Press release

Germany comes from behind to score first win of its Olympic campaign

Germany opposite player György Grozer scored a match-high 39 points to anchor his side to a 3-2 win over Serbia, the first for Germany since the start of the Olympic tournament

London, Great Britain, August 2, 2012 – Germany scored on Thursday its first win in the men’s Olympic tournament by storming back from two sets down to eventually edge Serbia at the end of a thrilling tie-break (22-25, 27-29, 25-18, 25-20, and 20-18). With this result Germany got its revenge for the couple of defeats suffered in the last international matches with Serbia, as the “Plavi” had prevailed in the prelims of the Beijing Olympics as well as in the first round of the 2010 FIVB World Championship in Trieste, Italy.

Germany improved its record in the competition to 1 win and 2 losses, exactly the same registered by Serbia up to now. György Grozer amassed a terrific haul of 39 points, including 7 blocks and 3 aces, well supported by Max Günthör who contributed 20 to Germany’s count. Aleksandar Atanasijevic paced Serbia with 22. Germany totally dominated in blocking registering 21 vs. 10 for Serbia and got better figures also in serving, with 5 aces vs. 3, and Grozer being once again the player with the fastest serve (124 km/h).

Milos Nikic, Sasa Starovic and Marko Podrascanin did the damage for the Serbs in the first set. György Grozer spiked brilliantly to give his side a lead in the second set, but Serbia pulled level with Dragan Stankovic and Aleksandar Atanasijevic who scored with good consistency as well. Serbia saved three German set points before winning the set 29-27.
Germany fought hard in the third set and Grozer’s brilliance, supported by Max Günthör won it for them 25-18. And it was the same story in the fourth set, as Grozer's accuracy gave them a 25-20 win. In the decisive final set, the scores stayed close, but Grozer made once again the difference. Germany took the set 20-18 to win their first match after dissipating some match balls.

Serbia, who have won one and lost two, face Brazil on Saturday in the fourth round of preliminary matches. Germany, who have also won one and lost two, will play Tunisia.

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