Serbia downs host China in a five-set thriller – Volleyball News
Serbia sent China packing in the second round opener of the 2011 FIVB Women’s Grand Prix. The Chinese team played host as the Serbs proved to be better and edged out China by sending 3-2 (20-25, 25-18, 23-25, 25-16, 18-16) on to the board. Macau East Asian
Games Dome in Macau hosted the thrilling encounter on Wednesday, August 24.
China made a strong opening in the match and came out hard against the Serbian team with an onslaught of fast spikes. China used all its hitting options and grabbed an early lead in the first set. h*i Ruoqi, Wang Yimei, Yang Junjing and Ma Yunwen and almost
everyone on the Chinese roster played well and secured the first set with a 5-point margin.
The Serbians hit from both flanks in the following set and tried to cover the deficit. They strengthened their defense and managed to break the rhythm of their opponents. The valiant efforts of the Serbs allowed them to tie the score at 1-1 by winning the
second set.
The see-saw battle continued and China bounced back in the game with a third-set win of 25-23. China was once again ahead of Serbia but the situation changed in the fourth set. An interesting scenario was created when Serbia brought the game to a dead-lock
of 2-2.
The fifth set was the real test of China’s game and Serbia’s strength. Both teams remained at a close distance in the final set, while Serbia got the edge with a perfect spike to put an end to the match. Serbia captured a fifth set with a 2-point margin
and declared match victory.
Post-match
“It was a great contest between the two teams. Our young team missed a lot of opportunities during the match. The main issue is that there were too many ups and downs, especially in the first half of the match, which gave us a lot of problems,” said Chinese
Captain, Wei Qiuyue.
Her Serbian counterpart, Jelena Nikolic, also expressed her emotions after winning the intense fight against hosts China. She thanked the Chinese team and audience for showing a great gesture of hospitality. In her view, it was not the best performance by
Serbia but they managed to overcome the Chinese team on home soil. Nikolic praised the good fighting spirit of her team.
Yu Juemin, the Head Coach of China, disclosed the reason of China’s failure by stating that they played with a team of young players who are still in the process of learning. However, he was delighted with the level of output they gave. He quoted that it
was one of the better all-round performances by the Chinese team in terms of skills.
Serbian mentor, Zoran Terzic, also had his say about the match. He said the Serbian team played with great attitude and courage. He further added, “Congratulations to China, they played a great game. It was a good game for the spectators, though not so good
for the coaches. I am very happy with the results, and hope we can continue to play this way in the next matches.”
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