The Bulgarian women's national team started its participation in the "Austiger Cup" tournament in the Chinese city of Shenzhen with a defeat against the world champion Serbia. Our girls lost 1:3 sets (23:25, 25:22, 18:25, 12:25).

Serbia's superiority

Serbia demonstrated higher class in all elements of the game. The difference was most palpable in the fourth set, when the Serbians totally dominated the court. They were more effective in attack and especially in blocking, where they scored a total of 16 points.

Expectedly, the leader for the world champion was star Tijana Bošković - 25 points, 59% attack efficiency, and 5 direct aces. Hena Kurtagić added 6 blocks, and Maja Aleksić - another 5.

Bulgaria's performance

Head coach Antonina Zetova started the match with the following lineup:

• Lora Kitipova

• Mikaela Stoyanova

• Nasya Dimitrova

• Hristina Vuchkova (captain)

• Miroslava Paskova

• Aleksandra Milanova

• Mila Pashkuleva

All players participated in the course of the match. The most effective players for Bulgaria were Nasya Dimitrova and Aleksandra Milanova with 9 points each.

Our team showed a good balance on serve - 4 aces with 7 errors. However, the main difference came from Serbia's efficiency in counterattack (43%) and blocking.

Bulgaria failed to counter the opponent's powerful block. Our girls were close in the serving element, but in key situations, Serbia had more solutions and executed their attacks more successfully.

What's next

Tomorrow at 12:30 p.m., Bulgaria will play its second match of the tournament - against the Netherlands. This will be a new opportunity for Antonina Zetova's team to iron out their mistakes and seek their first victory in the competition.