2018 FIVB MEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS – PRELIMINARY POOL D
- Sept. 12-18, 2018
- Palace of Culture and Sports; Varna, Italy
- Pool D: No. 3 Poland, No. 8 Iran, No. 14 Bulgaria, No. 16 Cuba, No. 18 Finland, No. 29 Puerto Rico
A pair of NORCECA teams, Cuba and Puerto Rico, were eliminated from the tournament on Saturday. Cuba was knocked out in a sweep by Bulgaria, and Puerto Rico dropped a tight match to Finland despite a heroic effort from Maurice Torres. Despite injuries, Bulgaria has been putting a good foot forward in front of the home crowd.
BULGARIA DEF. CUBA 3-0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-18)
- Bulgaria moves to 3-1; Cuba falls to 0-4
- Attendance: 4,930
- Match Stats
- P2 Stat Sheet
While Bulgaria had already qualified for the next round, the entered the arena in Varna with purpose and delivered a 3-0 sweep over Cuba. Todor Skrimov re-aggravated his calf earlier in the week, and did not start in Sunday’s match. He entered the match as a substitute in each set but did not score any points. Nikolay Uchikov was the only player from Bulgaria to produce double-digit points with 17. He scored from 15 kills and 2 aces while hitting 55.6%. Valentin Bratoev scored 9 points on 6 kills, 2 blocks, and 1 ace. Nikolay Penchev contributed 7 points on 6 kills and 1 block from the outside.
Svetoslav Gotsev chipped in 9 points from the middle on 6 kills, 1 block, and 3 aces. The middle blocker posted a 66.7% attack average in the sweep. Viktor Yosifov also hit 66.7% on his way to 4 kills and 6 points overall. He also ended the match with a block and an ace. Georgi Seganov, who is replacing an injured Georgi Bratoev, set Bulgaria to a 48.1% efficiency in attack.
Cuba was led by Miguel Gutierrez and his 13 points on 11 kills and 2 blocks from the right side. Osniel Melegarejo put away 11 kills from the left pin in addition to service ace. Roamy Alonso led the match with 4 blocks and also contributed 3 kills in the defeat.
“I hope that I can play even better in the next games,” said Uchikov. “Sometimes you play your best but afterwards nothing goes well. Today I was in good condition. The whole team was extra motivated. We faced a very dangerous opponent but we were mentally calmed and game went to the best possible end for us.”
FINLAND DEF. PUERTO RICO 3-2 (25-19, 25-23, 27-29, 22-25, 15-10)
- Finland improves to 2-2; Puerto Rico drops to 0-4
- Attendance: 2,360
- Match Stats
- P2 Stat Sheet
Maurice Torres, a new signing with Kioene Padova in Italy, was not able to fight Puerto Rico to their first victory despite his 37-point performance. He led the match with 32 kills and 4 aces. Torres also chipped in a block, but the defeat eliminated Puerto Rico from progression to the next round. Jonathan Rodriguez scored11 points in the middle on 9 kills and 2 blocks. Eddie Rivera came off the bench to score 10 points on 8 kills and 2 blocks.
Elviss Krastins led the way for Finland with 18 points from 17 kills and a service ace. He hit 58.6% in the tie-break victory. Urpo Sivula finished the match with 16 points on 14 kills, 1 block, and 1 ace. Antti Mäkinen Sakari contributed 14 points on 12 kills and 2 blocks for Finland. Sauli Sinkkonen led the match with 4 blocks. He also scored on 8 kills and 1 ace to finish with 13 points. Eemi Tervaportti set Finland to a 43.4% attack average.
After leading the match in scoring, Torres said,“This crowd was just incredible! It is fantastic for our sport to be supported by so many fans. So first I would like to thank them! The only thing I can say about the match is that we just missed its end.”
POOL D STANDINGS
| Matches | Pts | Sets | Points | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Team | W | L | W | L | Ratio | W | L | Ratio | |
| 1 |  Poland |
3 | 0 | 9 | 9 | 2 | 4.500 | 272 | 196 | 1.388 |
| 2 |  Iran |
3 | 0 | 9 | 9 | 2 | 4.500 | 264 | 221 | 1.195 |
| 3 |  Bulgaria |
3 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 3 | 3.333 | 311 | 270 | 1.152 |
| 4 |  Finland |
2 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 0.667 | 349 | 361 | 0.967 |
| 5 |  Puerto Rico |
0 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 0.167 | 253 | 338 | 0.749 |
| 6 |  Cuba |
0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 0.250 | 295 | 358 | 0.824 |
POOL D SCHEDULE
| Date | Time | Score | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Total | Report | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 Sep | 20:40 | Bulgaria |
3–0 | Finland |
25–21 | 25–19 | 25–22 | 75–62 | P2 Report | ||
| 12 Sep | 17:00 | Iran |
3–0 | Puerto Rico |
25–19 | 25–14 | 25–18 | 75–51 | P2 Report | ||
| 12 Sep | 20:30 | Cuba |
1–3 | Poland |
18–25 | 19–25 | 25–21 | 14–25 | 76–96 | P2 Report | |
| 13 Sep | 17:00 | Puerto Rico |
0–3 | Poland |
14–25 | 12–25 | 15–25 | 41–75 | P2 Report | ||
| 13 Sep | 20:40 | Iran |
3–1 | Bulgaria |
25–22 | 25–20 | 22–25 | 25–19 | 97–86 | P2 Report | |
| 14 Sep | 17:00 | Finland |
3–1 | Cuba |
25–19 | 25–19 | 20–25 | 25–16 | 95–79 | P2 Report | |
| 14 Sep | 20:40 | Bulgaria |
3–0 | Puerto Rico |
25–16 | 25–18 | 25–21 | 75–55 | P2 Report | ||
| 15 Sep | 17:00 | Cuba |
1–3 | Iran |
25–17 | 18–25 | 22–25 | 19–25 | 84–92 | P2 Report | |
| 15 Sep | 20:30 | Poland |
3–1 | Finland |
25–20 | 26–28 | 25–16 | 25–15 | 101–79 | P2 Report | |
| 16 Sep | 17:00 | Puerto Rico |
2–3 | Finland |
19–25 | 23–25 | 29–27 | 25–21 | 10–15 | 106–113 | P2 Report |
| 16 Sep | 20:40 | Cuba |
0–3 | Bulgaria |
22–25 | 16–25 | 18–25 | 56–75 | P2 Report | ||
| 17 Sep | 17:00 | Cuba |
– | Puerto Rico |
– | – | – | 0–0 | |||
| 17 Sep | 20:30 | Iran |
– | Poland |
– | – | – | 0–0 | |||
| 18 Sep | 17:00 | Finland |
– | Iran |
– | – | – | 0–0 | |||
| 18 Sep | 20:40 | Bulgaria |
– | Poland |
– | – | – | 0–0 |
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