Bulgaria produced arguably the most entertaining five-set encounter of the \u00a0Volleyball Men\u2019s World Championship in the Philippines after outlasting USA to qualify for the semifinals for the first time in 19 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The second quarterfinal match of the day left fans at the fully packed SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City on the edge of their seats as Bulgaria bounced back to stun USA 3-2 (21-25, 19-25, 25-17, 25-22, 15-13).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Balkan nation, inspired by the Nikolov brothers, dug deep to rally from two sets down and force the fifth set where they held their nerve to hand USA their first loss of the competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aleksandar Nikolov produced a match-high 29 points (26 kills, 1 block, 2 aces) to ensure Bulgaria not only remained unbeaten but also reached the semifinals for the first time since 2006 when they clinched bronze in Japan. Outside hitter Ethan Champlin led USA with 17 points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOh, man! So many emotions! I am so tired that I can\u2019t even express my happiness right now. It was such a battle! USA are so good and it could have gone either way in the end! So, I\u2019m super, super happy we got the win. Now we\u2019ve got to rest for a couple of hours and then we have another battle. I am excited for that, but right now I just want to lie down somewhere,\u201d an elated Simeon Nikolov said after the game. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe belief was always there and always will be there, no matter how much we are down. We are like a family and we fight like brothers. We love each other like brothers, so we have no reason to give up. We can only win from being here. When the last ball fell, I just wanted to go on my knees and just enjoy it, because the feeling was something that I can never even describe. I hope we can experience it again soon, in a couple of days. This is why we train, for this type of feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n