Individual Stars in the Intercontinental Phase
Although collective success is crucial, individual performances often make the difference in key moments. Here are the players who stood out most strongly in various statistical categories:
Top Scorer:
Marlon Yant Herrera (Cuba)
The Cuban outside hitter was extremely effective with a total of237 points- 200 from attack, 22 from blocks, and 15 from serves. He was the main engine of Cuba's offense and played a key role in the team's qualification among the top eight.
Best Attacker:
Marlon Yant Herrera (Cuba)
With an average of almost 17 points per match and an efficiency of over 48%, Yant once again topped the rankings. Interestingly, he is an outside hitter, while the team's main attacker is Jose Maso - an indicator of his versatility in attack.
Best Blocker:
Yurii Semeniuk (Ukraine)
The Ukrainian, who plays in the Polish PlusLiga, made a total of37 successful blocks. He showed excellent form at the net, and although Ukraine did not qualify for the finals, his individual performance was at the highest level.
Best Server:
Ramazan Efe Mandiraci (Turkey)
Turkey's outside hitter recorded26 aces- more than anyone else. With his powerful serves, he repeatedly troubled the opponents' reception, although his team remained outside the top eight.
Best Setter:
Fernando "Cachopa" Gil Kreling (Brazil)
The experienced Brazilian playmaker made392 successful setsand was a key figure in Brazil's dominant performance. In addition to his organizational skills, he also contributed 14 points directly.
Best Defender:
Maique Reis Nascimento (Brazil)
Brazil's libero distinguished himself with101 successful digswhich secured him a convincing first place in this ranking. His defensive stability was crucial for his team's strong performance.
Best Receiver:
Tom Koops (Netherlands)
Although the Netherlands was eliminated from the tournament, Tom Koops impressed with106 accurate receptionsand over 31% perfect reception. He even surpassed the Brazilian Maique in this category.
And a look at the Bulgarians...
With the best performance isAlex Nikolovwho is in thetop 5on the ranking for top scorers and best attackers with 208 points, 177 from attack, 15 blocks and 16 aces.
Top Scorers:
| Rank | Player Name | Total Points | Attack | Blocks | Aces |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | A. Nikolov | 208 | 177 | 15 | 16 |
| 29 | Antov | 112 | 100 | 5 | 7 |
| 48 | Asparuhov | 79 | 69 | 9 | 1 |
| 58 | Grozdanov | 64 | 37 | 20 | 7 |
| 61 | Petkov | 61 | 43 | 12 | 6 |
| 71 | S. Nikolov | 50 | 25 | 11 | 14 |
| 82 | Atanasov | 39 | 32 | 3 | 4 |
| 84 | Tatarov | 35 | 24 | 8 | 3 |
| 105 | D. Dimitrov | 13 | 9 | 4 | 0 |
| 107 | Georgiev | 11 | 8 | 3 | 0 |
| 114 | Palev | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 117 | Karyagin | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 118 | Nachev | 0 | - | - | - |
| 118 | Bozhilov | 0 | - | - | - |
| 118 | Zhelev | 0 | - | - | - |
| 118 | Telkiyski | 0 | - | - | - |
| 118 | D. Kolev | 0 | - | - | - |
Best in Attack:
| Rank | Name | Team | Points (attack) | Errors | Attempts | Average per match | Success % | Total appearances |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | A. Nikolov | BUL | 177 | 54 | 124 | 14.75 | 49.86% | 355 |
| 29 | Antov | BUL | 100 | 35 | 72 | 8.33 | 48.31% | 207 |
| 45 | Asparuhov | BUL | 69 | 22 | 76 | 5.75 | 41.32% | 167 |
| 61 | Petkov | BUL | 43 | 9 | 28 | 3.58 | 53.75% | 80 |
| 58 | Grozdanov | BUL | 37 | 17 | 27 | 4.62 | 45.68% | 81 |
| 82 | Atanasov | BUL | 32 | 14 | 36 | 2.67 | 39.02% | 82 |
| 71 | S. Nikolov | BUL | 25 | 7 | 27 | 2.27 | 42.37% | 59 |
| 84 | Tatarov | BUL | 24 | 16 | 22 | 2.00 | 38.71% | 62 |
| 105 | D. Dimitrov | BUL | 9 | 3 | 7 | 2.25 | 47.37% | 19 |
| 107 | Georgiev | BUL | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0.67 | 88.89% | 9 |
Nikolov is in thetop 5and in the standings for aces.
Best Servers:
| Position | Name | Team | Points | Errors | Attempts | Average per match | Success % | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | A. Nikolov | BUL | 16 | 46 | 100 | 1.33 | 9.88% | 162 |
| 7 | S. Nikolov | BUL | 14 | 36 | 75 | 1.27 | 11.20% | 125 |
| 14 | Antov | BUL | 7 | 39 | 69 | 0.58 | 6.09% | 115 |
| 14 | Grozdanov | BUL | 7 | 9 | 80 | 0.88 | 7.29% | 96 |
| 15 | I. Petkov | BUL | 6 | 28 | 108 | 0.50 | 4.23% | 142 |
| 17 | Atanasov | BUL | 4 | 10 | 28 | 0.33 | 9.52% | 42 |
| 18 | Tatarov | BUL | 3 | 6 | 39 | 0.25 | 6.25% | 48 |
| 20 | Asparuhov | BUL | 1 | 19 | 79 | 0.08 | 1.01% | 99 |
| 20 | Palev | BUL | 1 | 8 | 66 | 0.08 | 1.33% | 75 |
| 20 | Petkov | BUL | 1 | 4 | 48 | 0.08 | 1.89% | 53 |
Simeon Nikolov and Stoil Palev are in the top 30 setters.
