Belgrade, Serbia, September 28, 2011. In today’s first playoff match at SC Pionir hall in Belgrade, Serbia booked their well-deserved ticket for Thursday’s quarterfinal versus Poland. Even when Romania fought gamely to push the hosts to their limits, the experience and power of the Serbian team finally prevailed. After 71 minutes of play, Serbia beat Romania 3-0 (25-19, 25-15, 25-20).
Best scorer of the match was Serbia’s Jovana Brakocevic with twenty points. Carmen Turlea contributed eleven kills for Romania. Serbia had 16 block kills, while Romania only had five.
Romania jumped out for an 8-7 and 16-13 lead at the technical timeouts in set No. 1. Romanian setter Diana-Ioana Neaga constantly set up team senior Turlea who concluded several excellent offensive combinations. On the other side, the team of Zoran Terzic acted nervously, conscious that there was no room for failure tonight. Captain Jelena Nikolic struggled in passing, while the Romanian had nothing to lose against the favorites from the host country. However, four points in a row from 13-16 to 17-16 were enough to turn the tables in the first set. Serbian setter Maja Ognjenovic and her teammates never looked back to close the first set out 25-19.
The Romanian still showed excellent team spirit and great tactical skills in the beginning of the second set. Serbia needed all their strength and know-how to crack the game code of their adversaries. Brizitka Molnar blocked for a 12-8 Serbian lead, before Brakocevic scored two consecutive aces to move the scoreboard to 14-8. This was enough to keep the upper hand in the second set. Natasha Krsmanovic finished it at 25-15 with a one-leg attack from the right.
Two sets down, Romania didn’t give up in the third set. The team of head coach Darko Zakoc did its best to keep Serbia’s pace. At the first technical timeout, Romania led 8-5. In the Serbian squad, Ana Antonijevic replaced starting setter Ognjenovic and Jovana Vesovic and Sanja Malagurski came in for Molnar and Nikolic. The Romanians were still three points ahead at the second technical break. Nevertheless, as in the first set, a short burst of speed of the Serbian team turned around the score. Malagurski hammered for a two-point lead at 20-18, and Brakocevic added another kill to make it 21-18. Malagurski closed the set out with a blistering winner from the left, and the match 3-0.
Serbia head coach Zoran Terzic: “So far, many things have been said about us. Our performance wasn’t good at the beginning of this match, we had certain issues because of all the pressure. Later, it looked better, we had good serves and good attacks, but I think we can be much better. I know how this team can perform, and so I will push them even harder. We knew we would have to play hard, and the improvement of the atmosphere in the team is excellent. We need a maximum support from our audience, so I’d like to invite them to come in large number tomorrow to support us against Poland.’’
Serbia captain Jelena Nikolic: “After the hard match we played against Germany, it was not an easy task to play the next match and to win it, no matter which team we are playing against. We started on the wrong level, the pressure was high, but later everything went well for us. I’m sure we will be the team we used to be before this championship started, we will reach that high level of performance.”
Romania head coach Darko Zakoc: “This is a hard defeat for us; the feelings are mixed when playing against your country and your friends. I tried to prepare my team the best way I could, and there were some moments we played well, but the pressure the Serbian team put on us was tough. The quality of these teams is not at the same level. Our serves were good, but we had small technical problems, and our reception was poor.”
Romania captain Elena Butnaru: “Congratulations to the Serbian team for their victory today. We played well today, we were good at the beginning, but the winner at the end was Serbia. Again, my deepest congratulations to them and I wish them all the best in the upcoming matches.”