21-year-old Tijana Boskovic led Serbia to a spectacular 3-0 win over Brazil
Lausanne, Switzerland, October 1, 2018 – The Netherlands and Serbia became the first two teams to secure their spots in the second round of the FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship in Japan. Scoring their third wins in Pools A and D, respectively, on Monday, the two European sides maintained their unbeaten records and can no longer be knocked out of the first four positions in their pool standings.
Serbia won the big match of the day at Japan 2018, a spectacular shutout of the other team in Pool D that had not dropped any sets yet – Brazil. The champions of South America proved no match for the champions of Europe as the Serbs completely dominated on the court at Hamamatsu Arena. Their 21-year-old opposite Tijana Boskovic contributed 24 points to the victory to become not only the best scorer of the match, but also the best scorer of the day, across all six World Championship games played on Monday.
Out of the 16 encounters between these two sides at major world-level competitions, this is just the third win for Serbia and the first at a World Championship. It hit the brakes on a 33-game winning streak for Brazil in group stage matches at World Championships, running since 2002.
The Netherlands maintained their unbeaten status in Pool A by defeating a battling Cameroon in three sets to record their best ever start in a World Championship – three in three. The tournament’s best scorer after the first two competition days, Lonneke Sloetjes, did not take part in the game, while Celeste Plak took over as the top point-maker for the Dutch with 23 points.
The three best scorers of the match, together at the net - Netherlands’ Celeste Plak and Juliet Lohuis in a double block against Cameroon’s Laetitia Moma
Other Monday highlights:
• Germany shut out Argentina in Pool A for their fifth win out of five matches against this opponent at the World Championships. The second set of the match ended at 34-32, the most points scored in a single set since the beginning of the tournament. Germany was involved in the previous high, when the Netherlands won the fourth set on Saturday by 32-20.
• Germany’s Louisa Lippmann tallied 23 points for the victory over the South American opponent to catch up with Sloetjes on 56 points at the top of the tournament’s best scorers ranking. Argentina’s Emilce Sosa impressed with six stuff blocks.
• The Dominican Republic and Kazakhstan, the two winless teams in Pool D after the first two legs, clashed in a duel for first victory of the tournament. The Caribbean side triumphed with a straight-set win to put an end to a six-match losing streak at the World Championships.
• Puerto Rico gained their second straight-set win in a row to up their Pool D win-loss record to 2-1 after a 3-0 close against Kenya, their third shutout of the African side out of three encounters in the history of the World Championships.
• Japan maintained their impeccable head-to-head record against Mexico in major world-level competitions, mastering their fifth straight-set victory in five encounters so far. In front of more than seven thousand fans at Yokohama Arena, the hosts piled up 13 aces to help crush their North American opponents.
Japan’s Koyomi Tominaga sets the ball during the match against Mexico
Match Centres:
Dominican players rejoice with their first win at Japan 2018
The fourth competition day in Japan on Tuesday features a set of six matches to be played in Pool B in Sapporo and Pool C in Kobe, while Pools A and D have a day off.
Match Centres for Tuesday, 2 October:
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