27/08/2014 10:43
Serbia’s Volleyball family celebrates golden girls after historic win
News from the National Federations
Belgrade, Serbia, August 27, 2014. Serbia claimed last Sunday the title of the U19 women’s European Championship for the first time in their history as they beat Slovenia in a dramatic final match at A. Le Coq sports hall in Tartu, Estonia. The team arrived in Belgrade on Tuesday where the members of the delegation received a warm welcome from the First Vice President and the Secretary General of the Volleyball Federation of Serbia, Nenad Golijanin and Slobodan Milosevic. The young stars of Serbia’s Volleyball were surprised for they were also greeted by their friends from the senior national team who are currently finalising their preparations for the upcoming FIVB Volleyball World Championship Italy 2014. The “golden girls” could also meet friends and relatives at Nikola Tesla airport as well as many journalists.
A cocktail party was organised then on Wednesday morning at the Hotel M in Serbia’s capital city for the winners of the Championship co-hosted by Estonia and Finland. The guests were addressed by Serbia’s State Secretary for Sports, Mr. Predrag Perunicic, Volleyball Federation of Serbia and CEV Senior Vice President Aleksandar Boricic, as well as by the head coach and captain of the winning team, Marijana Boricic and Tijana Boskovic.
Serbia’s Deputy Minister of Sports and Youth, Mr. Dragan Atanasov, was also in attendance and enjoyed the company of Mr. Boricic, Mr. Golijanin and Mr. Zoran Avramovic, Marketing Director of the Volleyball Federation of Serbia.
“After seven years spent with our national teams, this is the first final we won and my first gold medal,” an emotional Marijana Boricic said. “This is a huge success for us. We knew it was not going to be easy but in the end it was even easier than we had imagined. We were extremely motivated for the final match because last year we had lost to Slovenia the final of the European Youth Olympic Festival in Utrecht, so we really wanted to avenge that defeat. This victory is a great boost for my girls ahead of the next major competition, the FIVB U20 World Championship coming up next year.”
“The feeling is just incredible,” said Tijana Boskovic. “It was really tough, we have been working very hard and in the end it paid off. We lost only two sets throughout the tournament and this tells a lot about our quality and performance. Of course the MVP award is a great honour but I would like to stress that my teammates made it possible for me to receive this prize.”
Mrs. Dragana Roter Crkvenjakov, Corporate Communications Director of the Vip mobile company, General Sponsor of the Volleyball Federation of Serbia, and Mr. Aleksandar Boricic presented the players and the members of the coaching staff with some special presents prepared by Vip mobile.
The 2014 CEV U19 Volleyball European Championship – Women was a huge success not only for Serbia but for the entire Balkan Volleyball Association. Turkey won bronze in Tartu, Greece settled for fourth place and Bulgaria edged the Czech Republic to end up in fifth position. The Balkan Volleyball Association accounted for four of the top five teams in the final standing. The players from these teams also swept almost all individual awards, with MVP Tijana Boskovic (SRB), best scorer Anthi Vasilantonaki (GRE), best server Sara Lozo (SRB), best receiver Bojana Milenkovic (SRB), and best spiker Pelin Aroguz (TUR).
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