Bulgaria’s volleyball champions Maritza (Plovdiv) ended their Champions League campaign after suffering a second defeat to Azerbaijan’s Turan (Tovuz). The Plovdiv side lost 0–3 in sets (22–25, 17–25, 23–25) away from home and will not make it into the group stage of Europe’s most prestigious club competition. For Turan, this is a historic achievement, as the team will participate in this stage of the competition for the first time.
“The yellow-and-blues” fought until the very end and had their chances, especially in the third set, but were unable to capitalize on them. As in the first match, the Bulgarian team showed character, but the hosts displayed greater efficiency at the decisive moments.
The first set lasted 29 minutes, with Ziya Rajabov’s team controlling the events on the court. Turan led at the technical timeouts by 8–4, 16–13 and 21–18, and subsequently closed out the set 25–22.
The second set was even more convincing for the Azerbaijani team. The hosts imposed their superiority from the very beginning and, after 27 minutes of play, won 25–17.
Maritza showed its best side in the third set. The Plovdiv side took an 8–4 lead and later maintained the advantage at 16–15. In the closing rallies, however, Turan was once again more precise and won 25–23, bringing the match to an end.
Thus, for the first time in nine years, Maritza will not participate in the Champions League group stage.
Alexandra Kitipova was the top scorer for the Bulgarian champions with 12 points. For the hosts, Elisaveta Ruban finished with 13 points.
The Plovdiv side will continue its European campaign in the CEV Cup, where its opponent will be Croatian ŽOK Ribola Kaštela.