Bulgaria recorded a second loss in preliminary group E of the Women's World Championship in Thailand and said goodbye to its dreams of qualifying for the eliminations. This time, Toni Zeto's girls lost to European champion Turkey with a decisive 0:3.
Our team started the match with: Milanova, Vuchkova, Paskova, Stoyanova, Kitipova, Dimitrova and Pashkuleva. The U19 world champion - Kalina Veneva - also scored her first points in such a forum.

First set
The Bulgarians started focused and maintained a balance of 1-2 points difference. After a strong serve by Paskova and a counterattack through the center by Vuchkova, our team even took a 19:16 lead. Vargas, who played brilliantly, equalized, and after a block against Stoyanova, she once again put Turkey ahead. Nasya Dimitrova reduced the deficit, and an out attack by Vargas restored equality - 22:22. This was followed by an error in our defense and another performance by the Cuban player, which closed the set in favor of Turkey.

Second set
The beginning was again even, with Bulgaria having a slight advantage. At 5:5, after a net by Paskova, the initiative passed entirely into the hands of Vargas and her teammates. At 6:11, Kalina Veneva entered the game, immediately executing her first attack and getting on the scoreboard. But Vargas was unstoppable - at 13:19, she already had 18 points to her name. By the end of the set, our team managed to add only six more points, and the part ended with an out-block by Aydin.

Third set
The Bulgarians started with momentum and took a 7:1 lead after strong play by the trio of Dimitrova, Stoyanova, and Veneva. This forced Santarelli to change his main setter. A brave attack by Veneva and a point by Dimitrova made it 9:2. At 10:4, Milanova scored her ninth point in the match, but then Karakurt got into a rhythm with three consecutive points. Gunes' block also started working and the score quickly narrowed to 10:9. Despite the staff's attempts to stop the Turkish momentum, our southern neighbors made a series of 11 consecutive points, ending with a block against Mika Stoyanova for 10:15.

At 11:17, the referee called the first and only rotational error for our team, but the collapse was already complete. Turkey alternated points through Karakurt, blocks, and our errors. By the end, the Bulgarians managed to take only two more rallies. The match ended with a super-attack through the center by Kisal, making the final score 0:3.

Turkey - Bulgaria 3:0 (25:23, 25:19, 25:13)

Match statistics:

The 20-point difference in total assets clearly highlights Turkey's superiority. The biggest advantage the opponents had was in blocking (9 against 5) and in points from opponent's errors (17 against 11). Bulgaria managed to find solutions in attack (37 successful completed hits), but the efficiency was not enough against the organized Turkish defense.

Defense and reception play

It is interesting that the Bulgarians have better indicators in defense (54 digs against 51) and especially in reception (69 against 49). However, this was not capitalized on in attack, as after the first set, the organization in offense weakened, and the Turks punished every mistake.

Top scorers

Two players made the difference - the naturalized Cuban Melissa Vargas with 20 points and Karakurt with 13. For Bulgaria, Milanova was the top scorer with 11 points, supported by Dimitrova with 8.

Individual statistics: