Bulgaria secured a spot in the quarterfinals of Beijing Men's Volleyball after defeating Venezuela 3-1 on Monday.

Venezuela has been eliminated from contention for the next round.
The game marked the comeback of the Bulgarian captain Plamen Konstantinov, who joined the team after missing the first four matches over doping fears.

Ernardo Gomez was the main attacker and scorer in the first set, scoring all over the court from the front and at the back providing Venezuela an early lead. Bulgaria adjusted their defense and offense and was trailing closely behind until an obvious fault call by referee Mohammad Shahmiri ended the set in Venezuela's favor - 23-25.

Stronger blocking from Bulgaria's Vladimir Nikolov, Matey Kaziyski and Evgeni Ivanov dominated the net and suppressed Gomez's offense. Due to it the team managed to win the second set 25-19.

Bulgarian setter Andrey Zhekov's impulsive drop-shot surprised Venezuela's defense. With more reception errors, Venezuela failed to set up their attacking combinations after the third set was also taken by Bulgaria - 25-16.

The score was tied at 16 in a closer fourth set. Kaziyski stepped up with his vigorous quick middle attacks while Venezuela failed to dig his shots, widening the scored gap to 19-16. Nikolov's final touch from right-side of the court finished off the set 25-22.

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