Plovdiv, Bulgaria, March 26, 2018.  The team of Maritza PLOVDIV celebrated their fourth consecutive national title of Bulgaria after bringing their winning streak in the National Volleyball League to 57 victories in a row.

Maritza closed the best-of-three Bulgarian championship’s final playoff series at two wins to none against regular contender Levski SOFIA to triumph with the gold medals and the trophy, which club president Iliya Dinkov, also vice president of the Bulgarian Volleyball Federation, personally handed to team captain Radosveta Teneva and her teammates after the 3-0 (25-13, 27-25, 25-23) victory at the Lyulin sports centre in Bulgaria’s capital. With this win, Maritza earned the right to represent the country in the CEV Volleyball Champions League for the third time in a row.

The Yellow-and-Blues from the country’s second largest city had finished unbeaten on top of the regular season standings, hence qualifying directly for the semifinals, where they managed to knock Beroe STARA ZAGORA out of the way with a 3-0 win at home and a 3-1 victory away.

The Plovdiv University hall hosted the first match of the championship series with Levski. Maritza pleased the home fans with a 3-0 (25-23, 25-18, 25-23) shutout to take the lead in the battle for the title.

This was the fourth consecutive NVL final between Maritza and Levski with the squad from Plovdiv emerging victorious on all four occasions.

In fact, the last match of the season was #57 in a long running winning streak for Maritza in the National Volleyball League. Their last defeat in the Bulgarian domestic championship dates back to November 14, 2015, when they lost at home to Levski in four sets.

Earlier this season, Maritza also claimed their fourth national cup, now registering their second consecutive and third overall golden double in Bulgarian women’s Volleyball.
 
“This was definitely a fantastic season for us,” said coach Ivan Petkov, who will also be leading the Bulgarian national team as of this upcoming season. “What we achieved in the Champions League, reaching the pool stage and playing against big names, and the public interest we managed to attract, deserves a lot of respect. It would not have happened without the support of our president Iliya Dinkov and our club partners. Next season we have to continue building upon what we have achieved so far...”