Best in ball distribution:
| Rank | Name | Team | Successful | Errors | Attempts | Average per match | Success rate % | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | S. Nikolov | BUL | 199 | 1 | 461 | 18.09 | 30.11% | 661 |
| 25 | Palev | BUL | 106 | 1 | 181 | 8.83 | 36.81% | 288 |
Alex Nikolov is at the forefront of the ranking for players with the best defensive stats.
Best in defense:
| Rank | Player name | Team | Digs | Errors | Reception in attack | Average per match | Success rate % | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | A. Nikolov | BUL | 61 | 17 | 31 | 5.08 | 55.96 | 109 |
| 32 | S. Nikolov | BUL | 31 | 13 | 34 | 2.82 | 39.74 | 78 |
| 36 | Asparuhov | BUL | 27 | 12 | 30 | 2.25 | 39.13 | 69 |
| 39 | Bozhilov | BUL | 24 | 11 | 29 | 2.00 | 37.50 | 64 |
| 43 | Zhelev | BUL | 20 | 16 | 8 | 1.67 | 45.45 | 44 |
| 47 | Tatarov | BUL | 16 | 5 | 10 | 1.33 | 51.61 | 31 |
| 49 | D. Kolev | BUL | 14 | 6 | 8 | 3.50 | 50.00 | 28 |
| 52 | I. Petkov | BUL | 11 | 4 | 14 | 0.92 | 37.93 | 29 |
| 52 | Palev | BUL | 11 | 8 | 6 | 0.92 | 44.00 | 25 |
| 55 | Atanasov | BUL | 8 | 4 | 8 | 0.67 | 40.00 | 20 |
| 55 | Grozdanov | BUL | 8 | 4 | 8 | 1.00 | 40.00 | 20 |
Our team captain Alex Grozdanov is 12th in blocking.
Best blockers:
| Rank | Name | Team | Blocks | Errors | Rebounds | Average per match | Efficiency % | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | Grozdanov | BUL | 20 | 29 | 37 | 2.50 | -10.47% | 86 |
| 17 | A. Nikolov | BUL | 15 | 26 | 22 | 1.25 | -17.46% | 63 |
| 21 | S. Nikolov | BUL | 11 | 20 | 27 | 1.00 | -15.52% | 58 |
| 21 | I. Petkov | BUL | 12 | 37 | 42 | 1.00 | -27.47% | 91 |
| 21 | Petkov | BUL | 11 | 19 | 17 | 0.92 | -17.02% | 47 |
| 23 | Asparuhov | BUL | 9 | 22 | 27 | 0.75 | -22.41% | 58 |
| 27 | Antov | BUL | 5 | 23 | 23 | 0.42 | -35.29% | 51 |
| 28 | D. Dimitrov | BUL | 4 | 5 | 3 | 1.00 | -8.33% | 12 |
| 29 | Georgiev | BUL | 3 | 4 | 5 | 0.25 | -8.33% | 12 |
| 29 | Atanasov | BUL | 3 | 8 | 8 | 0.25 | -26.32% | 19 |
| 30 | Palev | BUL | 2 | 6 | 16 | 0.17 | -16.67% | 24 |
Veteran Martin Bozhilov is our best performing player in reception. Alex Nikolov is in the same position, but it should not be forgotten that he also played as an opposite hitter.
Best in reception:
| Rank | Player name | Team | Successful | Errors | Attempts | Average per match | % success | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 | Bozhilov | BUL | 46 | 15 | 147 | 3.83 | 22.12% | 208 |
| 19 | A. Nikolov | BUL | 46 | 19 | 191 | 3.83 | 17.97% | 256 |
| 25 | Asparuhov | BUL | 38 | 16 | 129 | 3.17 | 20.77% | 183 |
| 42 | Atanasov | BUL | 17 | 7 | 55 | 1.42 | 21.52% | 79 |
| 51 | Tatarov | BUL | 8 | 5 | 45 | 0.67 | 13.79% | 58 |
| 57 | Zhelev | BUL | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0.17 | 28.57% | 7 |
| 57 | Grozdanov | BUL | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0.25 | 28.57% | 7 |
| 59 | S. Nikolov | BUL | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.00 | 0.00% | 4 |
| 59 | Georgiev | BUL | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.00 | 0.00% | 2 |
| 59 | Petkov | BUL | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0.00 | 0.00% | 7 |
| 59 | Nachev | BUL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00% | 0 |
| 59 | Karyagin | BUL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00% | 0 |
| 59 | Antov | BUL | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00% | 1 |
| 59 | Palev | BUL | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.00 | 0.00% | 3 |
| 59 | D. Dimitrov | BUL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00% | 0 |
| 59 | Telkiyski | BUL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00% | 0 |
photos: Nikolay Varadinov
