Serbia defeats Russia 3-2 to enters Final of 2011 CEV Volleyball European Championship
The semi-final of the 2011 CEV Volleyball European Championship took place in Vienna, Austria on September 17 at the Wiener Stadthalle. Serbia and Russia battled it out for a spot in the final of the tournament with Serbia squeaking past the Russians in
a five-set thriller.
Four out of the five sets played saw both teams fight tooth and nail for a win. However, the second second was one in which the Russians were able to steam roll the Serbians. In the end the Serbians won out with the final set scores standing at: 25-23, 17-25,
22-25, 33-31 and 15-13.
The Russians were able to take the lead early on in the first set of the game and stuck with the advantage past the first technical time out. After the two teams came back onto the courts, the Serbians were able to push themselves forward and close in the
gap at 16-15. The Serbians restricted the scoring of the Russians and got the set to reach a tie at 18-18. The Russians felt the pressure mount as the Serbians were able to propel themselves forwards and take the lead at 21-19. Not giving up yet, the Russians
stayed determined and levelled the score at 21-21. Serbia then went on to bag the opening set of the game at 25-23.
The Russians built some momentum in the early minutes of the second set and were able to take the lead early on in the second set at 8-3, an advantage they were able to stretch to 11-6. However, the Serbians were disheartened with the score and kept up the
chase. The second technical time out was reached with a Russian lead at 16-10. Once they had the lead, the Russians did not let go of the advantage and sped ahead to bag the second set at an impressive 25-17.
The Russians felt strong in the third set of the game as they got themselves the lead at 8-6 and were able to stick with it until 10-6. However, the Serbians were in no mood to play second place and were able to put on a good show of volleyball to reach
a tie at 11-11. The match went back and forth from that point on with no one sure where the tables would turn until the very end, when the Serbians found themselves sealing the deal at 25-22.
The fourth set of the match went tough as well and was still tied at 22-22. However, it was the Serbians who were able to bag it at 33-31. After the fourth set, the Serbians also got the fifth at 15-13.
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