Germany crushes Bulgaria’s chances to play in the semi-final – Volleyball news
Girls around head coach Marcello Abbondanza dropped the decision in a crucial match against Germany on Friday.
Germany posted 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-11) victory over Bulgaria to clinch a berth in the final round of the 2012 CEV European Olympic Qualification Tournament. Germany qualified for the semi-finals from Pool I and joined Poland, which came from Pool II. Two
semi-finalists will now contest their skills in the next match on Saturday.
German captain Kozuch performed amazingly well throughout the match. She totalled 21 points and settled for the top-scorer’s position in the match. She was credited with 18 winning spikes and one ace.
The opening phase of the match featured a back ‘n’ forth action, while both teams progressed at an average pace. With better attacks, Bulgaria jumped to 8-7 lead at the first technical break. However, the Bulgarian could not carry the same momentum and started
making unforced mistakes.
Taking full advantage of the opportunity, German team showed consistency and went up at the next mandatory stop (16-14). Margareta Anna Kozuch came strong of rival side and influenced the opponents with flurry of powerful attacks. Bulgaria tried to come
out the blues but failed to do so. Germany proved to be better and secured first with three points (25-22).
Dobriana Rabadzhieva of Bulgaria delivered some classy serves in the second set and struggled to put her team on the winning track. Overall Bulgaria team tried even harder to cover the deficit. Hard work paid off and Bulgaria picked up lead over rival side.
Meanwhile, Germany hit the ball from different angles and changed the mood of the game. Germans retook the control of operations, while Bulgaria suffered the set-back. Second set ended with identical score of 25-22 and Germany improved to 2-0 in the match.
In the third set of the match, Bulgarian team seemed visibly exhausted and lost concentration. Charged-up German ladies stole the show by taking third set in row. Bulgaria ended with only 11 points in the final set.
Winning Coach Giovanni Guidetti was totally satisfied with his team performance. He appreciated their effort and shared his views in the following manner, “It was a very tough match, especially after our loss against Turkey yesterday. The first two sets
were very challenging, Bulgaria played very well, especially in attacks. Our team did a good job and is going to play in the semi-final tomorrow. I hope we will accomplish what we came here for.”
“This was like two different matches today. In the first two sets our team played a good game. We lost these two sets due to simple mistakes. In the third set we played much worse - a completely different game,” said Bulgarian mentor Marcello Abbondanza.
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