Maritza Plovdiv all set for another Champions League pool stage campaign

Photo: startphoto.bg

Maritza Plovdiv will play in the pool stage of the women’s CEV Champions League for the ninth consecutive time. It was only the second time the Bulgarian heavyweight earned that right on the court through the preliminary rounds, after their first breakthrough back in 2017-2018. On Wednesday evening, the Yellow-and-Blues mastered a 3-0 (25-13, 25-10, 25-20) home victory over Croatia’s Dinamo Zagreb and, after also shutting out the opponents on the road a week ago, they booked their spot in the fourth round of Europe’s most prestigious club competition.

Inspired by the noisy home crowd at the Kolodruma in Europe’s oldest living city, Maritza stormed the first set on a speedy 8-2 run, but then made far too many unforced errors, especially from the serving line, to let the opponents narrow the gap. Still, with opposite Iva Dudova spearheading the offense, the Bulgarian champions broke away again on the way to setter Lora Slavcheva’s kill block for the 25-13 set winner. Maritza were even more emphatic in set two and stayed well in control throughout the set to win it by a convincing 25-10 on an elegant off-the-block hit by outside Viktoria Koeva for the closing point. With the ticket to the next round now safely secured in their pocket, the Yellow-and-Blues may have relaxed the pressure a little, but Dinamo also visibly stepped up their game to stay more competitive on the court during the third set. Not enough to turn the course of the match though, as Maritza stayed on track to closing it off in straight sets, even after coach Ahmetcan Ersimsek replaced all of his starters. And they did at 25-20 on a two-handed overpass kill by sub-in middle blocker Kaya Nikolova.

With 18 points, including four aces and two kill blocks, Iva Dudova emerged as the best scorer of the match and earned the Most Valuable Player (MVP) honors.

“If you look at the result, yes, it looks easy, but you have to ask us how we worked for this result. This was probably the most important match for Maritza in the last five years, because this year we had to earn our place in the pool stage and secure at least six more games in the Champions League, which is really important for us.”
Ahmetcan Ersimsek, head coach of Maritza Plovdiv

“We are extremely pleased with this victory. We have been working hard to prepare for this opponent. I am happy we managed to show our game, even better than in the first match. And I would like to thank everyone who came to support us.”
Iva Dudova, opposite of Maritza Plovdiv, MVP and best scorer of the match

Maritza will compete in Pool E of the fourth round, along with Poland’s DevelopRes Rzeszow, Germany’s Palmberg Schwerin and France’s Levallois Paris Saint Cloud.