MATCH INFO

Hamamatsu, Japan, May 19, 2012 - Coming off a very tough five set loss to Russia on day one, Serbia bounced back with a win over a fiery Cuban side on Saturday in Hamamatsu, Japan. Serbia was happy to have played better today, and will be looking for further improvement against home side Japan on Sunday.

Serbia Coach Igor Kolakovic: "In my opinion Cuba and Serbia played a very good game today. In some parts we played at a very high level. We’re very satisfied with this victory. We played a tough game with Cuba, and it was very close during the whole game. In our game we cut down on some mistakes, especially in attack and I think that’s good for us. We were very patient today."

On relying heavily on Sasa Starovich a little more than Aleksandar Atanasijevic at opposite: "We have two young players at this position with lots of talent. Starovich was injured last year, with an operation on his knee. Atanasijevic has more experience than Starovich, but he’s also very important for us. We needed two good players in that position, sometimes we play one, and sometimes the other – according to the situation."

On facing Japan tomorrow: "We want to win. It’s out tradition and our mentality. Every game we want to win."

Serbia captain Bojan Janic: "We’re very happy with this victory. We’re happy to finally win a first set, and start strong. We played a very good match with enthusiasm. We can move on, so this was an important victory for us."

Serbia player Marko Podrascanin: "Like my captain said, we’re happy with out first victory here. The most important thing is to play each game better than the one before. This game was better than yesterday against Russia. We won with great spirit. I hope tomorrow we can play even better against Japan."

Cuba coach Orlando Samuells Blackwood: "I can say that today’s match was not a bad game. At beginning we were not so good, but later we got better. The difference in this game was that we had more mistakes than they did. We’re young so we will take this loss as a good experience that we can bring forward into future games."

Cuba captain Wilfredo Leon Venero: "Both teams played well today, I think. It was a challenging and tough game for us. We had more errors than the Serbian team today, and I think that’s why we lost. But we’ll take this experience into the next game."

On difference between yesterday’s win vs Japan and today: "Yesterday our serving was successful, but we just couldn’t do as well on that today."