Bulgaria – team
Bulgaria and Germany were supposed to deliver the real highlight of the day as they were battling for the sole ticket at stake to make it to the World Championship. Though Germany started out quite strong, Bulgaria responded with the same tone by showing excellent blocks and very effective combinations in attack. Germany could no more stand the pressure and Bulgaria sailed away to comfortably claim the first set with the score of 25-15. Helped by some mistakes of their opponents, Germany caught a better start in the second set but Bulgaria showed determination and focus in the final section to make it 2:0 in sets (25-23). Bulgaria’s performance was absolutely outstanding in the early phases of the third set and though Germany fought for every single point, the home side could finish it off at 25-22 to earn their much desired ticket to the Worlds.
Though they did not have any more chance to make it to the World Championship, Latvia and Greece did honor their last match in Samokov by playing with great intensity and glowing hearts. Still quite many mistakes were to be seen but the young players of these teams showed also their total passion and dedication to the sport by fighting bravely for every single rally. Greece was able to find the right consistency in defense to claim the opening set (25-22) before Latvia dictated the tempo of the game almost all the way through in the second to make it 1:1 (19-25). Greece found back their best play in set 3 going up by 10 points at the second technical time-out and bringing it home with ease at 25-16. Latvia totally ran out of fuel in the fourth set where they eventually could score only 7 points with Greece claiming their first win in the tournament.
To read more news from this competition click on 2013 FIVB Volleyball Women’s U20 World Championship – European Qualification.
Find the full stats from this game on Statistics.
