Slavia achieved only their second victory of the season, but they did it in the most dramatic way possible – after a five-set battle against Cherno More (Varna), which ended 3:2 (20:25, 25:22, 25:22, 19:25, 16:14) in the Panayot Pondalov hall.

The 'Whites' showed character and, in a match full of twists and turns, managed to escape the pressure in the tie-break to move away from the bottom of the table.

Cherno More started more confidently and took the first set with 25:20, capitalizing on their better organization in attack.

Slavia then responded with strong second and third sets, in which the hosts' serving and blocking tipped the scales – two times 25:22 and a turnaround in the score.

In the fourth part, the Varna team again found the strength to bring back the intrigue, dominating in attack and taking the match to a tie-break after 25:19.

The decisive fifth set was a real drama – Cherno More took a 10:8 lead, but the team from the capital showed composure, turned it around to 12:10, and after tense final points, closed the match with 16:14.

Boris Kitov was the top scorer for Slavia with 20 points, and Konstantin Dinov added an impressive contribution with 7 blocks. For Cherno More, Simeon Dimitrov was the strongest with 19.

In the next round, Slavia has a tough Sofia derby against CSKA, while Cherno More will rest.
photo: nvl.bg