One more point was all the United States needed to pull off one of the biggest upsets at the FIVB U19 World Championship.
It couldn’t find a way on multiple attempts, though, to convert that final point.
Bulgaria fought off three match-points in the decisive fifth game as it defeated the United States 25-22, 25-23, 20-25, 14-25, 16-14 in the Round of 16 on Wednesday in Uzbekistan.
The United States reached match-point at 14-11 before Bulgaria rallied to force overtime and close out the match on a 5-0 run. The match-ending run featured three U.S. attack errors, including back-to-back errors in overtime.
Pepperdine outside attacker Grant Lamoureux in the loss led all players with a tournament-high 24 kills.
This was the third match at the World Championship that Lamoureux finished with at least 20 kills. Lamoureux moved to second among all players at the tournament with 108 kills through the pool-play stage and Round of 16.
UCLA commit Rafael Urbina guided offense to out-hit Bulgaria .205 to .164.
Bulgaria was held to a negative attack percentage in the fourth game to help force a decisive game. The Pool B champions responded and limited the United States to a negative attack percentage in the final game.
Along with Lamoureux, Corbin Batista contributed 15 kills on a .333 attack percentage. Long Beach State commit Myles Jordan added nine kills, while Penn State commit Luc Soerensen had five kills against Bulgaria.
Soerensen also finished with a match-high six blocks.
Bulgarian pin-hitter Zhasmin Velichkov had a team-high 19 kills to help the team advance to the quarterfinals.
The United States with this loss is eliminated medal contention and will close out the tournament in the consolation bracket.