2024-08-23 18:58:29
A huge honor was given to the Bulgarian national volleyball team under 20 years before the European Championship, which will start in a few days, which will be held in Serbia and Greece (August 26 – September 7).
Our team, led by Miroslav Zhivkov, arrived yesterday in the Greek city of Arta, where the group II matches are scheduled. Without much time to rest and recover from the road, the nationals entered the hall.
Bulgaria played control with host Greece, which won 3:0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-18). However, the friendly match was much more special. It was the first sports event in the new sports facility in Philippiada, Ziros municipality. It is there that all the training sessions of the delegations from the European Championship will take place.
The city, which has a population of about 13,000 people, is located 10 kilometers northwest of Arta (on the banks of the Louros River).
The hosts presented a special plaque to the Bulgarian group on the occasion of the event. Coach Miroslav Zhivkov accepted him on behalf of the team.
Despite the long journey (about 750 km), our young national players played a perfect match against the Greek volleyball players. We showed a very good game in attack (51%) and reception (41%, 27%), committed few mistakes (17), recorded 10 points from the kickoff and 7 from the block. Kristian Titriyski was the top scorer with 10 points, Alexander Nikolov added 9 (4 blocks), and Jasmin Velichkov scored 8. Rangel Vitekov and Tomislav Rusev recorded 3 aces each.
Bulgaria is in Group II and will face the Czech Republic, Israel, Italy, Slovenia, Spain, Scotland and stream host Greece. According to the regulation, 16 teams are participating, divided into two groups of 8 teams each. They will play on a head-to-head basis and the top two finishers advance to the semi-finals.
Program of Bulgaria for the EP for men under 20:
August 26 at 12:00 against Slovenia
August 27 at 14:30 against Scotland
August 28 at 12:00 against the Czech Republic
August 30 at 17:30 against Italy
August 31 at 20:00 against Greece
02 September at 17:00 against Israel
September 3 at 17:30 against Spain