Bulgaria and Croatia celebrate first EuroVolley wins
Recap
Croatia snatched its first win at the men’s CEV EuroVolley 2023, outlasting Ukraine in five sets in the first of Thursday’s two Pool B games at the Palace of Culture and Sports in Varna and handing the opponents their second defeat of the tournament. Enjoying phenomenal support from their fans on the stands, Finland and Bulgaria put together a four-set battle, in which the home team registered its first victory in the pool, while the visitors conceded their first loss.
Ukraine v Croatia 2-3 (25-17, 22-25, 25-20, 15-25, 13-15)
Opposite and captain Petar Dirlic led Croatia to victory with a match-high 24 points, including three aces and two blocks. His teammate Marko Sedlacek added another 21 points, registering two blocks and a 70% success rate in attack. Captain Oleh Plotnytskyi led Ukraine with 19 points, including four aces. Vasyl Tupchii and Yurii Semeniuk added 16 and 14 points, respectively, for Ukraine.
After 5-5, Ukraine took control of the scoreboard and did not let go for the rest of the first set. Croatian setter Tsimafei Zhukouski’s injury did not help his team’s situation, while Illia Kovalov spearheaded the Ukrainian attack and produced the 25-17 winner to put his squad in the lead. In the second set, Croatia stepped up its serving and, with Petar Dirlic on fire in offence, gradually took the lead and paced on until Ivan Mihalj’s monster block closed the set at 25-22 to level the match.
Ukraine reacted with some great spiking in the third set. They stormed the court on a 4-0 run and never looked back. Middle blocker Yurii Semeniuk led his team with two kill blocks, an ace and 100% success in attack, which brought in another five points, including the set winner at 25-20. Croatia reacted swiftly and completely dominated the fourth set. With Marko Sedlacek on fire, they opened a wide gap and Kruno Nikacevic hammered an overpass to close the set at 25-15 and prompt a tie-breaker.
In a tight fifth set, the lead went back and forth, but eventually things worked slightly better for the Croatians. In the money time, their captain Dirlic proved a true leader, while another monster block by Mihalj put an end to the drama at 15-13 Croatia’s way.
Ugis Krastins“In the sets that we won, we served well and the block-defense system just worked. But when the score was tight, we didn't manage to control the game the way we would have expected to. As a result, we made mistakes in some key moments. The general problem for us this summer is that we cannot show our best level under high pressure and when the match is important. That was the case today as well.”
Head coach of Ukraine
Marko Sedlacek“It was difficult. We played many times against them the past three years and we know that they have a very good team. We didn’t play well all summer, so finally we show what we can do. And I hope we grow with every single game. It’s always nice to play for the national team and we are so proud now.”
Outside hitter of Croatia
Finland v Bulgaria 1-3 (26-28, 25-27, 25-15, 16-25)
Star opposite and captain Tsvetan Sokolov led Bulgaria to victory with 16 points, nine of them in the fourth set alone. His tally included two aces and four kill blocks. Rising star Denis Karyagin played a brilliant match and finished with 15 points, including an ace and two blocks. Martin Atanasov also reached the double digits with 11 points. Two of Finland’s players shared the top scorer honors of the match. Outside hitter Luka Martilla and opposite Joonas Jokela tallied 18 points each.
A mighty battle unfolded throughout the first set, with the Bulgarian and the Finnish fans creating a fantastic ambience at the Palace. The gap never exceeded two points and the set was pushed deep into overtime. Bulgaria was the first to reach set point. Then Finland failed to convert two of its own. Finally Denis Karyagin took charge with two successful off-the-block shots in a row to close the set at 28-26. With a brilliant Luka Marttila leading the way, Finland maintained a slight advantage for most of the second set, but Bulgaria made sure not to fall too far behind. Young sub-in Aleksandar Nikolov made the difference in the key moments. He spearheaded the Bulgarian offense to help push the set to overtime again and finally ended the set with a monster block for 27-25 Bulgaria’s way.
Finland pressed even harder in the third set, while the home team started making more unforced errors. Martilla kept the fire burning to help open a wide gap and the northerners cruised on to an emphatic 25-15 win. Bulgaria was quick to react and completely dominated the fourth set. Captain Sokolov took charge and piled up nine points to lead the Lions to a 25-16 close, shaped up by Martin Atanasov with a pipe shot for the match-winning putaway.
Joel Banks“We still don't have the experience to play consistently on that high level. We started well in the first three sets, but then slowly our energy started to go away. The main difference with the Bulgarian team is that their players compete on a very high level with their clubs year by year and they are currently progressing as a team while we just start our way. In general, I have only positive things to say.”
Head coach of Finland
Tsvetan Sokolov“It's a very important win for us. We had a difficult start again and let Finland take the lead, which is not ideal as it makes us risk more and potentially commit more mistakes. I am happy for the win and for the three points we got, but we have to learn our lessons from this match and act more aggressively in the future ones from the very start. I would like to say a huge THANK YOU to our fans who had a key role in the victory today.”
Opposite and captain of Bulgaria
Friday’s fourth competition day in Pool B will feature Finland against Slovenia at 17:30 local time, and Croatia against Spain at 20:30.