lost set.
photo: Nikolay Varadinov
