Our "Lions" left no doubt as to who was the better team on the court in Vrnjacka Banja.
Bulgaria defeated Ukraine 3-0 (25:22, 25:20, 25:?) in the second semi-final of EuroVolley 2024 for U20 men, which is taking place in Arta, Greece, and Vrnjacka Banja, Serbia. The town in our western neighbor is also hosting the final phase of the tournament, and in the grand final, our national team will face France, who earlier in the day defeated the Czech Republic 3-0 (26:24, 25:12, 25:16) in the first semi-final.
The "Lions" started with the following lineup: Simeon Nikolov – captain, Kristian Titriyski, Alexander Kandev, Jasmin Velichkov, Stiliyan Delibosov, Kostadin Kozelov, as well as liberos Kristian Andreev and Konstantin Chipev, who rotated on reception and defense for another match.
The first set in the semi-final clash began with no team breaking away, and the tied score continued until 4:4. However, Ukraine took a 3-point lead – 8:5, as our opponents demonstrated very good reception play. The first ace in the match was credited to Bulgaria – Jasmin Velichkov reduced our deficit at 8:9, and subsequently, a nice attack by Alexander Kandev restored equality. A good block by Stiliyan Delibosov allowed our team to take the lead for the first time in the opening part, and immediately after that, we scored another point – a 2-point lead at 13:11. Here, the coach of Ukraine requested his first timeout of the day. A short exchange of points followed, but 2 consecutive errors at the net by us leveled the score in the set again – 15:15. After a good block-out and a tip by Kristian Titriyski, the "Lions" again took a 2-point lead – 18:16, and subsequently increased it and maintained it at 3. A counter-attack by Jasmin Velichkov led to a 4-point lead at 23:19, at which point the Ukrainian coach took his second timeout for the set. The first set ball for Bulgaria came at 24:20, but it was immediately wasted after we served out. The Ukrainians saved the second one with a successful attack through the middle – prompting our national coach Miroslav Zhivkov to call a timeout at 24:22. A net error on the block by our opponents ended the opening set – 1:0 for Bulgaria after 25:22.
The second set started better for Ukraine, who took a 4:2 lead after a good block in the center, and subsequently 6:3 after another block. A block-out by captain Simeon Nikolov brought the score back to even – 6:6. A block by Jasmin Velichkov and an ace by setter Nikolov allowed us to pull ahead by 2 points at 9:7. Immediately after that, we again caught the Ukrainian central blocker with a double block by Kozelov and Titriyski – 10:7, after which our opponent's coach called his first timeout in the second set, but despite this, our team maintained its comfortable lead in the following minutes. Ukraine almost caught up with the "Lions" at 13:14, but immediately after that, they made a service error, and we instantly regained our advantage, which even grew to 4 points – 18:14. A good serve by Velichkov and an excellent counter-attack by Titriyski – 20:15, forced the Ukrainian coach to take his second timeout in this set. Our opponents slightly reduced their deficit at 17:20, but our strong serves and counter-attacks at those moments completely broke their resistance. A powerful triple block by the Ukrainians against Titriyski for 19:22 and only now Miroslav Zhivkov called Bulgaria's first timeout in the set. A precise block by Simeon Nikolov gave us set point at 24:19, and on the second, the "Lions" closed the set – 2:0 after 25:20.
The third set started evenly until 3:3, after which we took a 2-point lead, the second point being very attractive – a double block in the center by Delibosov and Kandev. Our strong and inspired play led to a 5-point lead at 8:3, which forced our opponents' coach to take his first timeout in the third set. Nevertheless, Bulgaria continued to maintain its advantage in the following minutes, which seemed to suggest that the match was being played out. An ace by Titriyski allowed us to lead by 6 at 16:10, but this did not disturb Ukraine, who scored 3 consecutive points – this meant a timeout for Miroslav Zhivkov at 16:13. In the next rallies, the "Lions" regained their lead – 20:16, calmly awaiting the end of the set and the match. Bulgaria led by 5 points at 22:17, and then reached its first match point at 24:18. The Ukrainians saved the first two, and we used both of our timeouts in the set between these two consecutive points. An opponent's serve out closed the match perfectly for us – 3:0 after another 25:20. The Bulgarian volleyball players are in the final! We deservedly won our semi-final, and the bad start in all three sets played did not hinder us – with confidence and composure, we achieved our goal.
The top scorer for the "Lions" with 15 points was Kristian Titriyski. Alexander Kandev added 9 points to the victory, while Kostadin Kozelov and Stiliyan Delibosov finished with 8 each. Team captain Simeon Nikolov ended the match with 5 points.
Bulgaria will play tomorrow in the EuroVolley 2024 U20 Men's final in the Serbian city of Vrnjacka Banja against France. The match will be broadcast live on Max Sport 2, with the start time again at 7:00 PM. Before that, at 4:00 PM, the teams of the Czech Republic and Ukraine will compete for the bronze medals.
We wish success and a European title to our "Lions" tomorrow in Vrnjacka Banja, a lucky city for us – the city where earlier in the summer we also triumphed with the Balkan Cup!
photos: Nikolay Varadinov
