Press release
Serbia retain crown in five-set thirller
Serbia celebrate as they successfully defend their FIVB Volleyball Boys' Youth World Championship with a thrilling five set win over Spain on Sunday
Bahia Blanca, Argentina, August 28, 2011 – Serbia oulasted a relentless Spain in a memorable five-set victory (25-23, 25-19, 28-30, 16-25, 15-11) in the final of the 2011 FIVB Boys' Youth World Championship on Sunday night at Gimnasio Osvaldo Casanova to retain the crown they won in 2009.
Serbia’s Uros Kovacevic, Luka Medic and Milan Katic finished with 28, 20 and 18 points, respectively. Spain’s Andres Villena had an astonishing tournament-high 48 points and Miguel Fornes charted 11 for the defeated side.
2011 FIVB Volleyball Boys’ Youth World
Championship
August 19-28
Both teams showed nerves and made too many mistakes early on in the first set, but Villena’s spikes earned Spain the lead at 8-6. Serbia recovered from a shaky start with the help of Katic's attacks and were in front at 16-14. But Spain came back to take the lead at 18-16. The battle was intense and Kovacevic and Medic rose to the occasion in the key moments as Serbia prevailed 25-23.
Kovacevic had a great start in the second set scoring four points in a row to give Serbia a comfortable 8-2 lead. Spain were unable to stop the barrage from Kovacevic and Okolic. Serbia had a commanding lead at 16-9 and closed it 25-19 with big contributions again from Katic.
Spain’s Villena led a jump start in the fourth set 8-4. Katic helped Serbia recover, but they were still behind at 16-15. Spain lost a three-point cushion as they came under pressure from the serving of Medic and the teams went into a seesaw battle with Kovacevic and Villena firing like machine-guns. At the end, Spain prevailed 30-28, with Villena totalling 17 points.
Spain took an 8-7 lead early in the fourth set and, thanks to the energetic Villena’s powerful spikes combined with errors from Serbia, were five points up at the second technical timeout. After that, it was all one-way traffic as Spain cruised to a 25-16 victory.
Serbia regained their focus at the start of the tiebreaker and Kovacevic helped the Serbian boys to an 8-4 advantage. Both teams played a fantastic final set, battling point after point, but Kovacevic was the difference in the decisive moments. It finished 15-11 and Serbia retained their crown.
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