In their eighth match of this year's tournament and the last of the second week in Arlington (USA), the "lionesses" lost 1:3 (19-25, 25-21, 21-25, 11-25) to Germany. Before the match, both teams had one win and six losses to their name.
Our team started with the following Bulgarian lineup: Petya Barakova, Merelin Nikolova, Miroslava Paskova, Maria Yordanova, Maria Krivoshiyska, Borislava Saykova, Mila Pashkuleva-libero. Merelin Nikolova once again had a strong match with 18 points (5 aces), but as the saying goes, "one swallow does not make a summer." Bulgaria had a chance to send the match into a tie-break, leading up to 18:14 in the third set, but again there was a drop in play and the Germans legitimately closed the set in their favor. We were inferior to the Bundestteam in all indicators, and they finished the last set, giving us only 11 points.
Bulgaria occupies the last, 16th place in the Women's Nations League with seven losses, one win, and only 2 points. In the last week of the competition, from which there are no relegated teams this year, we will face China, Thailand, Brazil, and the Dominican Republic.