Two Bulgarian internationals started for Vero Volley Monza in their 0:3 (16:25, 17:25, 22:25) home loss to champions Perugia in the Italian SuperLega. Jasmin Velichkov finished with 11 points, while middle blocker Iliya Petkov added 5.

The third-round match of the championship was controlled by the visitors, who asserted their superiority in the first two sets, and in the third, faced more serious resistance from the hosts.
Velichkov was among Monza's top scorers, realizing 9 points from attack and 2 from block. The Bulgarian outside hitter played in all three sets, being one of the main options in the hosts' offense.
Iliya Petkov also remained on the court for the entire match. The Bulgarian international finished with 5 points, of which 3 were from attack and 2 from block.
Monza experienced serious difficulties already in the first set. Perugia took a 7:3 lead, and subsequently increased their advantage to 16:9. The hosts failed to find a counter to the powerful attack of the visitors and lost 16:25.
The second part developed similarly. Perugia again dictated the tempo and won 25:17, not allowing the opponent to get close enough to threaten their lead.
The third set was the most contested, with Monza showing better organization and managing to stay in the fight for winning the set. In the final rallies, however, Perugia's class and greater effectiveness proved decisive for the final 25:22.

The top scorer for the winners was Belgian opposite Ferre Reggers with 14 points, followed by Polish international Kamil Semeniuk with 13. Ukrainian Oleh Plotnytskyi added 9, and Argentinian middle blocker Sebastian Sole finished with 7 points, including 3 from block.
For Monza, besides Velichkov, Diego Frascio also scored 11 points, and Ukrainian Hryhorii Khotsevych added 7. Iliya Petkov finished with 5 points.

Particularly indicative of Perugia's superiority was the distribution of points in attack, where the visitors had more effective options, while Monza struggled to maintain a consistently high level of attack.
For the two Bulgarians, the match was another opportunity to face one of the strongest teams in world club volleyball, featuring names like Simone Giannelli, Kamil Semeniuk, Oleh Plotnytskyi, and Sebastian Sole.

photos: legavolley.it