Bulgaria Loses 2:3 to France in Men's Volleyball European Championship Semifinal

Earvin Ngapeth (R) of France spikes the ball against Nikolay Penchev (L) and Viktor Yosifov (C) of Bulgaria during the semifinal match between France and Bulgaria for the men`s 2015 CEV Volleyball European Championship in Sofia, Bulgaria, 17 October 2015.

The Bulgarian men's national volleyball team suffered a 2:3 defeat to France in one of the semifinals of the men's Volleyball European Championship played in Sofia on Saturday.

Inspired by 13 000 supporters in the overcrowded Arena Armeec hall, Bulgaria came in the lead with 2:0, but France managed to make a comeback and claim the final victory (25:18, 25:22, 24:26, 21:25, 12:15).

In this way, France recorded a second victory over Bulgaria in the past several months after the French had previously defeated the Bulgarians in the final of Group 2 of the World League in Varna in July.

Thus Bulgaria will face the other co-host of the tournament Italy in the third place match in Sofia on Sunday.

The final, which will also take place in the Arena Armeec hall on Sunday, pits against each other the surprise of the tournament – Slovenia against the winner of this year's edition of the World League – France.

After recording a surprising 3:2 victory over the reigning world champion Poland on Wednesday, Slovenia managed to repeat its success and defeated 3:1 Italy (25:13, 23:25, 25:20, 25:20) on Saturday.

The third place match starts at 17:30 EET, while the final will follow suit at 20:45 EET, both of the matches to be broadcasted live on BNT HD.

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