Bulgarian players ecstatic after the final point that gave them a thrilling comeback win over Cuba at the 2017 FIVB Women's U18 World Championship in Ljubljana.
Ljubljana, Slovenia, September 12, 2017 - Bulgaria's thrilling 4-3 comeback win over Cuba to close Day 3 of the 2017 FIVB Women's U23 World Championship here on Tuesday had the victors ecstatic - more so because they fully understood the importance of the result in the quest for a ticket to the semifinals. Here's the comments of coaches and captains from both teams after the match:
Bulgaria coach, Antonina Zetova: "I think the girls were very tense at the beginning as they wanted so much to win this game. That is why that they didn't play very well. These fast games do not give you any chance to turn around. We didn't even realise it when we were trailing Cuba by three sets. I believe my second setter changed the game today. I am very happy to have two competitive setters who can win the game with their sets. I know that Cuba is a very strong team. They played very well at the beginning with good receives, smashes, and blocks. They did not leave us a chance to play our game. When we managed to tie the result that they started to make more mistakes, and we started playing more relaxed. It's the final result that matters as this match was very important for us. We are happy to bring it home."
Bulgaria captain, Gergana Dimitrova: "We played against a team we are not used to play with in Europe. I am very happy that we managed to come back after being three sets behind. We are very happy to win today. It was a very tough match. It's unbelievable that we managed to come back into the match like that and win it at the end. If you are leading 3-0 in the game and only need one more set to win and the opposite team returns to game, you just fall apart."
Cuba coach, Wilfredo Robinson: "We played very well in the first three sets. We started playing differently in the fourth set. It is very important for us that our team played so well at the beginning. Sadly, our attitude changed in the fourth and after that we could not recover. We had some problems in offence, in attacking. Bulgaria came back and we could not keep the pace."
Cuba captain, Diaris Perez: "To win the fourth set after leading by three was very important to us. But, we made too many errors. We think that our attitude in the game changed and we could not regain our spirit."
All matches in Ljubljana are played under a
new scoring system currently being tested: a best-of-seven, 15-point set format.
Quick links - Volleyball:FIVB Volleyball Women's U23 World Championship 2017
FIVB Volleyball Women's U23 World Championship 2017 - ScheduleFIVB Volleyball Women's U23 World Championship 2017 - Teams
FIVB.com - VolleyballFIVB.com
Latest VideosFacebookTwitterInstagramMedia Guides