Poland leave no doubt with straight-sets win over Israel, Ukraine disappoint Bulgaria
Recap
Poland made no mistakes on the floor, powering past Israel in a dominant straight-sets performance. Meanwhile, Ukraine delivered a bitter disappointment to co-hosts Bulgaria, silencing a packed Arena 8888 Sofia with a disciplined four-set victory to close out the action in the Bulgarian capital.
Poland vs Israel 3-0 (25-16, 25-17, 25-17)
Directing the match through relentless offensive pressure and sharp floor coverage, Nikola Grbić’s side left little room for Israel to establish a rhythm.
Poland made a strong statement in the opening set, controlling the pace from the start to claim a 25-15 win over Israel in just 23 minutes. The Polish side hit early momentum with aggressive serving and tight reception, jumping out to a fast 7-1 lead before expanding the margin to 16-8. Despite Shay Liberman leading all scorers in the frame with six points for Israel, Poland’s efficient first-tempo attack and cleaner passing - registering a 62% offensive execution and 64% positive reception compared to Israel’s 45% attack and 52% reception - kept the pressure constant. Israel picked up the set's lone block, but Poland’s balanced offense, led by Kamil Semeniuk’s five points, comfortably emerged victorious.
The Polish squad built a 14-7 advantage in the second set through improved net presence, comfortably keeping distance at 18-12. Nikola Grbić’s side stepped up their defence at the net, recording three team blocks in the frame to blunt Israel's frontline options. Both teams saw a slight dip in offensive rhythm, as Poland’s attack execution dropped to 56% while Israel struggled at 31%. Self-inflicted errors also plagued the set, with Israel gifting seven error points and Poland committing five of their own, allowing the White-and-Red squad to smoothly close out the set.
Despite a competitive start in the third set with Israel hanging close at 5-4, Tomasz Fornal and his teammates shone brightly in the final frame to spark total Polish dominance and secure the set victory.
The winners finished the match with superior efficiency across every fundamental, highlighted by a 60% overall attack execution compared to Israel’s 38%, alongside a 64% to 47% advantage in positive reception. The winners also dominated at the net with eight blocks to Israel's four, while adding three aces to one. Tomasz Fornal led Poland with 10 total points, while Shay Liberman finished as the overall match top scorer with 14 points for Israel.
Tomasz Fornal"We believe in what our coach tells us at every practice. We stay focused, we know how to work, and nobody complains. Of course, sometimes we’re tired because we also go through difficult periods. But in the end, everyone believes in the process. It doesn’t matter who is in the national team, who is in the starting six or the second six. Everyone believes, everyone trusts each other, and everyone trusts the process.”
Player of Poland
“We just play, and I think we have had a really good generation of players over the last few years. To be honest, I don’t know exactly why, but maybe we’re just a good Volleyball country. We love the sport, and so do the fans. In the end, kids are watching us. They see the good results and the trophies, and they want to be like us. I guess that’s why so many of them want to start playing Volleyball, and we have a lot of young kids practicing the sport now," Fornal added.
Ilay Haver“It was very exciting to play this game against a very good opponent. Poland is the number 1 ranked team in the world, so for us, it was very special to compete at this level. Just a few years ago, we were playing in the European Silver League, and now at the European championship. To play here is a big honour for us. We are going to learn from this match, we have more important games ahead of us, we want to qualify for the next rounds, so hopefully we can do that and keep playing well.”
Player of Israel
Bulgaria vs Ukraine 1-3 (23-25, 22-25, 25-21, 21-25)
In front of a packed Arena 8888 Sofia, Bulgaria and Ukraine traded early blows, with Simeon Nikolov and Aleks Nikolov serving aces to build an 8-6 Bulgarian lead. Ukraine responded through Oleh Plotnitskyi, whose baseline pressure and key aces pushed his side ahead 15-12 and forced Bulgaria to chase. Backed by the home crowd, Bulgaria rallied to tie the set at 18-18, but self-inflicted mistakes made the difference down the stretch, as Bulgaria committed nine errors to Ukraine's six. Ukraine took advantage of the higher precision, led by Plotnitskyi’s six points and Vasyl Tupchii’s four points at an 80% attack execution rate.
The second set saw Ukraine establish a calmer rhythm and capitalise on unforced Bulgarian errors to secure a 2-0 match lead, silencing the over 12,000 spectators in Arena Sofia. After early service errors, Ukraine kept the score level at 5-5, a lapse in concentration and continued mistakes on the Bulgarian side allowed Ukraine to build a 8-6 advantage and stretch it to 14-10. Simeon Nikolov sparked a brief revival with an ace to trim the deficit to 13-14, but Ukraine answered by pushing the score to 23-19. Bulgaria mounted a late three-point run to close to 20-23, but it was not enough to stop Ukraine from taking the set. Bulgaria actually held a slight edge in attack execution at 56% to 52%, but Ukraine dominated from the service line and maintained far greater discipline. Once again, the ultimate difference came down to errors, with Bulgaria gifting 11 points compared to just five from Ukraine.
Bulgaria found new life in the third set, stepping up their game to extend the match in front of their home fans. Early sparks saw the hosts build an 8-5 advantage, but Ukraine stayed close, narrowing the gap to 9-8. The introduction of Preslav Petkov and Asparuh Asparuhov brought much-needed stability and energy to the Bulgarian squad, with Petkov scoring for 11-9 before Simeon Nikolov showed smart play at the net to make it 13-11. Bulgaria then prevailed in a long rally to push the lead to 15-11 and maintain momentum through the remainder of the frame. The turnaround was driven by a massive leap in Bulgarian offensive efficiency, as they hit a 58% execution in attack while holding Ukraine to just 32%. Backed by a stabilised pass that reached 75% positive reception, Bulgaria looked far more composed to claim their first set of the match.
Ukraine weathered a late Bulgarian push in the fourth set to close out the match and disappoint the home crowd at Arena Sofia. The teams traded blows early to reach 4-4, with Aleks Grozdanov scoring a big block to put Bulgaria ahead 6-4 in a tense cat-and-mouse sequence. Service errors from both sides kept things level at 7-7 before tension flared on the court, allowing Ukraine to edge ahead 10-8. Oleh Plotnitskyi then showed nerves of steel, uncorking three consecutive aces to swing the score to 12-8 for Ukraine and give his side complete control. Bulgaria mounted a late wake-up call, but it came too late to prevent Ukraine from wrapping up the four-set victory.
Aleks Nikolov finished as the match top scorer with 27 points for Bulgaria, while Plotnitskyi led the charge for Ukraine with 23 points. Across the overall match statistics, Bulgaria actually held the advantage in attack efficiency at 55% to 48% and out-blocked Ukraine nine to four. However, Ukraine dominated from the service line with nine aces to five and maintained far higher discipline throughout the night. The ultimate deciding factor was unforced errors, as a costly 40 errors from Bulgaria - compared to just 22 from Ukraine - sealed the hosts' fate.
Oleh Plotnytskyi"Our victory today came down to solid serve reception and our execution on high balls. We were simply the better team today, though on any other day, I'm not sure we could win like this. We are definitely happy, but our success really relied on high-ball attacks - which usually isn't our strongest suit - and strong serving. Bulgaria serves exceptionally well; at times, I couldn't even see the ball coming."
Player of Ukraine
Martin Atanasov"Ukraine performed exceptionally well in serving and blocking today. We served well too, but they handled our service pressure much better in reception and were far more effective on high balls. We simply weren't as efficient in attack as we usually are as a team. We struggled to cope with their powerful serves - that was the ultimate deciding factor today."
Player of Bulgaria