Serbia beat Canada in last match of first round – 2011 FIVB Men’s Junior World Championship
Serbia finished the first round of the 2011 FIVB Men’s Junior World Championship in a great way and held off Canada in the last match for a 3-2 (25-17, 19-25, 25-15, 21-25, and 15-4) victory. The Brazilian city of Niteroi hosted the match on Wednesday, August
3. Canada put up some good resistance and tried to stop Serbia from winning the match. However, the Serbian displayed an incredible effort and managed to conquer their Canadian counterparts. It was the last match of the day and the first round was closed with
a Serbian victory over Canada in Pool D.
Serbia bagged third straight win of the tournament and got hold of the top position in group. The team is now scheduled travel to Rio de Janeiro in order to play in the second round of the championship. Serbia is also set to compete for the semi-final slot.
Key players
Aleksandar Atanasijevic was the key player in Serbian team. He sufficiently performed his duties as the team captain and played an influential role in his team’s victory. He registered match-high 23 points on 19 attacks, 2 blocks, and two serves. On the
other hand, Kovacevic did the same for Serbia and contributed 23 points.
Canadian team relied on Tristan Aubry and Nicholas Hoag. Both of them fought bravely for their team and applied good attack and defence tactics. They were credited for 16 points apiece.
Match overview
Serbs started out really well and jumped to an early lead of 3 points. They maintained their amazing run up till the first technical timeout. On other side of the net, Canadian players struggled to catch up with Serbian score. They came from different angles
but couldn’t exceed Serbia. Serbs kept the operations well under hand and finished the opening set with 8 points in hand (25-17). Uros Kovacevic was the main hitter, who led Serbia to first set win.
Canada was bound to react in the following set. They attacked with Nicholas Hoag, who set pace in the second set. It was not easy to beat the charged-up Serbs but Canadian effort proved fruitful. They managed to deal with the opponents and equalled the game
score by winning second set.
After the tie of scores in the match, both teams stayed close in the third set. Long rallies were exchanged and each side tried to secure the crucial third set. The effort of both teams was admirable but thanks to Serbian skipper Atanasijevic, who led his
team to success. Serbia won the third set and rebuilt the lead of 2-1.
The see-saw battle continued in fourth set as Canada carried out great momentum and surprised the rivals. They picked up an early lead and successfully stretched the gap of points. Eventually, the Canadian side clawed its way to fourth-set win.
Match entered decisive 15-point golden set, which was the real test of abilities for both sides. Serbs totally dominated opponents in fifth set and didn’t allow them to raise their heads. Serbs performed amazingly well and restricted Canada to a low score
of 4, while finished the set by posting 15-4.
Post-match
“If the group were beginning play today, I think Canada would have a different result. This clearly shows that volleyball is a psychological game. After they lost, Canada played more free. They pressed us well in all the sets except the fifth.” said Serbian
Coach Milan Zarkovic. Likewise, Canadian mentor Georges Laplante also had his say about the match. He said his side was focused on making it to the top two but Serbia should really go for the top position. He congratulated them and wished them luck for more
success in the tournament.
Meanwhile, the team captain of Serbia, Aleksandar Atanasijevic, stated, “We started very well, but during the game, we lost a bit of the rhythm. I think it's good this happened before the second round."
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