Levski's diagonal player once again stood out in our team, but his efforts were not enough for more than another 3:0 – a ninth loss in the League, this time against the "gauchos," and a decisive one at that.
In this last League match of the season, held in the Slovenian capital Ljubljana, Bulgaria started with one change in the lineup – Venislav Antov, who performed steadily in the previous two matches, replaced diagonal player Dimitar Dimitrov, and the second libero also entered the game, substituting our team's starter Martin Bozhilov in defense.
Argentina, who secured participation in the Olympic Games in Paris, came out to pursue victory in this last match of the Nations League, as they have real chances to reach the top 8, which will allow them to participate in the tournament finals.
The first set started evenly, with Argentina taking the lead first at 5:3. Bulgaria managed to equalize at 7:7, but immediately after, the Argentines increased their lead to 4 points at 14:10. Our head coach, Gianlorenzo Blengini, called his first timeout of the match at 16:13 for Argentina. Samuil Valchinov replaced the hesitant Asparuh Asparuhov, but the "gauchos" took a 5-point lead at 18:13 – this meant a second timeout for our Italian coach. The South American team completely controlled the situation on the court thanks to their excellent reception, defense, and blocking. Blengini also took out Simeon Nikolov, and Svetoslav Stankov finished the set. A good block by our captain Alex Grozdanov brought us back into the game – 19:21, and the Argentine coach took his first timeout at that moment. Venislav Antov, who was the only one playing really well in the first set, scored a technical ace, bringing us closer to the opponent again at 21:23. Argentina reached two set points for the first part at 24:22, and managed to win it on their first chance – 25:22 and 1:0.
However, the "Lions" started the second set more confidently and took a 6:3 lead. We continued to lead in the score in the following minutes, but in the middle of the set, unfortunately, Argentina equalized at 12:12, after which they also served an ace against Samuil Valchinov to take the lead. Another ace by the "gauchos," this time against our libero Martin Bozhilov, opened up a 2-point lead. Gianlorenzo Blengini was forced to take a timeout at 16:13 for the opponent. Another direct point from serve for Argentina – in Georgi Tatarov's zone as well, made their lead more than comfortable – 19:15. In attack for the "Lions" in this set, Venislav Antov mainly stood out, who understood our setter Simeon Nikolov wonderfully due to their joint time at Levski. 22:17 for the "gauchos" after another ace – the ball between Georgi Tatarov and Asparuh Asparuhov, who had returned to the court. A block against Simeon Nikolov's counter-attack gave Argentina 7 set points at 24:17. The South American team closed this set on their first opportunity after a technical drop shot into our court – 25:17 and 2:0. In yet another set, to our great regret, Bulgaria failed to maintain and increase the lead gained at the beginning, but on the contrary – allowed a comeback at key moments to lose by a margin. It is worth noting, however, that Argentina significantly increased the power of their serve in the second part, which further tipped the scales in their favor.
At halftime between the second and third sets, Blengini told the reporter for the international volleyball channel that "our team is young, which is why it cannot maintain a consistently high level throughout an entire set or match."
Argentina continued to play at a high level in the third set, taking an 8:5 lead after an even first few minutes. An ace by Iliya Petkov reduced the deficit to 9:10, but immediately after, our middle blocker made an error on his next serve. Our Italian coach called a timeout at 12:9 for the "gauchos." The set continued point for point, but our play on the court was not good at all – Argentina easily maintained their lead, and subsequently increased it – 20:15. Our coach Gianlorenzo Blengini called his second timeout in the set here. The second playmaker Stankov, as well as Dimitar Dimitrov, re-entered the game – a sign that we were playing out the match. Argentina got 6 match points at 24:18, but we saved 2 of them. On their third opportunity, the "gauchos" closed the match at 25:20 – 3:0 sets.
Our match against Argentina once again proved that we are not ready for duels with the best teams in the world. Gianlorenzo Blengini and his staff made huge mistakes, leading to this final result over the summer – a position between 14th and 15th place in the League. The question of why we only started playing with two full-fledged diagonal players in this last tournament is valid. Venislav Antov, who made his debut for the "Lions" right here – in Ljubljana, showed why he should be relied upon in the future.
In this way, Bulgaria concluded its participation in this year's Volleyball Nations League. We managed to record three victories – against the USA, Iran, and Turkey, but recorded an impressive nine losses. Our exact place in the tournament and in the ranking will become clear after all matches for the day are played.
A comprehensive analysis of the team's performance in the next will follow
