The Bulgarian women's national team suffered a dramatic loss in their second match of the friendly tournament "Austiger Cup" in Shenzhen (China) – part of their preparation for the World Championship in Thailand. Antonina Zetova's squad took a 2-0 lead in sets, but ultimately fell to the Netherlands 2-3 (25:20, 25:22, 18:25, 22:25, 13:15).

The "Lionesses" started confidently and dominated the first two sets. The Bulgarians demonstrated stable play in serving and blocking, and young talents – Kalina Veneva, Dimana Ivanova, Darina Naneva, and Viktoria Ninova, U19 world champions from last month, once again had a chance to perform.

After the good start, however, there was a decline. In the third and fourth sets, Felix Kozlowski's players improved their reception and set a tempo that leveled the score. Thus, everything was decided in the tie-break.

In the decisive fifth set, the "Tulips" took an 8:3 lead. Our girls managed to reduce the deficit to 7:9, and after two consecutive attacks by Kalina Veneva, the score was tied at 13:13. It was in these final rallies that the Netherlands' block proved decisive and brought victory to the opponent.

The next challenge for our national team is on Monday, August 18, when their opponent will be the team from Canada. The match is scheduled for 12:30 PM Bulgarian time.