site.btaBulgaria Defeats Italy 3-0, Claims U18 Volleyball Championship Bronze

Bulgaria defeated Italy 3-0 (25:19, 25:19, 25:23) to finish third at the European Men’s U18 Volleyball Championship. The result marks a major improvement for the national team in this age group after it placed tenth at the 2024 continental championship in Plovdiv.

Nikola Gradinarov was the match’s top scorer with 17 points, while Pavel Dzhenev added 13. No Italian player reached double figures.

Bulgaria dominated the opening set, limiting Italy to 19 points. The second was more evenly contested early on, but the young Bulgarians produced a strong run midway through the set to take a 15:11 lead, prompting an Italian timeout. It made little difference, as Bulgaria earned six set points and converted the second through a Dzhenev attack.

Italy led 18:16 in the third set, but a service error and two successive Gradinarov blocks turned the score in Bulgaria’s favour. The Bulgarians then pulled away and sealed the match with a block-out following another Gradinarov attack.