Prague, Czech Republic, September 10, 2011. Slovakia caused the first sensation of the EuroVolley 2011 as the group mentored by Italian-born Emanuele Zanini – winner of this year’s European League – edged Bulgaria 3:2 this afternoon at the splendid O2 Arena in Prague.  

A minute of silence was observed before the start of the match in memory of the ice hockey players who had passed away this past Wednesday after a plane crashed in the neighborhood of Yaroslavl, Russia.

Bulgaria started the game with a very good pace but Slovakia stormed back furiously; the guys around superstar Matey Kaziyski did not use an opportunity to claim the opening set while Slovakia did not miss it to go up 1:0. After a very close fight that contributed a tie at 20 all in set 2, Slovakia scored two attacks in a row, got a slim margin and eventually got a 2:0 lead in sets.

Slovakia played with real euphoria also in set 3 going up by 4 but Bulgaria was not keen to let it go and stormed back to tie the score. After an exciting final rush, Bulgaria claimed set 3 and then dictated the tempo of the operations in set 4. Slovakia’s defense and attack downed the pace but the Slovaks got back their best play for the tie-break. Bulgaria missed three match balls there before Slovakia turned the odds around and could finish it off at 17-15.

“Slovakia fully deserved to win this game” stated Bulgaria’s head coach Radostin Stoytchev. “We had a very low efficiency in attack for the first couple of sets and suffered much also in reception. We got back into the game but it was not enough to seal also the tie-break”.

“Bulgaria is a very strong team and they were the favorites going into this game. After the weak performance in the fourth set my players were able to clean up their minds and this was really important. We played an excellent tie-break, Bulgaria made no mistakes there but we were brave and concentrated. This Pool is very tough, we have made a step forward to the next round but it is still a very long way” added Slovakia’s mentor Zanini.