2024-05-09 01:07:13
Bulgaria’s national volleyball team lost 2:3 (25:18, 20:25, 25:20, 22:25, 21:25) against Ukraine in the second control before the start of the League of Nations.
The match was played behind closed doors in the “Hristo Botev” hall. The day before, our players finished 2:2 with the same opponent, according to an agreement between the coaches Lorenzo Micelli and Ivan Petkov, who was the predecessor of the Italian, to play four games.
Bulgaria started the match strongly. Ours quickly gained a lead and closed the game with 25:18. In the second, the picture turned. Ukraine played our way. We tried to come back, but in the end the result was 25:20 for the opponent.
The third part was much more interesting and full of twists and turns. First, Bulgaria took a 10:7 lead. The Ukrainian women not only came back, but in turn took the lead. It was our turn to tighten up and make strong attacks. With them, the result was 20:17. Instead of continuing in the same vein, we conceded a 20:20 tie. Then Bulgaria picked up the pace again and did not give another point to Ukraine.
The fourth set also went through twists and turns. From the beginning, Ukraine led and maintained a fragile lead. Bulgaria went ahead in the result at 17:16. After a long exchange of points, Ukraine took the lead again – 21:19. However, the Bulgarians could not get back into the game and lost with 22:25.
Control went to a tiebreaker. The coaches decided to play a standard game, not just to 15 points. In the fifth part, Micheli released the reserves, who until that moment had either not played at all, or very briefly. The decisive part started evenly, but soon Ukraine took the lead with 6:3. Several times the Bulgarians reduced their deficit to one point, but did not reach equalization. This finally happened at 17:17. Unfortunately, the turnaround only went so far. Finally, Ukraine congratulated itself with success – 3:2.
We have two more fixtures against Belgium on Thursday and Saturday before the end of our Nations League preparations. The second will be open to fans and media. The match starts on Saturday at 17:00.
The next day, the national team flies to Antalya. On Turkish soil, we will meet the Netherlands, Japan, Italy and France.