Bulgaria set up quarter-final meeting with Serbia after coming from behind to beat Finland

After a pool phase full of emotions, LOTTO EUROVOLLEY POLAND 2017 entered the play-off round and Bulgaria were the first team to seal their place in the last eight with a 3-1 (23-25, 25-21, 25-11, 25-12).

Bulgaria coach Plamen Konstantinov changed one of his outside spikers from the previous game, with Rozalin Penchev coming in for Todor Skrimov. At first, his team struggled with serving as they did against Slovenia, but good play in the middle gave them a two-point lead at 8-6. Bulgaria lost their focus though and let Finland edge ahead at 14-12. Then Tsvetan Sokolov came alive, spiking well to tie things at 15-all. However, the Finns were not intimidated and made it 20-17 in their favour after a huge miss by Sokolov and eventually Wiktor Josifow’s fault from the service line finished the set at 25-23 for Finland.

Finland started well the second set but it was their opponent that had a slight advantage of 8-7 at the first technical break. After a Georgi Bratoev ace the difference reached 5 points (12-7). The Bulgarians made less errors than before and it was enough to keep the upper‑hand until the second obligatory break but then the margin began to fade away. It was as small as one following Niklas Seppänen’s kill (17-16) but Bulgaria held on to what was left and eventually reserve Rozalin Penchev’s spike ended it up at 25-21.

The third set was one-sided right from the start, with the Bulgarians racing ahead to 8-2. Their block finally showed its potential and Finland had much trouble getting around. Sokolov was on fire and led the charge and Todor Skrimov’s two aces gave Bulgaria a gigantic 10-point lead (13-3). The Finns could not change anything in this state of affairs – the final score was 25-11.

The Bulgarians did not stop there – they led 6-1 in the fourth stanza due to their impeccable performance from the service line. The five point margin stayed untouched, marking the considerable difference in levels of play between the two teams – basically in each volleyball fundamental. Even Bulgarian setter Bratoev was able to score a couple of points in attack. In its second part the set got even more lopsided, as Viktor Chernokozhev ended the game at 25-13.

Quotes:

Oleg Antonov, player of Italy: "We believed in ourselves in this very difficult third set. Now we have to concentrate on tomorrow’s game with Belgium, which is going to be really difficult. We served very well. I believe that we were pretty good in reception too. Technically, we were not at our best, but we were prepared mentally for this game, as we played under a big pressure."

Gianlorenzo Blengini, coach of Italy: "Obviously we are happy, because the victory was so important for the team and qualification for the quarterfinals was our goal. The third set was the most difficult one for us, because the Turkish team won several points in a row and we had to chase them. Luckily for us, we were able to win also the last set. Of course, the challenge system helped us so much. Today we used it in very important moments, but it is also helpful not only today as referees can stay calm and judge well in the crucial moments of the match."

Murat Yenipazar, player of Turkey: "This game is… nothing to say. In the third set at the end it was because of our lack of experience. I congratulate the Italians. Now it is just the end for us, but it is OK - this is life and this is what Volleyball looks like. We have to move forward and change our mental preparation."

Josko Milenkoski, coach of Turkey: "We started the match with big respect towards the Italian team. Perhaps we lacked enough confidence that we could win against the Olympic silver medallists. We had difficulties in reception, which eliminated our middle blockers from touching the ball often enough. We had big chances in the third set and I cannot remember how many sets we lost this way in the past. We had a few set points and who knows what would have happened from the fourth set. I think my team can still be satisfied with this result, as this is the best place Turkey ever achieved at the European Championships."