Burgas-based Dea Sport suffered their first home loss after conceding 0:3 (23:25, 25:27, 23:25) to Lokomotiv Avia in the midweek 3rd round of the championship, played this evening in "Boycho Branzov" Hall. The match started catastrophically for the hosts, who were trailing by 7 points in the middle of the set (10:17). Gradually, the experienced players from Burgas managed to get back into the game, equalizing twice (19:19; 21:21). This was followed by a service error for the hosts and a block by Julien Georgiev, making the score 21:23 for the Plovdiv team. Cardoso managed to return a point, but a subsequent attack into the net by Valyo Bratoev gave the visitors their first set point. Captain Georgi Bratoev cleverly tipped for 23:24, but Todor Valchev ended the set.
Things turned around at the beginning of the second set when the hosts managed to take a 16:11 lead. The sets were heading for equalization, as Dea maintained a comfortable difference until 21:17. This was followed by a 4-point streak in favor of the visitors, who equalized the score (21:21). Another equalization followed for 23:23. Nevertheless, the Burgas team managed to get to set point after a silly mistake by the Lokomotiv players (24:23). A first unsuccessful attempt to close the set followed, with Dea's volleyball players getting a second chance at 25:24, but they failed. In the end, the visitors proved more persistent and patient, scoring three consecutive points to take a 2:0 lead in sets.
At the beginning of the third set, Ivan Tasev entered the court for Plovdiv, replacing Todor Valchev, while Dimitar Vasilev replaced Cardoso for the hosts. The two teams battled it out, with Dea gradually taking a lead which they maintained almost until the very end of the set. The visitors managed to get within a point, when the tension on the court escalated with the usual participant in such situations, Georgi Bratoev. As a result, he and coach Nayden Naydenov received yellow cards. After an ace by Loko Avia's setter Dalgopolov, the score became 22:22. Meanwhile, Zlatan Yordanov also entered the game. Another equalization followed for 23:23, and Kristof Horvath brought things to match point for the visitors. The end of the match came after a perfect double block by Ivaylo Damyanov and Zlatan Yordanov.
The most effective player in the match was Patrik Lamanec from Dea, who finished with 19 points.

For the winners, Kristof Horvath made the greatest contribution to the positive outcome of the match, scoring 17 points, followed by Julien Georgiev with 10. Todor Valchev and Ivaylo Damyanov each scored 8 points for the visitors.
Thus, Lokomotiv Avia climbed to second place in the provisional standings behind leader "Levski Sofia", who easily overcame Dunav Ruse away with 3:0 (25:20, 25:23, 25:18). This was the champions' third clean victory, placing them convincingly in first place in the standings without losing a set so far. Dea are in third place. Tomorrow, four matches will be played, with the derby between Neftochimik and CSKA shaping up to be the most interesting. The other clashes are: Beroe-Hebar, Pirin-Cherno More, and Dobrudzha-Montana.

Photos: NVL and Nikolay Varadinov