Bulgaria defeats Slovenia by using home advantage – Volleyball news
Men’s national volleyball team of Bulgaria edged out Slovenia in the opening match of 2012 European Olympic Qualification Tournament, which took centre stage on Tuesday.
In Pool I of the tournament, Bulgaria and Slovenia contested their games skills. The match was hosted by city of Sofia, which provided a competitive edge to Bulgarian team. The hosts sent 25-23, 25-18, 25-22 on board and claimed 3-0 victory. Around 6,000
fans showed up at the Arena Armeec competition hall in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Matey Kaziyski of Bulgaria registered match-high 15 points and received huge applause from local fans. He added 12 spikes, two aces and a successful block, in order to complete 15 points. Slovenia, on the other hand, was supported by duo of Tine Urnaut and
Mitja Gasparini. They fought bravely and scored 13 and 12 respectively.
Visiting team showed a great thirst for victory in the opening set and exhibited a stellar performance. Bulgaria had difficulty to deal with convincing attacks by Slovenia players. In the first half of the set, Slovenia added quick points and led the scores.
However, home team managed to break the tempo of visitors after the second technical timeout.
Nonetheless, Slovenia did not slowdown and continued with attacks from different angles. It was only luck which was perhaps not on their side. Otherwise, they put up a wonderful effort. Bulgaria closed opening set with narrow lead of two-points at 25-23.
The second set of the match featured a balanced action from both sides and score shifted up with close gap. Bulgaria lead the scores 8-7 at the first technical break and further rallied to 16-13 at the next stop. Slovenia suffered the loss of another set
after scoring 18 points in second set.
Slovenia threw everything in attack in third set and tried to save the match. They picked up three-point lead FTT but gradually lost momentum. Bulgaria bounced back and won third set 25-22.
Bulgaria’s mentor Radostin Stoytchev disclosed his thoughts after the match. He stated, “It was a very complicated game for Bulgaria in terms of the pressure and the unexpected injuries of some of our main players. The most decisive moment came after the
second technical time-out of the first set, when we fought to take the lead and never looked back.”
“We followed our technical plan, but we made a lot of mistakes attacking and serving. I would like to remind you that we landed in Sofia without many of our key players and our problems in the middle blocker's position were obvious tonight. Bulgaria deserved
the win,” said Slovenia’s head coach Veselin Vukovic.
In the next run, Bulgaria will return to action on Wednesday. The next match will bring Serbia in competition with the hosts. Likewise, Slovenia will take on Spain in the next match on Wednesday.
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