Bulgaria – Poland
Poland continued their run at the 2012 CEV Junior Volleyball European Championship – Women with their third consecutive win. In a roller-coaster match, the team of head coach Andrzej Pec beat Bulgaria 3:1 (25-21, 23-25, 25-23, 25-16).
Poland still felt in heaven from their unexpected straight-set win versus titleholder Italy the day before when they faced Bulgaria for their third duel in Pool II on Monday afternoon. That was probably one of the reasons why the Polish ladies controlled the first set quite easily (25-21). The Bulgarian squad had lost its first two encounters, but had regularly showed its potential.
However, five service errors and a low quote in passing didn’t help Bulgaria to bug Poland’s strategy during the first set. Nevertheless, the team of Bulgarian head coach Radoslav Bakardzhiev showed strong will to book its first win at the 2012 CEV Junior Volleyball European Championship – Women. Veselina Grigorova and Gergana Dimitrova doubled the power in attack and six block kills led Bulgaria to a hard-earned 25-23 in the second set. The story of the game didn’t change in the third set as Bulgaria set the pace. In the meantime, Polish head coach Pec had changed almost his complete team. The scoreboard stopped at 21-16 as Bulgaria suddenly lost momentum. Poland’s second string showed excellent fighting spirit to bounce back bravely. At 23-24, Bulgaria’s Dimitrova smashed the Mikasa out of bounds to offer Poland an unpredicted 2:1 set lead. The lost opportunity in set No. 3 weighed heavily on Bulgaria’s players. As a consequence, Poland made short work of their opponents in the fourth and last set (25-16).
Poland head coach Andrzej Pec: “My starting six left their concentration in the hotel today. Fortunately, the substitutions worked out.”
Poland captain Iga Chojnacka: “We thought probably that today’s match would be easier. Anyway, our reserve players showed their great talent.”
Bulgaria head coach Radoslav Bakardzhiev: “It’s not easy to understand today’s defeat. We controlled the game in the third set, but suddenly lost concentration. Too bad!”
