Aleksandar Nikolov played the highest-scoring match of his career in the Italian SuperLega. The Bulgarian international scored 35 points in Cucine Lube Civitanova's 3:1 (25:23, 29:31, 33:31, 25:21) victory over Valsa Group Modena in the fourth round of the championship.
Lube's official website confirmed that this is a new personal record for the 22-year-old outside hitter in Italy's elite league.
Nikolov finished the match with 29 successful attacks from 44 attempts (65.9%), 5 aces, and 1 block, and was deservedly chosen as MVP.
His performance in the first set was particularly impressive, when he scored 11 points, including 8 successful attacks from 8 attempts and 3 aces.
The Bulgarian also played a crucial role in the dramatic third set, won by Lube with 33:31. He saved several set points for Modena, scored an ace for 29:28, and subsequently completed the last two successful attacks that brought victory in that part.
After the match, Nikolov commented on his achievement:
"I don't look at my personal statistics. Tonight I felt very good – I was energized and full of adrenaline. I am happy with the victory because it came against a great team that played very strongly against us. Our entire team fought for every ball, never gave up, and I am proud of them."
With four wins from four matches, Lube has accumulated 12 points and occupies second place in the standings, two points behind leader Perugia, who, however, has played one more match due to participation in the FIVB Club World Championship.
Aleksandar Nikolov already has 87 points from 14 sets this season and ranks second among the top scorers in the SuperLega. With an average of 6.21 points per set, he is the most effective player by this indicator among the top 20 in the individual ranking.

photo: Nikolay Varadinov