Bulgaria record four wins in as many friendlies ahead of #EuroVolleyM qualifier

Sofia, Bulgaria, January 7, 2021. Bulgaria finalised earlier this week their preparations for the upcoming CEV EuroVolley 2021 Men – Pool B qualifier with two friendly matches against their neighbours from North Macedonia. The ‘Lions’ recorded back-to-back 3-1 wins at Hristo Botev sports hall in Sofia to take some extra confidence ahead of the matches that they will be playing next week in Hadera against hosts Israel and Austria.

At the end of December, Bulgaria and North Macedonia had faced each other in Skopje as well, with Bulgaria recording two wins in the Macedonian capital to claim the 44th edition of the international competition named after Branko Hadziiljoski – Chajka.

In the latest matchup with their neighbours, Bulgaria produced a 3-1 victory (25-23, 25-17, 22-25, 25-20) to complete a clean sweep of their friendlies. Team MKD showed much resilience to attempt a comeback after trailing 0-2 but Bulgaria got back control of the game to secure a 3-1 victory – the second such result in as many days and matches contested in Sofia. Asparuh Asparuhov top scored for the home side with 19 points, followed by rising star Aleksandar Nikolov who scored 10 times. As usual, Nikola Gjorgiev was the most prolific player for the Macedonian team with 17 points, including three aces, with Aleksandar Ljaftov adding 10 to the count of the visiting team.

Bulgaria will now fly to Israel for the double round robin tournament due to take place in Hadera from January 12 to 17. As for North Macedonia, they will host Turkey and Bosnia and Herzegovina next week in Skopje in another EuroVolley qualifier. Only the respective pool winners will secure their participation in the Final Round co-hosted by Poland, Czech Republic, Estonia and Finland later this summer. The runners-up will have to wait for completion of all remaining pools in May to know their fate in the competition.