Bulgaria suffered a second defeat at the U20 Women's European Volleyball Championship held in Sofia. Borislav Krachanov's girls lost to the Spanish team 2:3 (15:25, 25:16, 25:16, 25:21, 4:15). In the tie-break, our team managed to score only 4 points.
Right at the start, the Spanish took a 5:2 lead. Although Bulgaria managed to equalize at 6:6, our reception problems were evident. A series of eight consecutive points for the opponent followed. Even coach Borislav Krachanov's timeout at the fourth point did not help. At that moment, we had to think about the next set. Bulgaria lost the first set 15:25.
In the second set, the situation in 'Hristo Botev' hall completely changed. This time we led 5:2, and Spain equalized at 6:6. A long exchange of points began. It continued until 11:11. Then came a nice run of three points for us. And at 14:13, we made four in a row. We had already broken the confidence of the Spanish. It was a matter of minutes before the set would end in Bulgaria's favor. It happened with a score of 25:16.
In the third set, we also controlled the events. Only three times did we allow Spain to lead by one point, and that was very early on. After 6:6, the score and performance were entirely for Bulgaria. We scored seven points, allowing only one Spanish point in between. The score grew to 12:7. Spain still returned to the set. The Iberians narrowed the gap to 15:16, but this was their only success in the set. Seven consecutive points for Bulgaria solidified our lead. We won again with 25:16.
The fourth set was the most contested of all in the match. Neither opponent took a serious advantage. When Spain led 12:10, an excellent run of four points followed for us. The score was again tied at 14:14. The exchange of successful attacks was again on the court. Spain called a timeout in our camp at 18:16. Unfortunately, it was followed by an ace from the opponent. Thus, until the end, our team did not reach a tie. Spain sent the match into a tie-break with 25:21.
The fifth set started more than badly with four points for the opponent. It was a shame – it seemed as if there was no way back into the match. Our deficit reached 2:8. The Spanish made no mistakes at all. Krachanov tried to make a change with a final timeout, but the score was 3:10. The tie-break ended 15:4 for Spain.
Iva Dudova recorded the highest score with 14 points (1 ace, 2 blocks), Boryana Angelova added 13 points (4 aces, 2 blocks). Elena Kolarova (4 aces, 4 blocks) and Victoria Koeva (1 ace, 1 block) scored 12 points each. For the opponent, Julia de Paula accounted for 21 points (2 aces), Zoe Mavromatis Lopez added 20 points (4 aces, 2 blocks).
On Friday, Bulgaria's fourth match is against Slovenia, again at 5:30 PM.
Photos: Nikolay Varadinov and CEV
