Eva Yaneva blocked and spiked with aplomb all evening
Samokov, July 10, 2015 – Bulgaria beat Croatia 3-2 in a five set thriller (25-18, 23-25, 21-25, 25-22, 15-12) in their FIVB World Grand Prix match on Friday evening.
Spiking was the difference in the first set; with both sides making a similar number of errors and not blocking well, it was the firepower of Bulgaria’s Yuliya Stoyanova and Mira Todorova that made the difference. They took the set 25-18. But Croatia found their game in set two, and with Tamara Susic and Nikolina Jelic finding ways to ground the ball, they levelled the match with a 25-23 set win.
And Croatia continued their good form, taking set three 25-21, with Dinka Kulic and Senna Ušic Jogunica contributing heavily. But in the fourth set, with Eva Yaneva and Todorova leading the way, Bulgaria rallied, winning it 25-22 to force a decisive fifth set.
And with Yaneva dominating more and more, Bulgaria clinched it, winning the decider 15-12, and the match 3-2. Eva Yaneva was the match top scorer with 19 points for Bulgaria. Jogunica and Kulic got 17 each for Croatia. Follow the match text commentary
here