Bulgaria forged a very difficult, but sweet victory against the team of Serbia in the first Balkan U16 Women's Championship, which is held in the capital's "Hristo Botev" hall. Vladislav Todorov - Sarata's girls won with a score of 3:2 (25:12, 16:25, 21:25, 27:25, 15:9).

Bulgaria started the first set with a strong lead, pulling ahead 5:1. This forced the Serbian coach to call a timeout. Not long after, the staff of our western neighbors again requested a timeout, as the Bulgarians pulled even further ahead (9:3). Gradually, our girls increased their lead, which at times reached up to 11 points. A block gave Bulgaria the first chance to close the set, which happened at 24:12. The Serbians attacked into the net, which brought an end to the first part.
The second set turned out to be a mirror image of the first. Now the Serbians took the lead. They led in the score from the start, and at 7:11, our team requested a timeout. After that, however, the difference swelled to 5 points, with the Bulgarians managing to get closest to three points behind their opponent. After Vladislav Todorov's second timeout, things escalated to our disadvantage. Following an attack error, the difference became 6 points. After the opponent's 23rd point, our team's strength was only enough for one more point. Serbia closed the set on our blocking error.

Serbia also led in the third set, with our team managing to lead only once at 5:4. From then until the end of the set, the Bulgarians tried to maintain a higher tempo, but individual errors became more frequent. Sarata's second timeout came at 9:13, but then the difference swelled to 5 points. Our team had episodic flashes of brilliance, managing to reduce the difference to 1 point, but their strength was only enough to get them this far. Our opponents closed the set with a block, setting the score at 21:25.

Again, the Serbians were more active at the beginning of the fourth set and logically took the lead, also helped by our lack of concentration. Sarata called a timeout at 2:7 in favor of our western neighbors. Our serve wasn't working. We managed to get within two points of our opponents when Serbia's first timeout came. And again, a service error. A block brought us within one point, 11:12. And again, a wrong serve. We managed with a block-out from the back row to again get to a 1-point difference, and with the subsequent double block, we equalized 13:13. With play against the block, the Serbians pulled ahead by 2 points, which our team quickly melted away to another equalization 17:17. Another service error followed. The Serbians returned the favor, but we insisted on continuing with errors in serving. At 18:20, our second timeout came. An attack out made the score 18:21. We managed to get within 1 point, but a block again moved us away from equalizing at the end of the set. Another service error moved us even further from equalizing the sets, and we gave up the first match point at 21:24. The Serbians received a yellow card for delay, and two of our serves brought the score to 24:24. We didn't give up on the next match point and with a block-out, we equalized again 25:25. Another service error and another match point. The Serbians made a mistake and again it was a tie - 26:26. A well-placed serve and our first set point. With a good block, we brought things to a tie-break. 27:25.

A good attack, a drop shot, and a nice serve gave our team a 3-point lead, which forced the Serbian coach to call a timeout. A good attack made it 4:1, but again a service error. The Serbians returned the favor, and the score became 6:2, at which point Serbia's second timeout came. A double block made the difference 5 points. With a drop shot through the center, the court change came - 8:2. A targeted attack from zone 4 increased our lead to 9:2. The Serbians scored two points, which forced our staff to call a timeout. The opponents added another point during a long rally. A distracted reception reduced the difference to 3 points. At 9:7, another timeout for our team followed. With immense effort, we managed to break their streak with a drop shot through the center. Our setter's clever play twice brought us closer to the final success in the match. A good block and a good serve followed, and the first match point was at hand. 14:8. The victory became a fact after a service error by Serbia 15:9.