Serbia vs. Cuba: Match report 2011 FIVB Women’s Junior World Championship
Clad in bright blue outfits, Women’s National Junior Volleyball Team of Serbia claimed victory over the Cuba team on Friday, July 22, in Peru. The opening match of 2011 FIVB Women’s Junior World Championship brought these two teams together in the court
as the Serbian squad held off their opponents for a 3-1 (25-22, 23-25, 25-17, and 25-10) victory.
First set
The Serbs used the powerful attack of Luckovic and Stevanovic to take charge in the first set. The two Serbian players formed a great combo and developed the perfect strategy to dominate the Cuban side. They played tactfully and contributed five valuable
points to Serbia’s score. On the other side of the net, Cuba lacked the discipline. Their effort was commendable but too many mistakes pushed them behind on the scoring chart. Serbia took full advantage of the mistakes of the Cuban players and added quick
points. Serbia maintained its lead at both technical timeouts. Finally, the hard work paid off and they sealed a first-set win with a three-point margin (25-22).
Second set
The second set of the game was full of suspense and uncertainty. Te Serbian ladies made quick moves and earned the first four points of the set. At the first mandatory stop, Serbia led the score by six points (8-2). A good combination of attack and defence
allowed them to enjoy dominance for the better part of the second set. Nonetheless, Cuba suddenly came out of the blue and tied the score at 20-20. Cubans fought their way back into the game and hit the equaliser at the end of the second set.
Third set
The following set was a point-to-point fight and the score moved from 8-7 to 16-15. Serbia took control of operations after the second technical timeout and widened the difference of points. The third set ended in Serbia’s favour after 22 minutes of play.
Fourth set
The rhythm and tone was established for Serbia in the fourth set as they played confidently and achieved set points with a considerable lead of 15 points.
Top-scorers
Sulian Matienzo, the top-gun of the Cuban squad was named the top-scorer of the match. She registered 21 points for her team via 52 attack attempts. She tried hard to elevated her teams performance and Matienzo was able to grab one set for her team. Serbian
Ivana Lukovic clipped 18 points in the match and settled for the second best scorer position. The tird spot was held by Cuban team captain Yunieska Robles, who was credited for 16 points.
Comments and Quotes
Ratko Pavlicevic, the Head Coach of Serbian Team, congratulated both sides for putting up a nice effort. He appreciated the hard work of the Cuban team and regarded them as a difficult opponent in the match. He praised the team effort of his side and urged
the players to stick to the same winning strategy. Serbian skipper Danica Radenkovic was overjoyed to open the tournament on a good note.
On the other hand, Captain of Caribbean Team Yunieska Robles Batista stated: “We played well had the first three sets, but in the fourth one we couldn’t take the control of it. It seemed another team which went out to the court.” The mentor of Cuban Team,
Pupo Robinson regretted the loss of the opening match but he appreciated the noticeable improvement in his team’s performance from the last event. He hoped that Cuba will do better in the next match against Italy on Saturday.
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