Olomouc, Czech Republic, June 11, 2016 - Bulgaria bounced back after yesterday's loss to Dominican Republic and defeated the hosting team, Czech Republic, 3-1 (25-22, 25-16, 23-25, 25-19).
Czech Republic was fighting to keep its chance for Final Four of the Group 2 which will be played in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, next weekend. It was a fourth encounter between Bulgaria and Czech Republic in the World Grand Prix. Bulgaria won two matches in 2013 (3-2) and 2014 (3-0), losing to Czechs last year (3-2). Emiliya Nikolova gave her team 19 points, while on the other side Michaela Mlejnkova did her best with 14 points.
Hosting team struggled in the reception since the beginning, but still was able to keep scoring from zone four, thanks to Michaela Mlejnkova and Andrea Kossanyiova. Lucie Smutna joined the top scorers with couple of kill blocks and Alex Waibl´s girls were two points ahead at the second TTO 16-14. Bulgarians players kept pushing with their serve and it helped them to win the set 25-22.
Second set started off in a similar manner Bulgarians were unstoppable and Czechs couldn't handle the pressure, making some unforced mistakes. Bulgaria led 8-3 at the first TTO and Czech Republic couldn't answer to their aggressive play at the net, allowing Bulgarians to exted the lead to 14-5. Alex Waibl made substitutions to bring some energy to his devastated team, but Bulgaria carried on calmly and finished 25-16.
Czech team started the third set with no fear, with Marie Toufarova as opposite and Klara Vyklicka as middle blocker. Teams kept the score tight, but Bulgarians went on the 8-5 lead by the first TTO. Michaela Mlejnkova took in charge, leading the team to tie the score at 17-17. After a fight for each point, Veronika Trnkova closed the set with successful block 25-23.
The won set helped Czech Republic to gain back some confidence. Supported by crowded gym, Czechs started to be more aggressive in all elements of the game. Lack of concentration of their rivals allowed Czechs to go 16-11 ahead, but captain Eva Yaneva stepped in and led her team to big come back for 21-17. Bulgarian kept control over the game, finishing 25-19.