Bulgarian national team player Vangelia Rachkovska and her Volero (Le Cannet) took the first step towards the semifinals in the French championship. The team prevailed at home over Cannes with a 3:1 victory (20:25, 25:12, 25:15, 25:18) in the first quarter-final playoff match, played in the "Mayalan" hall in front of 1072 spectators.
The guests from Cannes started better and took the opening set with 25:20, but after that, Volero completely took the initiative. The hosts applied pressure from the serve, stabilized their blocking and attacking game, to turn the tide of the match with decisive scores of 25:12, 25:15, and 25:18 in the next three sets.
Aida Dautova was the most productive for Volero's success with 29 points. Vangelia Rachkovska also made an important contribution to the victory, finishing with 11 points. The Bulgarian added 1 ace and 1 block, and finished with 39% attack efficiency. Her performance was once again solid at a key moment of the season, as she helped her team maintain a higher tempo after losing the first set.
For Cannes, Lauren Matthews and Lilou Ratahiri were the most productive with 12 points each, but their efforts were not enough to avoid defeat in the local derby.
Team statistics also showed Volero's superiority in the decisive elements. The team from Le Cannet recorded 11 blocks against 10 for the opponent, 44% against 37% attack success rate, and 46 against 41 points from attack. In positive reception, the hosts again had a slight advantage – 46% against 40%, and from serve, they scored 6 aces against 5 for Cannes. A significant difference also came from the opponent's errors, from which Volero gained 33 points against 13 for Cannes. Thus, the total score in the match ended 97:70 in favor of the winners.
With this success, Volero took a 1:0 lead in the series. The second match is on April 10th, when Cannes will host the opponent in a new episode of the local derby, and Rachkovska and her teammates will try to close out the series there.

photo:cev.eu