Three Bulgarian volleyball players participated in the latest matches of the US university championship (NCAA). Denitsa Angelova celebrated a victory with Miami, while Viktoria Ninova and Vyara Parapunova suffered defeats with their teams. Parapunova, however, distinguished herself with an impressive double-double of 13 points and 13 digs in defense in the second consecutive match against Louisiana.
Miami, where Denitsa Angelova plays, achieved a decisive 3:0 (25:16, 25:13, 25:16) away victory against Syracuse in an ACC conference match on November 13.
The Bulgarian player was a starter in all three sets, finishing with 8 points. Angelova made 6 successful attacks from 11 attempts, 1 ace, and participated in 2 successful double blocks. She finished the match with a 54.5% attack efficiency.
Asia Harvey was the top scorer for Miami with 14 points, and Sonia Danilovic added 9 successful attacks.
The victory was the fifth in a row for Miami, who now have a season record of 14 wins and 10 losses, including 12 wins and 3 losses in the ACC conference.
Viktoria Ninova also had a strong individual match, but her Cincinnati team lost at home to the University of Central Florida (UCF) 0:3 (23:25, 22:25, 22:25) in a Big 12 conference match.
The Bulgarian player was Cincinnati's best defender with 17 digs, with none of her teammates reaching double digits in this statistic except Andrea Simovski, who finished with 10.
The hosts put up strong resistance in all three sets but failed to win any. Sydney Nolan was the top scorer for Cincinnati with 11 successful attacks, followed by Nina Skruka with 10.
Despite their superiority in blocks with 8:5, Cincinnati suffered a defeat, as the visitors made 51 successful attacks against 43 for the hosts and 8 aces against 4.
After the match, Ninova's team has 11 wins and 12 losses for the season, and in the Big 12 conference, their record is 4 wins and 9 losses.
The busiest of the three Bulgarian players was Vyara Parapunova, who played two matches in two days with Coastal Carolina against Louisiana.
In the first match on November 13, Coastal Carolina lost 0:3 (15:25, 16:25, 23:25), and the Bulgarian outside hitter finished with 6 points from 6 successful attacks out of 15 attempts. Parapunova also added 2 digs in defense.
A day later, she significantly improved her performance, but her team again lost, this time 1:3 (25:16, 16:25, 20:25, 21:25).
Parapunova was the top scorer for Coastal Carolina with 13 points, all from attack, recording 13 successful kills from 40 attempts. The Bulgarian player also added 13 digs in defense, completing a double-double.
The visitors started excellently and won the first set 25:16, but Louisiana responded with strong offensive play and took the next three sets. The hosts made 52 successful attacks against 50 for Coastal Carolina and 9 aces against 6.
With the second loss to Louisiana, Coastal Carolina finished the regular season with 12 wins and 14 losses, and their Sun Belt conference record is 8 wins and 8 losses.
However, the season continues for Parapunova. On November 19, Coastal Carolina will face Southern Mississippi in the first round of the Sun Belt Conference Championship tournament.