Belgrade, Serbia, September 29, 2011. Serbia claimed the last semifinal ticket of the 2011 CEV Volleyball European Championship – Women by beating Poland in straight sets (25-14, 25-20, 26-24) tonight at SC Pionir hall in Belgrade. In front of 3,100 delighted fans, the hosts showed their best performance so far at EuroVolley 2011 to send their guests from Poland home. Serbia will face Turkey in Saturday’s second semifinal at 20.00 local time.
Best scorer of the match was Polish Katarzyna Skowronska-Dolata with 21 kills, while the Serbia top scorer was middle blocker Milena Rasic with 14 points.
Saturday’s semifinals in Belgrade:
17.00 (local time): Italy vs. Germany
20.00 (local time): Serbia vs. Turkey
Natasha Krsmanovic served a service winner to offer host Serbia a hard-fought 8-5 lead at the first technical timeout in set No. 1. The Serbs were highly focused and motivated when they entered the court in front of so many fans and supporters in their home stadium. At 5-10, Poland’s head coach Alojzy Swiderek called his ladies off court to have a serious talk as their offensive section was not at the level it should be. Furthermore, Serbia’s middle blockers did a great job, both in blocking and attacking. As a consequence, the hosts already had a six-point lead at 14-8. Things didn’t change as the set went on. The Polish team was too harmless, while Serbia showed their best performance so far at the 2011 CEV Volley European Championship – Women. After 22 minutes, Anita Kwiatkowska hammered the Mikasa out of bounds to make it 25-14 and 1-0 for Serbia.
The hosts had six blocks in the first set, Poland zero. Serbia kept the pace in the second set. Their opponents from Poland managed to connect in the beginning of the set, but saw their hopes vanishing into thin air as the set continued. At the second technical break, they were already down by six points. Top scorer Rasic blocked for 18-11, forcing Swiderek to call his second timeout in set No. 2. However, it didn’t help much as the Serbian express was unstoppable now. Polish team senior Skowronska-Dolata did her best to push her teammates to an exploit, but it was already too late. Serbian setter Maja Ognjenovic smashed (!) the ball down at 25-20 to offer Serbia a richly deserved 2-0 set lead.
Nevertheless, Poland didn’t give up in the third set. They jumped out for a 4-1 lead, giving the local heroes a hard time. The guests from Poland were still four points ahead at 10-6, before Rasic added two block kills to her impressive record book to reduce the gap to one at 9-10. There was nothing to separate the two teams at this stage of the match. It was a great spectacle and best publicity for volleyball. Krsmanovic leveled the game at 12-12, causing storms of cheers in the audience. From 16-16 to 22-22, the set balanced on a knife’s edge. It needed Skowronska’s experience and power to give Poland two set balls at 24-22. However, it was not enough. Three consecutive Serbian block kills spelled the end for the devastated Poles, whilst Serbia secured their ticket for Saturday’s semifinal versus Turkey.
Serbia head coach Zoran Terzic: “We are very happy and satisfied with tonight’s match. I think we outplayed the Polish team. Our serves and blocks were good tonight, but other things were different. The first of them is our defense; we had some minor problems in that part of the game. We showed a high level of self-confidence; that way of thinking and playing showed that the result had to be in our favor. Congratulations to all my players. I hope to play in front of a full hall on Saturday.”
Serbia captain Jelena Nikolic: “I’d like to congratulate my team and all who supported us throughout this championship. I had no doubts we will perform well tonight. This victory means a lot to us and I think we are ready for Turkey now.”
Poland head coach Alojzy Swiderek: “I want to congratulate the Serbian team and I wish them good luck fighting for the medals. We made too many unforced errors tonight. That’s why we finally lost, showing that we were not prepared enough. Once again, I wish Serbia all the best in the semifinals.”
Poland captain Milena Maria Radecka: “Congratulations to the Serbian team for their victory. We played very well tonight, we tried our best to beat them, but their serves and blocks were more than impressive. I’m sad for losing, but I wish the Serbian players good luck in the semifinals.”