Maritza Plovdiv allowed no surprises in this year\u2019s Bulgaria Cup tournament and grabbed the trophy again. Dropping no sets in the three matches played, the southern European country\u2019s representatives in the CEV Champions League Volley won the competition for the sixth consecutive and eighth overall time.<\/p>\n
In Sunday\u2019s final, played at the sold-out Vasil Levski hall in neighboring Pazardzhik, the Yellow-and-Blues totally dominated on the court and mastered a 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-17) shutout of CSKA Sofia. The team\u2019s most experienced player and captain, 37-year-old libero Ivelina Monova, was honored as the Most Valuable Player.<\/p>\n
16-year-old opposite Iva Dudova was the best scorer of the match with 13 points towards the victory, followed by 22-year-old outside hitter Dobrina Hristoskova with 12.<\/p>\n
The 2016 Bulgaria Cup final against Levski Sofia was the most recent match Maritza lost in the competition. The team from Plovdiv has been on a 20-game winning streak since then. Maritza has lost only two sets in these 20 matches and the most recent occurrence of that was in the 2018 final, again against Levski.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s campaign started with a 3-0 (25-10, 25-10, 25-17) sweep of newly-established city rival Maritza 2022 Plovdiv back in December. In Saturday\u2019s semifinal, the defending cup-holders delivered a 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-18) away victory over Slaviya Sofia.<\/p>\n
Maritza won the national cup in 2012, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023. The 2020 tournament was prematurely interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n