Maritza Plovdiv makes it 12 national titles in a row!
News
Maritza Plovdiv extended its own record by claiming its 12th back-to-back title in the Bulgarian national league. The southern European country’s CEV Champions League regulars cruised through the domestic season undefeated to defend the crown and triumph as national champions again.
The Yellow-and-Blues from Europe’s oldest living city dropped only three sets in 26 National Volleyball League (NVL) matches played this season. After topping the regular season standings, Maritza swept its quarterfinal series against Slaviya Sofia with two straight-set wins and followed up with three wins over CSKA Sofia in the best-of-five semifinal playoff, losing only one set in the second match of the series.
Maritza completely dominated the nationally televised best-of-five championship playoff against Levski Sofia, mastering three straight-set victories over the team from the capital. On Monday, in front of its enthusiastic fans at a packed Stroitel hall in Plovdiv, the home team closed the final with an emphatic 3-0 (25-11, 25-17, 25-12) shutout.
Maritza’s 20-year-old star opposite Iva Dudova was named Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the final playoff.
Earlier this season, the Yellow-and-Blues also picked up the Bulgaria Cup trophy for the 11th (ninth consecutive) time.
Ahmetcan Ersimsek“The feeling is incredible! We fought for this title all season and we did a great job. I am very happy and very proud of the whole team and the coaching staff. This club gave me a chance and I am very grateful for that. I try to teach the team that every year we start from zero and we have to be mentally ready to fight for every trophy.”
Head coach of Maritza Plovdiv
“I am very happy that we managed to finish the final series against Levski in such an emphatic manner,” 29-year-old libero and captain Zhana Todorova added. “I told the girls before the match to play not only for the fans, but also for ourselves, who have worked hard all year and deserved to finish with entirely positive emotions. This final match was a very nice celebration. There are many young talented girls in our team, who are the future of the Bulgarian national team. I think we are yet to reap the benefits of their talent.”
Borislava Saykova“I am very happy that we are champions for another year. Each year the feeling gets even sweeter, because we prove that we are Maritza and we are the strongest in Bulgaria. I hope that next year the league will be more competitive, so that the younger girls can keep growing. We were a unique team. I want to thank absolutely everyone – the staff, our manager Boris Halatchev and the girls – for coming together and being so united.”
Middle blocker of Maritza Plovdiv
The bronze medals went to CSKA Sofia, who came back from losing the first game of the best-of-three third-place playoff against CPVK Sofia to take the series by 2-1 in wins.