MATCH INFO

Niterói, Brazil, August 1, 2011 – In the last match of the first day of the FIVB Volleyball Men´s Junior World Championship 2011, Serbia had few problems defeating Belgium, 3-0 (25-21, 25-15, 25-16) to finish the day's play in Pool D.

Serbia shares the lead of the group with Iran, their next opponent, which they will play at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday at Caio Martins, Niterói.

Serbia’s Aleksandar Atanasijevic led all scorers with 16 points on 12 spikes, two blocks and two aces. Uros Kovacevic added 12 points on 11 spikes and one ace.

Srecko Lisinac had five blocks four Serbia while Dries Heyrman had four for Belgium.
Sam Deroo paced Belgium with 11 points on 11 successful attacks.

Serbia dominated the statistics with a 41-30 lead in spikes, an 11-6 lead in blocks and a 5-1 lead in service aces.

To keep both teams' spirits up, their benches carried on singing and clapping to support the players. The effort worked on the Serbian side, which led the game most of time.

Serbia took a 2-0 lead in the first set and although Belgium came close, it was never able to catch up. Serbia led 8-6 at the first technical timeout (TTO). Belgium pulled to within one, but Serbia held them off with a block. Serbia’s lead was still one point at 11-10 when it used two straight kills to increase its lead to three. Serbia still led by three at 23-20 when Belgium served into the net to give Serbia set point. Serbia’s next serve went into the net, but Serbia scored on a spike off Serbia’s block attempt to take the set.

Serbia took an 8-6 lead at the first TTO of the second set. Belgium managed to pull to within one point at 10-9, but Serbia fought them off and increased their lead to 13-9, causing Belgium to call timeout. Belgium scored twice to pull to within two at 13-11. But Serbia answered with an tip and an ace for a 15-11 lead and then led 16-12 at the second TTO. The teams traded points coming out of the TTO before Serbia went on a five-point run to lead 22-13. Belgium never challenged again.

The score was tied 5-5 to open the third set when Serbia scored three straight to lead 8-5 at the TTO. With Serbia leading 12-9, Belgium scored twice to pull to within one and cause Serbia to call timeout. Serbia came back to increase its lead to 16-12. Belgium came back with two points before Serbia went on a run of five straight points to lead 21-14 and eventually put the set and match away.