Bulgaria successfully started its hosting of the European Women's U20 Championship, which is currently taking place in the Hristo Botev hall in the capital. Borislav Krachanov's girls defeated the Swedish team with a score of 3:1 (21:25, 25:16, 25:10, 25:14). Our team only had difficulties in the first set, when the Swedes made several aces and took the lead. The difference, although small, was maintained throughout the set, and only at the end did we manage to equalize (21:21). Then the Scandinavians pulled ahead by 2 points, at which point we took our second timeout. Our opponents closed the set after blocking Mikaela Stoyanova.
We started the second part strong, gradually building a comfortable lead. Sweden's first timeout came with a score of 8:2 for our girls. And after that, the Bulgarians continued to press, building a 10-point lead. Our team closed the set on the third set point (25:16).
In the third set, the teams were neck and neck at the beginning, but gradually the Bulgarians picked up the pace, Dudova started playing well, and we logically took the lead in the score. Sweden's second timeout came with the score at 19:8 for Borislav Krachanov's girls. The end of the set came after an attack error by Sweden, and we registered the biggest difference - 25:10.
We took a 3:0 lead at the start of the fourth set and did not relinquish the initiative until the very end of the set, again creating a huge difference, reaching up to 10 points. We logically closed the set and the match after another service error by our opponents.
The Bulgarian team made 11 aces and 9 point blocks. The most effective player for our team was Iva Dudova with 22 points (3 blocks), Victoria Koeva added 12.
Tomorrow our girls will face the Belgian team at 5:30 PM.