In Surabaya, Indonesia, the Bulgarian national women's U21 team achieved a crucial 3:0 (25:20, 26:24, 25:23) victory over Thailand in a Pool D match at the World Championship. Thus, the squad, led by Dragan Nesic, now has two wins from five matches and climbed to third place in the standings with 7 points, displacing the Thais. Consequently, the Bulgarians will face the USA team in the 1/8 finals.
Turning points
The second set proved to be crucial. Thailand was only one point away from tying the sets at 24:21, but the Bulgarians showed nerves of steel. They saved three set points and with 5 unanswered points, closed the set at 26:24. Bulgaria's block at that moment was merciless – three direct points from blocks and an overwhelming advantage in this element, 11:1, in the first two sets.
In the third set, our team was again trailing, but at 22:23, Nesic called a timeout. This was followed by an opponent's error, a successful block, and an ace from the newly substituted second setter Boyanova, which sealed the deal.
Match statistics
| Element | Thailand | Bulgaria |
|---|---|---|
| Attack | 44 | 41 |
| Block | 3 | 13 |
| Serve | 5 | 6 |
| Points from opponent's errors | 15 | 16 |
| Total points | 67 | 76 |
Bulgaria won the match mainly due to its powerful block, which brought 10 more points than that of the opponent. The difference in attack was minimal, and in service, the two teams were almost equal.
Defense and reception play
| Element | Thailand | Bulgaria |
|---|---|---|
| Digs | 72 | 66 |
| Reception | 69 | 64 |
| Setter actions | 127 | 104 |
Thailand had a slight advantage in saved balls in defense and setter actions, but this did not affect the final outcome, as the Bulgarian block and cool-headed decisions in crucial moments tipped the scales.
Top scorers
| Thailand | Points | Bulgaria | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| S. Warisara (№12) | 19 | Dudova (№13) | 18 |
| S. Kanchana (№10) | 13 | Koeva (№10) | 12 |
Although the top scorer in the match was Thai Warisara with 19 points, the Bulgarians had a better distribution of attacking power. Dudova and Koeva complemented each other perfectly, showing stability in attack and decisive performances in key moments.
Standings in Group D before the last matches
| Place | Team | Wins | Points | Set ratio | Points ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brazil | 4 | 12 | MAX | 1.734 |
| 2 | Japan | 4 | 12 | 12.000 | 1.507 |
| 3 | Bulgaria | 2 | 7 | 0.888 | 0.920 |
| 4 | Thailand | 2 | 6 | 0.666 | 0.908 |
| 5 | Chile | 1 | 2 | 0.363 | 0.813 |
| 6 | Tunisia | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.633 |
Regardless of the outcome of the last match in the group between Chile and Tunisia, Bulgaria retains its third position and qualifies for the eliminations. Even if Chile wins 3:0, they cannot overtake our team in points and ratio. This means that Bulgaria will play in the next phase against the second team from Group C - USA.
