Serbia is off to a stunning start at the opening of the 2011 CEV Volleyball League
The women’s defending Champion, Serbia, opened the league-round of 2011 CEV Volleyball European League with a stellar performance. They were challenged by the Greek ladies in the opener, which took place on Friday, May 27 in the Serbian city of Kladovo.
Serbs displayed complete authority over their opponents and claimed victory by posting 3-0 (25-11, 25-14, and 25-15) on the board. It seems as if the Serbian team seems fully shaped up to secure the title for another year.
First set
Serbs hit the mark with a great opening in the match. Jovana Vesovic showed the power of her forearms and produced strong serves. Equally competent, Jovana Brakocevic proved to be the main weapon for Serbia as she wrecked the defensive line of the Greek
team. The home team built a strong lead of 8-3. The head coach of Greece, Dimitris Floros, urged his players to pay close attention to the ball. However, the Serbs got better and better with each serve. They scored consecutive points and further stretched
the deficit. Greece lagged behind with a margin of 11 points at the second technical timeout (5-16). Eventually, they failed to break the power of the hard spiking from Serbia and dropped the first set at 25-11.
Second set
Following a shaky performance in opening set, the Greeks put up a good fight in the second set. They hit the ball hard and didn’t repeat silly mistakes. Their performance improved, while Serbia trailed behind. The hosts struggled to break the tempo of the
Greek strikers and adopted a different approach. They successfully decreased the difference of points at the second mandatory stop. Meanwhile, a few reception errors create more trouble for Greece. Serbia took full advantage of the situation and went up. Once
they picked up the lead, they didn’t stop. Serb hitters found their form and restricted their opponents to a score of 14 points. In the end, second set also ended successfully for Serbia and they extended their lead to 2-0.
Third set
The Greek ladies made a good start in the third set. They used the back-row attack and took a lead of 8-5 at the FTT. Serbia, on the other hand, wanted to put an end to the game in the third set. They made a great come-back in the game and tied the score
at 11-all. From that point on, things developed pretty much the same way as in the previous set. Serbs retook the game and reached match point. The Greek side collapsed badly after scoring only 15 points. Serbia won the match in straight sets and celebrated
the wonderful victory. Jovan Brakocevic was the most efficient player of the match as she clipped a stunning 22 points for Serbia.
Comments and Quotes
Jovana Brakocevic, the start player of Serbian team shared her thoughts after the match. She said: “We are the favourites and we are expected to defend the title. We were a little bit tired today, but it is normal because this is the beginning
of a long season. We are satisfied with our performance, even though we can play much better”. It was indeed a great statement and confirmation of ambition for final victory by the Serbian player.
Greek libero, Xanthi Mylona, had her say about staying in Serbia and competing with the home team. She stated: “I received some nice flowers before the start of the game and I am delighted. It was a very nice surprise. As for the match, most of the time
we were chasing the result, on some occasions we managed to get in front, but Serbia is a much better team and they deserved this victory. We will try to play better tomorrow”.
The Serbs are on track to defending their title this year and the other teams in the tournament need to watch out for the inform Serbs.
Tags: