2024-04-14 15:44:07
An unmistakable performance by our national under-18 volleyball team at the qualification in Austria and a well-deserved ranking at the European Championship for this age group, which will be held from July 1st to 13th in Romania and Greece.
The team, led by Antonina Zetova, won first place in qualifying Group E after three wins from three, all to nil. In their last meeting played today, the young “lionesses” prevailed over the host Austria in a direct clash for the first place in the stream – 3:0 (25:18, 25:15, 25:16).
Before the last meeting from Group E, the Bulgarians and the Austrians had two victories each. Our team held the leading position after its two clean victories – over Denmark and Lithuania, and a total asset of 6 points.
Zetova relied on its traditional starting line-up: Veronika Petrova, Dimana Ivanova, Kalina Veneva, Vyara Parapunova, Denitsa Angelova, Darina Naneva and libero Victoria Ninova.
The match started evenly, but after only a few minutes of play, Bulgaria took control and pulled away with 3 points (7:4). The home team took a break, but after it the difference became even more pronounced (14:8). Another break followed, but it also did not give a result for the opponent and Edna Todorova ended the part with a point for 25:18.
The beginning of the second game was more successful for the home team, who held the lead for a while, but we managed to equalize at 6:6. With two series of consecutive points, the difference became expressive 19:11, and Gabriela Zhekova’s ace closed this part at 25:15.
The difference in classes is most pronounced in the third game. With self-confidence and confidence in the Bulgarian ranks, our game was very stable with a slight relaxation at the end. The Bulgarian volleyball players pulled in the points at the very beginning, despite the slight relaxation at the end, without any difficulty I managed to conquer this game with 25:16 in 22 minutes.
Veronika Petrova was the top scorer of our team with 10 points, 4 of which from free kicks. Gabriela Zhekova added 8 points, and 7 points – Edna Todorova.