The Levski men's volleyball team, which won the treble last season, is off to a great start to the new campaign, defeating Lokomotiv Avia Plovdiv 3:1 (26:28, 25:23, 25:21, 25:20) and winning the Bulgarian Super Cup, BTA reported.
The Plovdiv team also had superstar Matey Kaziyski, but even that didn't help the team. This was also the country's third consecutive Super Cup for Levski, who two years ago defeated the favorite Hebar, last year they prevailed over Deya Sport, and now they have also outplayed the runner-up Lokomotiv Avia. Matei Kaziyski left Lokomotiv after only two matches and will play the season in the Turkish Halkbank Ankara under the leadership of Radostin Stoychev. The match is played in front of a packed "Levski Sofia" hall.
Levski started with the following lineup: Stoil Palev, Svetoslav Gotsev, Todor Skrimov, Lazar Buchkov, Gordon Lyutskanov, Julian Weitzig and libero Damyan Kolev.
Lokomotiv relied on Vladimir Stankov, Todor Valchev, Matei Kaziyski, Julien Georgiev, Kiril Kolev, Ivaylo Damyanov, and libero Martin Ivanov
The beginning of the match was for the team from Plovdiv, which led 3:1, but Levski made a comeback after two service series to 7:5. At 12:9 for the "blues"; Lokomotiv coach Nayden Naydenov took a break. Plovdiv equalized at 13:13 and then the game began to grind, with Levski having a small lead, but it was tied again in the decisive points at 22:22, and Lokomotiv also took the lead after a break point. Naydenov's team was the first to reach a game ball at 24:23, and Nikolay Zhelyazkov took a time-out. Lokomotiv missed three opportunities to close the half, but Matey Kaziyski succeeded in the fourth, shooting on the block and out for 28:26.
The second game was also extremely contested, with neither team taking a lead of more than two points. Niki Zhelyazkov's team reached two game balls at 24:22. Matei Kaziyski erased the first with a powerful attack, but Gordon Lyutskanov broke through the guests' blockade for 25:23, tying the score.
In the third game, everything also went point by point, but Lokomotiv Avia took the first serious lead at 17:13, which led to a break for Nikolay Zhelyazkov. After that, the "blues" scored two consecutive points and this time Nayden Naydenov broke the game. After a block by substitute Nikolay Nikolaev, the score was tied at 18:18. A block by captain Gotsev gave Levski an advantage at 20:19. A new block by Gotsev against Todor Valchev made 23:21 and led to another break for Naydenov. Todor Skrimov scored through the center for 24:21, and Lyutskanov scored the last point in the game - 25:21 for the "blues".
The momentum in Levski's game continued in the next period. In it, Zhelyazkov's team pulled ahead at 5:2 and increased the difference to 11:5, as Nayden Naydenov tried to break the game with a break. After an ace by Julian Weitzig, Levski led by 23:16 and was two points away from victory. Lokomotiv scored three consecutive points due to strong serves by Kaziyski, but Lyutskanov scored 24:19 and five match points. The match ended with a hit by Ivaylo Damyanov into the net from a serve, which brought joy to the hosts.