Spain defeats Bulgaria by 3-1 in Pool F match: FIVB Boy’s Youth World Championship - Volleyball
A Pool F match of the FIVB Boy’s Youth World Championship took place between Spain and Bulgaria in Bahia Blanca, Argentina on the August 24th. The match went on for four long and gruelling sets at the end of which the Spanish were able to stand
as winners.
All through the match, the Spanish remained in control of their game and the Bulgarians were seen to show an inconsistency of performance. The first set of the match was the only one in which Bulgaria was able to challenge the Spanish side and scrap together
a win. Losing the opening set of the game did not sit well with the Spanish and they stepped up their performance to earn victory. Once the Spanish got started, there was not much that the Bulgarians could do to stop the Spaniards from winning the match at
the following final set scores: 22-25, 25-19, 25-18 and 25-17.
The coach of the Spanish team, Ricardo Maldonado, gave the following statements at the press conference after the match had reached its close: "The victory is so important for the group because is the first match won in the second week of this championship.
During the first set Bulgaria had a good serve but in the other sets the block and the defence were the keys claim the victory.”
On the other hand, the Bulgarian coach, Miroslav Zhivkov, expressed himself in the following words: "Congratulations to the Spain team and coach. It was an important match for both teams, both started very well but unfortunately Spain improved and our team
got unfocused. Spain was better than us in defence and blocks."
The first technical time out of the opening set came with a Bulgarian lead at 8-4 but Spain was able to close in the gap at 16-15. The match went back and forth until the final stages of the set when the Bulgarians were able to pull up a win at 25-22.
The tables turned as the second set started because this time the first technical time out brought a lead to the Spanish side at 8-4 which they were able to expand to 16-9. The Bulgarians kept trailing behind as the Spanish were able to seal the deal at
25-19.
The third set took on the same tones as its predecessor with Spain in the lead and Bulgaria struggling with their game. It was only a matter of time before Spain won the set at 25-18. The fourth set saw the efforts of the Bulgarians slacken a bit more as
Spain comfortably ploughed on towards a final win at 25-17.
The player that was able to lead all scorers in the match was Andres Villena, as he tallied a total of 22 points while the highest scorer from the Bulgarian side was made by Ivan Ivanov with 14 points.
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