Serbia downs hosts Argentina in first match of second round – Volleyball News
Serbia came down hard on hosts Argentina in the opening match of second round of 2011 FIVB Boys’ Youth World Championship on Wednesday, August 24. The exciting five-set thriller was staged at the fully packed Gimnasio Osvaldo Casanova hall in Bahia Blanca.
The home team put up a valiant effort but failed to create a chance of celebration for the fans. The Serbs posted 3-2 (23-25, 25-21, 25-22, 22-25, 15-9) on board and clinched success in the match.
Argentinan Gonzalo Quiroga was named the top-scorer of the match as he added 32 points, while Uros Kovacevic of Serbia followed him up with 27 points. Luka Medic helped Serbia with 10 points and Aleksa Brdjovic recorded five of the 14 blocks. Mauro Llanos
and Gonzalo Lapera finished with 10 points apiece.
First set
The two sides staged an even play in the first set. They were totally focused with Serbia relying on top-gun Kovacevic who totaled 7 points, while Argentina used Gonzalo Quiroga. The defending champions started out well but couldn’t keep up the same energy.
They suffered the damage on account of too many errors (12 in the set) allowing Argentina to turn out the outcome. The skipper of home team Quiroga perfectly led the path in the late stages and first set ended in the favour of home boys at 25-23.
Second set
Serbia made a great come back in the following set and hit the mark with lead of 8-3 and 16-13 at both technical time-outs. Luka Medic was very accurate with his hits and scored with five killings, whereas Kovacevic continued to produce steady shots. Argentina
became the victim of many unforced errors with Quiroga as the main producer with five points for the Serbian side. Milan Katic delivered the last spike of second set and closed off the play with 25-21 victory for Serbia.
Third set
Quiroga’s exploits (seven kills in the set) proved to be a great help for Argentina in third set and they led the scores with 8-6 and 16-14 at the two technical stops. Serbia tried hard and managed to get one-point advantage at 18-17 with one of the six
spikes by Kovacevic. On the other hand, Argentina kept coming back to equalize point after point. Eventually, Serbia got a two-point cushion 24-22 and sealed third set win 25-22. Too many mistakes caused the damage to Argentina in third set.
Fourth set
Serbs made a strong opening in fourth set and earned 5-point lead 7-2. Argentina hit back aggressively and shortened the gap of points to 8-5. As the game progressed, Serbia expanded the lead to a five-point cushion at 10-5 and landed in the second pause
with 16-11. Argentina put together a three-point rally after the technical break and minimized the distance with 16-14 on board. The local team tied the score at 21-all with excellent poke by Quiroga and won the set at 25-22 with another bomb from the same
player.
Final set
The outsider team went straight into action in the final set and threw 8-5 on board. Serbia’s Kovacevic enjoyed the top form when he was more needed scoring five big-time points. Quiroga, on contrary, was still swinging for his team but failed to avoid the
loss 15-9.
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