Juncos, Puerto Rico, September 19, 2015 - In a heated match between Russia and Bulgaria that went full distance, the Russian team had a great comeback and won the game 3-2 (25-22, 23-25, 24-26, 25-18, 15-9).
Anna Lazareva fired 27 points for Russia followed by Angelina Lazarenko with 15. For the Bulgarian team, captain Gergana Dimitrova paced the way with a tournament-high 33 points and Miroslava Paskova added 19 of her own.
Russia maintained the lead until the last moments of the first set, when Bulgaria had a good moment but it was not enough to win. Russia stepped forward 25-22.
The second set was full of mistakes from the Russian team who fell under Bulgarian attacks and their good defence as well, as they controlled the whole set and won it 25-23.
A much tied third set was in the end controlled by the Bulgarian team who took advantage after Russia didn’t maintain their lead and let go the set, losing it 26-24 to Bulgaria.
The fourth set was a good recovery for Russia who defended better and managed to lead for a good part of the set. The Bulgarian team had many mistakes and even with Gergana Dimitrova attacking it was not enough and the set was won by Russia 25-18. Going into the tie-breaker, Russia's momentum extended as the gap was rather wide, ending with a 6-point lead 15-9.