The coach of our women's team, Radoslav Arsov, commented to the club's website on the first match of the 1/16 finals of the Challenge Cup against "Apollo 8". In the Netherlands, his players imposed their will in a hard-fought match with a score of 3:2. The return leg in "Levski Sofia" hall is on November 13.
“We faced a very serious opponent. A team that is more or less at our level, and very inspired by a full hall of spectators and an excellent atmosphere. The match developed in the way we had wished – winning the first set, which brought us calm in a tough environment. After that, the hosts put pressure on us in the second set. We had a small problem with Mikaela Stoyanova. Her exit from the game disrupted our scheme and rhythm, but I'm very glad that in the third set we managed to come back and win it.
This gave us even greater calm, given the two sets we had taken. In the fourth, we led throughout, but in the end, our playmakers did not make the most correct decisions and we lost the set ourselves. In the tie-break, we mobilized, took the lead from the very beginning, and this allowed us to win the match with bold play, without fear, and with confidence.
A tough match in a full hall. This makes me think that we would very much like it to be the same in our hall. I hope it fills up as much as possible, because we saw how much it helped "Apollo" to play such a serious match.
“Otherwise, overall a very positive result. A third consecutive victory in European tournaments, which provides great experience and additional self-confidence to our young team,” shared the "blues" coach.
Arsov also spoke about the strong performance in blocking. From this element, his volleyball players scored 22 points.
"The performance in blocking was somewhat expected, because we knew the strengths and weaknesses of "Apollo". We had prepared quite well.
I believe that for most of the time we fulfilled our tactical tasks. This yielded results, because blocking is one of the three scoring elements in volleyball. We performed at a very high level in both blocking and attack.
We had certain problems with reception, because the hosts put very serious pressure on us with their serve. This took our key players out of play. But in a small hall, a new hall, it is always difficult to receive well.
“Overall, a very even match. They might have outplayed us on serve, but we did it on block and in attack,” Arsov stated.
He also commented on the upcoming eternal derby with CSKA from the championship, which will be held on Sunday at 6 PM in "Levski Sofia" hall.
“Honestly, I don't consider this match a derby. Yes, "Levski" and CSKA are meeting. CSKA finished last season ahead of "Levski" in the standings. Our goal this year is to play better volleyball, to develop better, to build upon our progress, and in the end to be ahead of the CSKA team.
I believe that on Sunday we have the opportunity to play an even and wonderful match, which is the second of the cycle of 3 tough matches in one week.
We are physically prepared. However, the team is still young and sometimes insecure, but with a desire to fight and win every single match. We will once again be tactically prepared. And for this match, I very much hope that the fans will come and fill the hall, because this will be of crucial importance for these young girls. We, in turn, will prepare to show our best volleyball on Sunday,” Arsov concluded.
