Volleyball Update: Serbia secures berth in the semi-final of FIVB Men’s World Championship, 2010
The race for semi-finals in the FIVB Men’s World Championship is underway in two Italian cities, Florence and Rome, this week. The championship entered the third round on 4th October, 2010 with 12 remaining teams. The teams have been divided into
four Pools, which will promote 4 teams in the semi-finals. Serbia is one of the lucky teams to qualify for the semi-final from Pool P.
Serbia opened the third round with a 3-1 victory over Argentina on Tuesday, 4th October, 2010. Russia was next in line to challenge Serbia in the second pool play of third round on 5th October, 2010. The Nelson Mandela Forum in Florence,
Italy was decorated to host the important match of Serbia vs. Russia. The turnout was average, around 2’300 people were present in the sports hall to witness the performance. The Serbs outplayed Russian team in four sets and got a ticket to the semi-final.
They posted 3-1 (28-26, 16-25, 25-21, and 27-25) victory over Russia.
Team Information
The Serbian team was headed by coach, Igor Kolakovic and Grbic Nikola performed his duties as the captain. The rest of Serbian team included, Kovacevic Nikola, Janic Bojan, Petkovic Vlado, Terzic Milos, Standkovic Dragan, Nikic Milos, Rasic Milan, Miljkovic
Ivan, Starovic Sasa, Podrascanin Marko and Rosic Nikola (libero).
Likewise, the Russian team was supervised by Italian coach, Daniele Bagnoli. The team comprised of Sivozhelez Evgeny, Poltavskiy s***n, Khtey Taras, Grankin Sergey, Biryukov Denis, Berezhko Yury, Makarov Sergey, Muserskiy Dmitriy, Astashenk Anton, Volkov
Alexander, Verbov Alexey and Mikhaylov Maxim. Markarove Sergey was the captain, while Verbov Alexey was libero of Russian team.
Detailed Overview
The first set was the longest one which continued for 28 minutes. Serbia had already one victory in hand as pulled off 3-1 victory from Argentina on Tuesday. The Serbian team was equipped with all necessary tools and techniques of the game. They had some
expert hitters and sturdy blocker in their squad. On the other hand, Russian players had the advantage of tall stature and good physique. They had the potential to demonstrate an exceptional game.
The first set saw an exchange of heavy volleys and long rallies. Serbia produced good serves and smashed powerful spikes. Russia also contributed points in their score and chased the run. Serbia managed to claimed first set victory by posting 28-26. Russia
lost the first set with a gap of two points.
Russian came up with heavy strike in second set. They produced better shots and took lead on Serbia. Mikhaylov Maxim of Russia helped the team with quick points and Russia captured the second set (25-16).
The score was levelled at 1-1 and it created hope for Russian team. They struggled in the third set with new energy but Serbia bounced back and hindered their performance. Serbia’s Miljkovic Ivon devastated Russian court with unstoppable spikes. The killing
aces passed through Russian players’ legs. In the meantime, Russia committed a few ball-reception errors and fell back. Serbia swiftly hit 25-21 mark on the scoreboard and declared third set victory.
The fourth set belonged to Serbia as well. Despite of great attack attempts, Russia failed to win fourth set and gave the match to Serbia. The Serbs achieved 27-25 and qualified for the semi-final match.
Post match
The Serbian head coach, Igor was more than happy about the spectacular performance of his team. He expressed his delight by quoting, "I was the happiest man alive when we won tonight. The World Championship is a great Championship and I’m proud to be
here."
Russian coach Daniele Bagnoli said, "In this game we couldn’t play well because some players had physical problems. We made too many faults, and this is why we are out of the semi-finals."
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