Serbia beats Cuba on day-2 of 2012 FIVB World League – Volleyball news
Following a loss in the opening match on Friday, Serbia managed to prove its endeavours in the second fixture against Cuba.
Serbs proved to be better in the four-set contest and ended with 3–1 (25–19, 20–25, 27–25, 27–25) victory. The Hamamatsu Arena in Hamamatsu, Japan hosted the match, which was attended by more than 1,000 spectators.
Nikola Kovacevic, who worked a great performance in the previous, did not fail to impress. He totalled team-high 16 points and led his team to success. Most of the points, he scored, were on attack attempts. Likewise, his teammates Milos Nikic and Sasa Starovic
put up a nice display of volleyball and added 14 points, apiece.
On the opposite side, Cuban captain Wilfredo Leon drew whole lot of attention in the match. He added match-high 20 points but it proved to be a failing effort for his team. He was followed by Hernandez, who contributed 19. Hence, the Cuban players settled
for top-scorers’ positions but as a team Cuba lost the fight.
The first whistle of the referee started things off and Serbs quickly showed the power of their forearms. They produced powerful serves and Serbian hitters added four points in row. Cuba trailed behind but gradually worked its position up on the scorecard.
In the meanwhile, the exchange of long rallies started and difference of points minimized. Cuba went up but Serbs retook the lead. Afterwards, the game featured a back n forth action. Eventually, Serbia got lucky and captured the opening frame, 25-19.
The loss of opening set put the Cuba on rage and they came up with hostile response in the second set. They threw speed bombs in Serbian half and created a lot of trouble for the libero on other side of the net. Serbian line-up seemed a bit confused by the
onslaught of Caribbean hitters.
In the meanwhile, Cuba took the scores from 7-3 to 18-11. Cuba continued with success and closed second set at 25-20, which tied the game score at 1-1.
Nonetheless, Serbs crushed the hopes of Cuban by winning the next two set in a row and with identical score of 27-25. On the whole, Cuba won only one set and dropped the decision, 1-3.
Serbian Coach Igor Kolakovic said, “In my opinion Cuba and Serbia played a very good game today. In some parts we played at a very high level. We’re very satisfied with this victory. We played a tough game with Cuba, and it was very close during the whole
game. In our game we cut down on some mistakes, especially in attack and I think that’s good for us. We were very patient today.”
Cuban coach Orlando Samuel Blackwood agreed with his Serbian counterpart. He said his team committed more mistakes, which led Serbia to victory. He congratulated Serbian team for winning their first match in the tournament.
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