Bulgaria finish the round on top of Pool B, after winning their fourth match in the European Golden League. Following their victory against Slovakia on Friday night, Bulgaria faced Ukraine in their last match in the Pool. Ukraine will continue their journey tomorrow playing against Slovakia.

Ukraine began the match with a slight advantage, but Bulgaria recovered towards the end of the first set to claim it at 23-25. Bulgarians carried their run onto the second set, quickly establishing a three-point lead that extended throughout the set. Ukraine attempted to make a comeback, defending several set points of Bulgaria, but were unable to tie the score and Bulgarians succeeded in the second set. Their dominance continued into the third set, where Ukrainians were unable to put up a challenge against their opponents.

• Ukraine’s Karyna Denysova led on the scoreboard throughout the entire match, scoring 14 points overall.

• Miroslava Paskova gained 11 points for the winning side.

• Bulgarians were slightly more successful in block, scoring 7 points to Ukraine’s 5 blocks. 

• Bulgaria finish the League Round with four victories.

• Ukrainians are set to face Slovakia in their last match of this Tournament

Vladimir Orlov, coach of Ukraine: “Bulgaria was the better than us, there is no doubt. I am happy that we played very well in the first two games. The match was very emotional. I rested few of my first choice players in the third part. We have very important game on Sunday against Slovakia.”

Miroslava Paskova, outside spiker of Bulgaria: “We did our job perfectly. The coaching staff is doing great. We play as one. The Golden League is very important part of our preparation for CEV EuroVolley 2021. We need to improve and we have enough time.”

Ivan Petkov, coach of Bulgaria: “We proved that we are stronger. We dominated the entire game. I want to see better play. For the first time in the last two games I have all the players in the team. Ukraine played strong and we need to improve in the next weeks.”