Germany defeats hosts Bulgaria in Pool D – Volleyball News
Germany men’s national volleyball team overpowered hosts Bulgaria in the last pool-play match of 2012 FIVB World League in Pool D on Sunday.
Bulgarian city Sofia hosted the match, but the local team failed to profit from the home advantage. Germans proved to be better and defeated the rivals in front of more than 5,000 spectators at the Arena Armeec. The long gruelling battle between Germany
and Bulgaria ended with final score of 3-2 (25-16, 24-26, 25-23, 25-27, 15-17).
The visiting team from Germany opened the match with a delivery of convincing serves. German players enjoyed a great rhythm and picked up an early lead. Bjorn Andrae of Germany played to his full potential and added many points on successful attack attempts.
Hosts, therefore, trailed behind and suffered a lot of damage. They could only score 16 points in the first frame, while the visitors closed the set (25-16).
However, the second set unfolded a different story. Bulgaria hit back aggressively and tried to break the tempo of opponents. Tsvetan Sokolov worked out a great performance and helped Bulgaria to find its feet in the second set. He produced mighty shots
and kept the German team in chase. The resilient rivals from Germany would not surrender easily. They remained hand-in-hand with Bulgarian team and did not slow down. In the end, Bulgaria closed second set with narrow lead of two points at 26-24.
In the tie breaker third set, Bulgaria started out well and carried the momentum. Nikolay Nikolov led his team on the net and put up huge effort. He produced smashing shots and raised his team’s score. Likewise, Germans responded in the same tone. They varied
the length of their serves and managed to dodge Bulgarian players. After a close competition, Germany grabbed success (25-23) and retook lead in the match.
Guest team was determined to put an end to the tussle in fourth set, but Bulgaria save match points. Hosts fought a great battle and captured fourth set with two points. Eventually, Germany broke the dead-lock of 2-2 in the fifth set and posted 15-17 on
board to win the match.
German skipper Andrae Bjorn expressed delight on winning the match. According to him, the changes in start-up line proved helpful for his team.
Nayden Naydenov, Bulgaria coach: "It was a match that we could have won. I am not sorry as we can make our conclusions for the next match on Wednesday. Everyone fought until the very end, but we made mistakes in some decisive moments, while, in the fifth
set, the German team managed to affect our reception. We are looking forward to the game on Wednesday."
Vladimir Nikolov, Bulgaria captain called it a tight and interesting match. He regretted the loss, but hoped to do well in the next match against Germany in the Final Round of 2012 FIVB World League.
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