VC Maritsa (Plovdiv) was chosen as Team No. 1 for December in the traditional poll of Press Club "Bulgaria" among sports newsrooms and media. The Plovdiv team gathered 16 votes out of a total of 26 voting journalists, convincingly winning the award.
The recognition comes after another significant success for the club – the 11th Bulgarian Cup in VC Maritsa's history, which solidified the team's dominance in Bulgarian women's volleyball.
The official award ceremony was accompanied by a press conference, in which the following took part:
Ahmetdjan Ershimsek – head coach of VC Maritsa
Borislava Saykova – middle blocker for the team
Nikolay Markov – Communications Coordinator for the club
During the meeting with the media, discussions covered both the won Bulgarian Cup and the team's consistency in recent years, their in-depth work, and ambitions for upcoming challenges on the domestic and international stage.
"This is the second time I'm here for such an award. We try to do our job in the best possible way, and you appreciate it by voting for us, which makes us very happy. I hope we perform even better in the Champions League and the Bulgarian championship, and thus deserve to come back here," began the Turkish specialist.
"The Champions League is very important for us. The level of play and the atmosphere there are completely different. Our first two goals are always to win the Bulgarian championship and the national Cup, so I cannot say that the domestic championship is not important to us. These are three different competitions, and we have three different goals," he added.
"We are playing well. Perhaps our last match in the Champions League was weaker than the previous ones, but overall, we are doing our job well. We need to set realistic goals. We cannot expect to win the Champions League immediately. This year, our goal is at least to repeat last season's performance, and if possible – to perform a little better. We have two more matches in the group. Mathematically, we even have a chance for first place, but for me, it's realistic to aim for a second or third-place finish," further explained Maritsa's coach, also commenting on the upcoming match against Levski on January 25th, which will be the Yellow-Blues' first game of the second half of the season in the Demax National Volleyball League.
"For me, every match is a separate entity. Levski changed their coach, and usually, a team shows a good reaction after a coaching change. We need to be prepared," concluded Ahmetdjan Ershimsek.
Ahmetdjan Ershimsek declined to comment on his joining the coaching staff of the Netherlands national team, stating concisely that it was his personal decision. This came in response to our question about whether he had been offered to join Bulgaria's coaching staff.
VC Maritsa's selection as Team of the Month is a logical reflection of its results, stable club policy, and the high sports level demonstrated by the team. The Plovdiv club continues to be a benchmark in Bulgarian women's volleyball and an example of sustainable development and professionalism.
photos: Nikolay Varadinov
