Bulgaria qualifies for the quarterfinals of Men’s Olympic Tournament – Volleyball News
Bulgaria men’s national volleyball team demonstrated a stellar feat in the third match on Thursday against Australia and posted 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-22) victory.
Success in the third consecutive match allowed Bulgaria to reserve a seat in the quarterfinals of the Men’s Olympic Volleyball Tournament, which is currently underway in London. Bulgaria and Australia crossed their ways at the Earls Court, while 12,000 spectators
were in attendance.
Son of the former Bulgarian volleyball player Nikolai, Todor Aleksiev, played a vital role in his team’s success. He notched up team-high 16 points, which included 13 spikes and three blocks. For Australia, Thomas Edgar put in a great effort and contributed
match-high 18 points. However, the team could not benefit from his excellent strike and dropped the decision.
In the first flight of the match, both teams showed a great fighting spirit and tried to take lead. Bulgaria relied on Tsvetan and Todor, who paced things with their convincing attacks. On the other hand, Aussie tandem of Edgar and Yudin gave a difficult
time to the opponents. The back n forth action of volleyball continued, while the score tied at 21-all. Thereafter, the two teams fought for every single point and tried to secure the first set. Bulgaria got lucky and claimed set-1 with two points.
Second set of the match had the similar vibe. Aussies tried different methods to break the rhythm of opponents, but remained unsuccessful. Bulgaria cruised past to second-set win and extended its lead to 2-0.
Bulgaria led the score for better time in third set and did not allow Australia to come up. The Kangaroos fought bravely, but failed to save the match points. Bulgaria announced victory after claiming third set in row.
Captain of Bulgarian team, Vladimir Nikolov shared his views after the match. He said: “We knew that this was a must-win game for us. We felt the pressure. Our game wasn't as good as we expected but we are very happy to accomplish the job we had in our minds.”
Likewise, the top-scorer Todor Aleksiev commented: “We need to keep fighting and we need more preparation physically and mentally. We also need a bit of luck to get a medal. We don’t mind who we play in the quarterfinals as long as we keep pushing and play
well. If we make less mistakes, we might have a chance of winning”.
Bulgaria has booked a spot in the next stage of the tournament, but the team is supposed to appear in two more matches of the preliminary round. In the next two fixtures, Bulgaria will meet Argentina and Italy, respectively. The match reports will be posted
later on.
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