07/05/2017 10:25
Maritza win Kupa Bulgariya to strike golden double!
News from the clubs
Plovdiv, Bulgaria, May 7, 2017. The team of Maritza PLOVDIV won their third national cup of Bulgaria to shape up their second golden double in the history of the club. The Yellow-and Blues, who had claimed the gold medals in Bulgaria’s women’s National Volleyball League (NVL) about a week earlier, added the Kupa Bulgariya 2017 trophy to their showcase after triumphing as the winners of the five-day tournament that took place in Sofia.
In the great ambiance that the fans of the two teams created on the stands at the Hristo Botev hall during the big final, Maritza mastered a 3-0 (25-15, 25-18, 25-12) victory over Slaviya SOFIA to celebrate their third national cup, following the trophies they won in 2012 and 2015. Although the result itself may hint to a one-sided match, the game was quite interesting and competitive, especially in the first two sets.
Maritza’s middle blocker and Bulgarian national team player Nasya Dimitrova topped the charts of the match with 14 points. Outside hitter Silvana Chausheva added another 13 points to the team’s tally. Yuliya Stoyanova was Slaviya’s best scorer with 11 points.
With the Kupa Bulgariya tournament taking place in early May, the organisers had decided to allow the clubs to register additional Bulgarian players, playing for foreign clubs, for whom the season had already finished. However, Maritza were one of the clubs that did not take advantage of this new rule and still managed to dominate the race with the same players that had carried the team unbeaten through the NVL season.
In Pool A the squad from Europe’s oldest living city shut out both their opponents – KAZANLAK Volley and Slaviya, both of which had strengthened themselves with some well-known names, including the likes of Bulgarian internationals Slavina Koleva, Lora Kitipova and Yuliya Stoyanova. In the semi-finals, Maritza claimed a 3-1 win against CSKA SOFIA, while Slaviya persevered for a 3-2 victory over Levski SOFIA, the team pointed out as the main contender to challenge the Yellow-and-Blues in the final.
“It was good that some girls came back from abroad to make this tournament more interesting and more competitive,” said Maritza’s captain and most experienced player Radosveta Teneva. “We are very happy that this year we managed to win the golden double.”
“These trophies were mandatory for us. Anything else would have been a failure,” stated head coach Ivan Petkov. “But still, each trophy deserves a special place in our hearts.”
“Golden double – what more can one expect?” exclaimed Maritza’s president Iliya Dinkov. “In fact, one can expect more. I expect a much stronger championship next season and I hope our colleagues from the other clubs do what is necessary to start winning against us.”
Dinkov was obviously referring to the fact that in the NVL and the cup tournament combined, Maritza went through the entire domestic season unbeaten – 24 wins in 24 matches, only dropping three sets along the way to their golden double.
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