Germany holds top spot in Pool D after losing to Bulgaria – Volleyball news
Germany played its last match of the 2nd leg of the 2012 FIVB World League against Bulgaria on Sunday and dropped the decision 2-3 (19-25, 25-14, 25-19, 23-25, 14-16).
However, the Germans still held the top position in Pool D with a total of 13 points and 4-2 record.
Bulgaria’s Tsvetan Sokolov was named the top scorer of the match as he charted 28 points. Leading Germany was Jochen Schops, who registered team-high 20 points.
Germans started off slow and gave too many points to Bulgaria in early few minutes. The opponents displayed extreme action on the net and pushed the Germans behind the attack line. They led the scores and kept the lead in hand up till the set points at 25-19.
In the following set, German Coach Vital Heynen regrouped the players and it had a positive effect on team’s performance. Germans fired up the Bulgarian half with an onslaught of solid serves and spikes. Bulgaria tied the score at 5-all but raged-up Germans
re-took the lead. They added quick points and stretched out the gap of points. Bulgaria ended up with only 14 points in second set and could not resist German success in second set.
Germans kept the momentum going and jumped to three-point lead in the third set (8-5). With the help of better attack and improved defence, Germany did not allow the opponents to come up. Team Bulgaria used different tactics to break the rhythm of Germans
but failed to do so. Germany extended its lead to 2-1 by winning third set, 25-19.
It seemed as Bulgaria lost form but the resilient rival of Germany bounced back in the fourth set. They went up on the scoreboard and maintained their dominance until the set points. Bulgaria secured fourth set by posting 25-23 on board and created the dead-lock
of 2-2.
The match entered the fifth decisive set, which put both teams to a real test. The scoring was tight in the final set and the audience totally enjoyed the back ‘n’ forth action of volleyball. Eventually, Bulgaria got lucky and closed the final set with two-point
margin (16-14), which led the team to 3-2 victory.
Bulgarian head coach Nayden Naydenov expressed delight about success in the match and also praised the great comeback of his team. He expressed his emotions in the following manner, “Really I am very happy with my players and wish to congratulate them.
They showed ups and downs but got control of the match because they know what to do while playing.”
On the other hand, his German counterpart Vital Heynen stated, “I want to congratulate Bulgaria because they had a more enthusiastic game and I hope to get revenge next weekend.”
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